WRC February Newsletter
Contents
Health and Safety Are you aware the club has an AED? Should you ever need to use it, the AED is located on the wall beside the coach’s room, just above the first aid kit.  |
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An AED, or Automated External Defibrillator, is a portable device used to treat sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). It works by delivering an electric shock to the heart, which can help restore its normal rhythm. Anyone can use an AED, even if they do not have first aid training. When to use an AED:
How to use an AED:
Remember, AEDs are designed to be user-friendly and provide clear instructions for operation. It's important to remain calm and follow the prompts provided by the device while waiting for professional medical help to arrive. When not use an AED
Any first aid is better than no first aid, and while we all hope never to have to use this knowledge, it is best to be prepared should you ever need to.
Movie Night Fundraising – Final Tally Thank you to everyone who supported the WRC with their fundraising Boy’s the Boat movie night. This event was a great success- we managed to sell out the largest of the theatres and raise an incredible $5402.15 for the club and is a great start to our truck replacement funding campaign.
Special acknowledgment goes to our raffle and auction donors:
Nationals’ Results Congratulations to all the rowers who raced last week at the 2024 New Zealand Rowing Championships! I’m holding out for good photos to share with the fantastic results, so these will be in next month’s newsletter.
Marsden Coaching Opportunity - Assistant Rowing Coach Samuel Marsden Collegiate School (“SMC”) is an all-girls school based in Wellington. We are looking for a part time Assistant Coach for the upcoming 2024-25 rowing season. SMC students are Inspired to excel and to be your best self. Students are supported to make the most progress possible from their starting point, both academically and in their co-curricular pursuits. Being and doing their best is how we define excellence and what it takes to uphold our motto, Ad Summa – Aim for the highest. SMC Rowing Club has strong support from the School, the Rowing Committee, and parents. The Club is affiliated to, and represents, Wellington Rowing Club which provides our club house and environment from which to conduct our training. The Wellington Rowing Club also hosts three other schools in which there can be regular collaboration. Training for the 2024/25 season will be predominantly done out of Wellington’s brand-new rowing facility in Petone. For its size (approx. 25 in the squad), Marsden owns an impressive range of boats, oars, weights room, trailers, and other equipment. This enables plenty of autonomy to the incoming coaches. Assistant Coach: This is part-time paid position during the rowing season (September through to March). The successful candidate will work mostly with the Novice and Junior squads but won’t be limited to this. The position requires flexible hours including weekends. You will be expected to attend multiple training sessions each week along with camps and regattas in Whanganui, Foxton and Karapiro. Coaching and/or rowing experience is essential. Email smrc@marsden.school.nz with your CV, and letter outlining your experience and why you are the best fit for the role.
Membership Perk- Lulu lemon discount For our members who are over 18 and competed at a national level over the past 12 months, you are eligible to join Lululemon’s Sweat Collective and receive 25% off Lululemon products. See the offer below: |
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Membership Survey Response One of the themes from the membership survey was that people wanted greater insight into what the board and the committee are working on. In response, a summary from the committee will be provided in the newsletter following each of the monthly meetings. These updates will also be posted on the website for future access. Meeting minutes can be requested for the committee or board meetings by emailing the secretary. If these summaries tweak further interest, the committee is always seeking additional volunteers to fill committee or sub-committee roles, please email the secretary to enquire.
Update from the Committee The WRC committee met Monday evening. The first agenda item was to review the health and safety incident and near miss reports for the month and discuss these and any other H&S related topics brough up by the group. With the seasonal change starting, it’s time to remember that we are restricted to official daylight hours when rowing. This is no earlier than 30min before sunrise, and no later than 30min after sunrise. Mounting lights does not allow us to row outside of these restrictions. For boats planning to go out within the 30 min before sunrise or return close to sunset, we are working to provide adequate boat lighting. These will be fit for purpose and meet the Harbor Master’s requirements. As such we have applied for a grant to purchase these lights, and additional safety equipment for use this winter. We are also in the process of rolling out a digital log book. Many of you may have used the trial version out at North End. We’ve taken on board feedback from this trail, are making slight modifications to the system. Expect to see further comms when we roll this out for use in town As a committee, we also review the club’s financial position monthly. It is important to note that we have experienced higher than expected maintenance and repair costs this year. Some of this is for the building, and some of this has been for unexpected trailer costs and boat repair. As a club we will have to be super conscious of our financial outlays for the remainder of the season. With the upcoming move to the ICB, the committee is making sure the operational handover goes smoothly. We are working with the WRA to facilitate this. As many of you may have heard, Warrick, our Maintenance Hero is retiring. We are working through how to manage his transition, and how to recognise his decades of service. The next cycle of activity at the club, we are welcoming back the Vic Uni rowers who are just starting their season. We are also will be kicking off our adult learn to row and corporate challenge. Both are a great way to grow out membership, especially our Club men’s and women’s squads that have seen a decrease in numbers over recent years. This is also the 25th year anniversary of the Corporate Challenge/Learn to row program, which was started as a fundraising initiative by Laurie Counsell. This is the largest fundraising activity for the club and is entirely volunteer run. If you are interested in helping with the program we are recruiting for coaches (experienced and those wanting to learn), coxes, and other volunteers, please get in touch. Please encourage any friends, family, or colleagues who may be interested in giving rowing a try. The LTR program is open to anyone over 18. More information will be available soon.
Update from the Board Colleagues, the Board met in February, and covered a range of matters that may be of interest to members. The Board acknowledged that it needs to conclude review the WRC Strategy following the initial strategy day in December, and will meet again on 3rd March to complete this work. We reflected that the current strategy (located on WRC website) largely still holds, but we seek to propose adding community rowing (yet to be fully defined) as a further pillar of the Club, and we need to conclude our wordsmithing for a proposed updated WRC vision. Once the Board has completed this work we will present a draft to the Committee for comment, and then share with all members. At the strategy day the Board will also further its discussions on succession planning across the Board and Committee, and explore how it can better continually identify members and non-members to take the Club forward over the next 5 years. The Board also recognised that our constitution needed to be reviewed and updated following the recent changes to the Charities Act and further clarifying how the Board and Committee roles operate. Again, our constitution has served us well and any changes are likely to be minor in nature. An updated constitution will be presented to members in advance of the next AGM. It was pleasing to see in the Health, Safety & Wellbeing report that safety incidents are being reported. It is critical that all incidents and near-misses are reported, as we review all data for learnings and any emerging patterns of concern. The Board will be asking the Committee to review the proposed approach by WRA to the operations of the new ICB shed. The new ICB shed will be officially opened by Iwi, Minister for Sport/Transport and CEO of RowingNZ on Saturday 24th February (5.30 am), and all WRC members are invited. The Board also approved funding for the purchase of a new secondhand quad and a new flat-bottomed double for novice rowers, subject to confirmation of the final quoted price. The replacement double is in recognition of the importance of providing boats that can assist the learning journey for new rowers and was funded by last season’s LTR program. The new quad, Matairangi, has been fully refurbished before being acquired by the WRC. This is a lighter boat (70kg) which recognises that smaller women and school aged rowers make up a large component of our membership. Matairangi is a replacement for the Mahina which was retired due to the significant wind event late last year that destroyed some boats. We also continued our discussions on how to best approach the meeting of maintenance costs for school trailers, safety boats and safety boat trailers. This has involved many meetings and data analysis, and is more complex than initially thought, but it is important that the Board provides an equitable and sustainable solution that is then captured in written policy for future years. The Board approved the seeking of funding for a new floor in the WRC function room. The current floor is in a condition that it can no longer be sanded back any further, and a new floor is required. The function room is an important avenue for the Club to gain revenue and to provide a service to both club members and the wider community. Finally, I wish to advise that from December I have been elected as President of the Wellington Rowing Association. I have taken this role as an interim role until the next WRA AGM following the resignation of Matt Hall, the previous President. Consequently, I must relinquish my role on the WRA as the WRC Director, and this position will be taken by Lynda Jelbert. Regards Chris Fry President
ICB Official Opening Ceremony All members are invited, and encouraged to attend the ICB official opening ceremony this Saturday morning. The local Iwi are heavily involved in the proceedings, and the CEO of RowingNZ and the Minister for Sport/Transport and will be in attendance. This is a great opportunity for us all to get a look at the new facility and celebrate years of planning and effort from the WRA. The opening ceremony will be on this Saturday, 24th February from 5:30-8am. Looking forward to seeing a strong WRC contingent in attendance. Here's the plan for the festivities:
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Private Event Saturday Feb 24th (this Saturday) Please be aware there is an event being held at the function center and the area surrounding the lagoon and the clubhouse. There will be no club access, and no parking at the club from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning. The club will be receiving a donation for the inconvenience of this. |