April 2015 Monthly Bulletin

ARA Coaching Conference
The ARA in conjunction with the CARC is very excited to be hosting its sixth annual coaching conference on April 25, 2015 in Lacombe, Alberta.  Unlike past coaching conferences where material has largely focused on the competitive coaching stream, this conference will focus exclusively on the LTR coach.  It is our opinion at the ARA that this conference will serve as an excellent opportunity for all LTR, High School, and Novice coaches to get up to speed on matters prior to the start of the on-water season.

While this year’s conference is designed to assist coaches in the, FUN-damentals and Learning to Train Stream of the Long Term Athlete Development model it will also be geared towards athletes who are “Active for Life” wanting to learn more about our sport.

The cost to register is $10. Registration forms are available through your club coach and on the ARA Webpage.
For additional details on the conference itself including a list of conference topics and the registration form click here.

ARA Erg Champs
The ARA would like to thank the Central Alberta Rowing Club for all their efforts in hosting the 2015 ARA Erg Championships. While the ARA does not monitor participation numbers from years past, with over 160 registrants the 2015 Erg Championships were the largest in this writer’s time. It was only a few short years ago where ARA struggled to get 90+ athletes registered for the event. The level of interest in our sport throughout Alberta is very encouraging and is a testament to the quality of volunteers, coaches and officials that are found all across this province.     Results from the event have been distributed to your coaches. Should you wish to obtain a copy of the results please get in touch with them.

We look forward to seeing you at the 2016 event where we hope to see over 175 registrants.

WCSG Spring Camp
As was communicated in the November 10, 2014 ARA Report (and subsequent reports) the erg qualifying standards for the 2015 WCSG are as follows:

Men             7:05
Women       8:05

Based on results from the 2015 ARA Erg Championships the ARA is pleased to report that seven female and thirteen male athletes have now met or bettered the required standard.   These athletes have now been invited to a spring camp in Invermere, British Columbia (formal invites and details surrounding the camp itself are with your respective club coaches) on April 25 and 26, 2015. Athletes have until April 18, 2015 to confirm their intention for the camp itself.

Please note that athletes who have not hit the required erg standard as of yet will unfortunately not be eligible for the camp but do have until May 24, 2015 to better the standard to be deemed eligible for the Games themselves. To assist with this process we encourage all athletes to work with their club coaches and attend the WCSG specific sessions with Alex Marchuk (Calgary) and Mallory Turner (Edmonton).

WCSG Clarification
There has been some speculation across the province that athletes who intend on competing for Alberta at the 2015 WCSG may not be eligible to represent their local club at the 2015 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta.   We at the ARA will be encouraging all WCSG bound athletes to attend the 2015 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta and other club events across the province this summer.   To assist athletes in planning for the summer we have prepared a WCSG and regatta calendar that will be on the webpage in the next few days.

PEI
The 2013 Canada Summer Games were the first in recent memory that saw athletes from all 10 of Canada’s provinces compete in the sport of rowing. While PEI athletes were not as fast as the country’s best it was encouraging to see a new entrant in the sporting scene. Unfortunately, a recent snow storm in the province may have set things back and now the future in the province is unknown.   The ARA wishes PEI rowing the best and hopes that it is able to recover from this set-back. For further details on this matter please click here.

Upcoming Events

Edmonton Boat Race – May 23, 2015
WCSG Selection Camp – May 30-31, 2015