ARA has a fundamental obligation and responsibility to protect the health, safety and physical and mental wellbeing of every Individual that is involved in the ALBERTA rowing community.
ARA takes any situation involving misconduct or Maltreatment very seriously; for this reason, ARA is committed to enacting and enforcing strong, clear, and effective policies and processes for preventing and addressing all forms of misconduct or Maltreatment.
The policies are intended to promote a safe sport environment in a manner that allows for consistent, immediate, appropriate and meaningful action should any issues arise, but also to prevent issues from arising by communicating expected standards of behaviour to all participants.
Independent Third Party for Rowing
RCA has enlisted the services of an Independent Third Party, Gord Hopper, he can be contacted at itpcomplaints@gmail.com. You can find the file a complaint section on the RCA website here.
Gord Hopper has been a sport leader for over 30 years. Originally, he was a coach, an international level judge, and learning facilitator in gymnastics. He has been The Technical Director with Gymnastics BC (1994-2003), the National Team Director with Canadian Freestyle Ski Association 2004-2007, and the Director of Athlete Performance with UBC Varsity Athletics (2014-2022). Each of the roles have included elements of risk management, complaints and investigations, and safe sport. In these roles, he has worked with eighteen different sports including both teams and individuals. From 2009-2012 he was President of the BC Coaches Association. He has been providing ITP services since 2023 and is also consulting with several University sport programs to support prevention, education and policy development related to safe sport.
Coaching Association of Canada Safe Sport Training
Rowing Canada Poster: Open and Observable Environments