Club Committee
2005-2006 Manifestos
Albert Cheung, James Scott, Sebastian Pancratz, Tom Andrews - Men's Lower Boats Captains
About us
Albert has been rowing since man invented the boat. Given this fact, it.s surprising how slow he is. He was responsible for coaching house bumps crews at school.
James noviced this year and is currently rowing in the 1st May VIII. Beneath the brash Texan attitude beats the heart of a sensitive, nurturing softie who wants nothing more than to help youngsters learn how to row a boat.
Seb is a first year mathematician who noviced in the 2nd VIII in 2004. He has since rowed in the 2nd Lent VIII and is currently in the 2nd May squad.
Tom is an English version of Seb.
Recruitment
Our recruitment plan will follow the pattern of recent years:
- Fliers to be sent to anyone who hasn.t rowed - not just Freshers.
- Representation at the Chaplain.s Squash.
- A lively boat club squash with current members present.
Novice Term Training
Following the success of last Michaelmas Term, we will follow a similar structure, combining ergs with outings in tubs and VIIIs, as well as the new IV. We feel that the most important tasks will be to:
- Secure experienced coaches early for each novice crew.
- Instil a good technical understanding before bad habits set in. We would use videos as illustration of good rowing technique.
- Place an emphasis on water training, with initially optional land sessions.
- Introduce a more structured training plan once crews have been selected.
- Have continuous evaluation of crew selection. This will create an incentive to work harder.
Coxing
In response to the lack of novice coxing support last year, we will liaise with the coxing captain to achieve the following:
- Encourage more novices to consider coxing.
- Organize coaching by experienced coxes.
- More rigorous instruction, such as coached outings and coxing lessons, should improve the club's novice term accident record.
Social
We will organize social events with women from other boat clubs, as well as within the boat club. We would like to foster a sense of crew camaraderie by encouraging whole crews to attend socials. Integration of the novices into the club should be a priority. This can be achieved both at inter-club social events, and by organizing our own events such as curry nights. We will continue to promote the BBQ and other events.
Lent and May Terms
We aim to achieve a high level of novice retention and to continue to provide the structured training that eventually produces high quality oarsmen. By emphasizing the fun of rowing in the Bumps, we hope to encourage more novices to continue, and since the Bumps are the core of Cambridge rowing, we will do our utmost to ensure that lower crews get on. In addition, by emphasizing enthusiasm in the crew selection process, we hope to produce crews whose members have similar objectives and time commitments, in order to avoid frustration.
Final Comments
In light of comments made at the recent AGM, we are ready and willing to discuss options for the re-structuring of the Lower Boats Captain role. We will of course draw upon the advice and experience of past LBCs in the day-to-day running of the lower boats, but we also hope that through close cooperation with the current Captains, we will be able to implement a trial LBC structure for the beginning of Michaelmas Term. We appreciate the need for clearly defined roles and a designated coordinator, but also have every confidence that our shared work ethic will enable us to achieve a fair division of labour, and more importantly, an efficient lower boats organization.