Club Committee
2005-2006 Manifestos
Coxing Captain - Magnus Jones
I noviced with First & Third in Michaelmas Term of 2004. Initially, I intended to become a rower, but soon found that coxing was much more fun. After the completion of this term, I will have coxed for both the Women's and Men's Club, and experienced two Bumps weeks and a Tideway race. This means that I have gained an understanding of the problems and challenges of coxing under a variety of different conditions, and I believe my relative inexperience (compared to some members of the Boat Club) is offset by my understanding of what it means to novice as a First & Third cox under present conditions.
These conditions are not ideal. I have received a lot of qualified support during this year, ranging from the excellent introductory talk at the beginning of Michaelmas to one-on-one coaching with a dictaphone to pre-race briefings from more experienced coxes. However, this support has mostly been provided piecemeal at my various coaches. discretion, and as such has been fragmented and somewhat inefficient. I also suspect that much of the assistance I have received has not been extended to all the Club.s novice coxes. In addition to the sometimes sporadic coaching, novice coxes have had to struggle with the Boat electronics equipment. This is one issue which I feel has a strongly detrimental effect on our crews' training. Coxing for First & Third can be an exciting and rewarding experience, but having to face these problems detracts from it. Dealing with them should hopefully allow us greater success in coxing recruitment and novice retention.
As Coxing Captain, I will
- Work to recruit a strong contingent of novice coxes for the Michaelmas novice boats, working together with the lower boats captains on the Club.s recruitment drives but with a special eye toward encouraging prospective coxes to join. "Sell" the positive aspects of coxing (working with a team, leadership and decision making, enjoying the beautiful river) as well as the "fringe benefits" (free gym access, lively social scene etc.).
- Ensure that the novice coxes are given the training they need to act independently and take responsibility for their crews and boats. Plans are afloat for a grade system for coxes, and I would work toward the creation of such a system. I would also instate formal land training sessions for novice coxes to ensure that they all have the basic skills needed to take care of their crews, coxboxes and boats.
- Set up routines to guard against the constant scourge of electronics failure. Coxboxes which don.t work must be marked as unfit for service just as boats are, and a system must be created to ensure that coxboxes are recharged fully before they are taken out again.
- Follow up the developments made with the novices through Lent and Easter term, providing support for coxes to become fully confident and independent, and representing them as a group within the committee.
- Report at length on the progress made, figuring out what worked and what didn.t, and why, in order to provide the best possible starting platform for my successor at this post.
