Club Committee

2011-2012 Manifestos

Julia Attwood - Women's and Overall Captain

I had never been a sporty person before coming to Cambridge, but I had always been a dedicated one. Once I realized that the most valuable commodity in a boat is commitment and application, I knew I had found the sport for me.

Rowing and First and Third have defined my time in Cambridge. I cannot count the hours spent at the boathouse, on the water, or engaged in boatie chat. I have rowed every term since novicing, and intend to continue. I am staying on for a PhD next year, and I want to use this time to put my love of all things First and Third and my experience in rowing to good use serving the club. I have always put rowing above any other commitment, meeting, committee or personal issue. As Captain, this will not change.

Women's Captain

As Women’s Captain, I would set 4 goals for the women’s side. Win Fairbairns, regain the Lents Headship, blade in Mays and dominate the river once again. We must set our sights high and train for them. These are not impossible targets. I have been in crews that have achieved 3 of them, and narrowly missed out on the 4th. However, it does require leadership and organization from the Women’s Captain, both of which I believe I can provide. More specifically my plans are as follows:

Training

Over the summer I would set out a plan for the entire year, to ensure cohesive and structured training. This will allow us to maintain and build fitness and technique throughout the year without having to begin again at the start of each term. I would seek advice from a few of our many experienced bufties and coaches to make sure the plan suited our goals. Getting fit and organized quickly will provide the edge we need to win races.

It is generally accepted in Cambridge that women train less than men. I want to challenge this assumption. I would bring the most beneficial aspects of training on the men’s side to the women’s side. This was initiated by Thomas O’Neill and continued this year by Julia with the introduction of a weights programme. Sessions for W1 would provisionally be:
Michaelmas – 2 weights, 2 ergs, 4/5 water sessions per week
Lent – 1 weights, 2 ergs, 5/6 water sessions per week
Easter – 1 weights, 2 ergs, 5 water sessions per week
Training for W2 will be similar in structure, though obviously at a lesser intensity.

Water sessions in Michaelmas will consist in part of small boats work. This will help ex-novices to improve their technique rapidly, and allow seniors to refine theirs. This will be consolidated with VIIIs outings to homogenize rowing styles.

Selection

I intend to run a squad where no one’s seat is safe, including my own. Selection will be on the basis of erg scores (including looking for regular attendance at erg sessions and steadily improving splits), advice from the coaches and seat racing, if appropriate. I would set crews early, to allow them to find a racing rhythm quickly, but would leave the door open if anyone in a lower boat made exceptional progress deemed by the coaches to be worthy of a seat in the higher boat.

Coaching

Traditionally, Iain has been a great resource for the women’s side. I hope to make use of him where possible, using guest coaches on weekends to bring a fresh perspective to our rowing. However, Iain is not always a reliable resource, and should he not wish to be involved with the club, then I will draw on buftie contacts and paid coaches to provide high level coaching to W1, and aid the WLBCs in finding consistent coaching for the lower boats.

Lower boats

Lower boats are the future of the club. I would like to support them as Women’s Captain through my own involvement and by offering guidance to the LBCs. I would organize twice termly meetings with the WLBCs, one before the start of term to determine who will be responsible for which boats and help them to lay out a training plan, and a brief meeting before the major race of term (Fairbairns or Bumps) to gauge progress and expectations.

Off-Cam

Off-Cam racing provides invaluable experience to crews and raises the profile of the club within the national rowing community. I plan to take W1 (and W2 if they wish) to Head of the Nene as usual, but I will also seek to take W1 to other off-cam events such as Peterborough Regatta and possibly Paris if the opportunity presents itself. Sadly, both WeHORR and Women’s Henley clash with Bumps this year, which is obviously our priority.

Overall Captain

It has been a long time since the club has elected the Women’s Captain as Overall Captain. However, I am sure that I can lead the club as well as any man.

I care about the men’s side as much as I do the women’s side. I knew ‘the men’ before I met ‘the women’. I feel that I will be able to act as a fair captain because of this, without favouring one side over the other. I have coached, coxed and bank partied the men, and hope to maintain a presence on both sides. Ultimately, we share in the victories and defeats as a club, which I believe is one of the great strengths of First and Third.

I have held positions on the committee for the past two years, first as the Junior Treasurer, and this year as a WLBC. This has given me insights into both the financial and coaching sides of the club, experience which will be invaluable when overseeing it as a whole. I understand how the club works and what needs to be done to run it.

I made contact with the First and Third Association in my role as Junior Treasurer, which will make liaising with them easier. I have been supervised by Prof. Kingsbury and have a good relationship with him. I know most of the bufties and am confident that I have the contacts to facilitate the success of the club.

In my role as Overall Captain, I would strive to support each member of the committee in their work for the club, to act as an impartial arbiter where necessary, and to work to ensure the success of the club. I would act as the link between the administration and the club, and advise on rowing matters when requested.

Financial

There are two major financial priorities for the coming year.

Obtain sponsorship
Find coaching money

I intend to work closely with the Sponsorship Officer to further our efforts to find a steady, major sponsor, in addition to one off, smaller sums (ie for novice kit). In terms of coaching money for both sides, I will continue to pursue our negotiations with college via Professor Kingsbury. The Association is also a source of support, and I will seek to maintain contact with them throughout the year, to ensure that we make use of the newly set up coaching fund and encourage it to grow.

Training camp

This year’s training camp was undoubtedly a success, and a major advantage for the women’s side. I would encourage both sides to attend, aiming to have enough people for training in both VIIIs, IVs and other small boats. Next year’s camp has already been provisionally booked, and I would finalize the details over the summer.

Morale

The boat club is not only a proud sporting organization, but a social hub. There have typically been strong links between the men’s and women’s side, which encourages loyalty to the club and creates an atmosphere of community. I would seek to encourage this, as there are valuable resources on both sides of the club, which cannot be tapped without communication. I would work with the KSS to organize more in-club events, and encourage co-operation and sharing of coaching duties between the LBCs.

I was not here to see the rise of First and Third, but I did witness the peak of its achievements. This has been a difficult year for the club, and I see the one coming as make or break. I intend to prove to everyone on the Cam that First and Third is not a club to fade away. It is a club which will not lose hope, will continue to strive for the highest goals, and will ultimately rise again.

Ra Ra First and Third!

Proposed by: Thomas O'Neill
Second by: Julia Robson