My concern is that no matter how much TV/media coverage the 'elite' level of the sport gets, it does not make it any easier for people to get involved. While yes I would agree that this is important, it only captures attention, rather than increasing participation.
Would it not make sense to increse the amount of advertising of individial division 3/4 events in other paddling places, so that canoeists who where not previously engaged in slalom could have a go.
Another idea: Would it be possible for the BCU to obtain sets of kit for absolute beginners to use, that can be taken to designated 'come and try it' div 4 events. And advertising in the local area to be introduced. Or would it simply be possible for the BCU/slalom committee to organise 'come and try it' events to encourage people to talke up slalom/paddlesport.
Growth of the sport - How do we do it
Mike, that's the plan for the Div 3/4 I am running with the Canoe England Div 1/2 next year at HPP. I have not investigated the possibility of borrowing boats from anywhere apart from my own club as yet, but my plan is to have boats that can be borrowed (even if they are my personal ones). I like the idea of advertising at canoeing venues, may have to look at whether or not I can put posters up at places like HPP.MikeR wrote:Another idea: Would it be possible for the BCU to obtain sets of kit for absolute beginners to use, that can be taken to designated 'come and try it' div 4 events. And advertising in the local area to be introduced. Or would it simply be possible for the BCU/slalom committee to organise 'come and try it' events to encourage people to talke up slalom/paddlesport.
Nick W, I can't comment, but having read what you have written several times I do not get it. I work in a corporate environment so I vaguely recognise the format but otherwise I just don't get it. Sorry
Munchkin wrote:Nick W, I can't comment, but having read what you have written several times I do not get it. I work in a corporate environment so I vaguely recognise the format but otherwise I just don't get it. Sorry
Likewise, sorry Nick
Understand it, but it could be a vision for lowland bog snorkeling if you changed a couple of words.
My comment above was as a new (well returning) organiser of a new event ...
More local events at all levels .. works for me as goal. How to achieve it is the question
Andy
(D1 K1 1981, D2 C1&C2 2010)
(D1 K1 1981, D2 C1&C2 2010)
Munchkin wrote:MikeR wrote:Another idea: Would it be possible for the BCU to obtain sets of kit for absolute beginners to use, that can be taken to designated 'come and try it' div 4 events. And advertising in the local area to be introduced. Or would it simply be possible for the BCU/slalom committee to organise 'come and try it' events to encourage people to talke up slalom/paddlesport.
Mike, that's the plan for the Div 3/4 I am running with the Canoe England Div 1/2 next year at HPP. I have not investigated the possibility of borrowing boats from anywhere apart from my own club as yet, but my plan is to have boats that can be borrowed (even if they are my personal ones).
Sounds good Michelle!
If the BCU/Canoe England wanted to run something similar on a more regular basis with more investment, your event could work as a suitable 'trial' for that, aswell as being an event in it's own right. I guess that the most important thing (bar actually finding boats) is advertising in the local area, so people know the event is occurring.-
roodthomas
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2009 9:33 pm
- Location: Barnsley
Firstly . . . There are loads of good ideas coming out that I would personally think should be put into practice, and also combined with other things that are going on.
CE are doing these "Canoe 2012" events. In my opinion all of the suggested ideas should be put together under this banner! This will avoid the replication of marketing the same events in with different names and would also mean that it doesn't just sound like a bunch of local people trying to promote single events. Using the Canoe 2012 banner would most likely get the message out to a wider audience.
For the Vision and Mission statements I have a few querries. . . What are their purpose as they cannot be a standalone entity? Are they a general desire by the Committee or part of a strategic plan setting the direction of the sport for the coming years? If they are part of a strategic plan for Slalom then there are a few things that need to be considered. They need to be clear enough that everyone understands what they mean. . . Michelle is a classic example as she doesn't understand what I would refer to as 'verbage' i.e. a lot of big words strung together that have no real meaning.
For the vision, If you re-gig the words to something along the lines of "A Thriving UK Paddle Sport; A World Leader" then it reads a bit better, however, In my studies I have learnt that this does not suffice as a vision as there is nothing to measure . . . What you have created is more of a catchphrase for UK Slalom. The vision statement needs to be saying where we want to be and when we want to be there by. I am not going to suggest a vision as I think this will be the general direction in which slalom will move to. However, I would think something along the lines of "X% increase in participation by 20(15)" would need to be incorporated so that there is a target to work towards.
Our purpose - Maybee - To provide high quality Canoe Slalom competion in the UK, from Grass Roots to Elite, in order to make Paddle Sport one of the Premier Leisure Pursuits in the UK ??
Our Values - Ethics, Safeguarding welfare, Respect and Equality for all ??
. . . and I like the rest!!
CE are doing these "Canoe 2012" events. In my opinion all of the suggested ideas should be put together under this banner! This will avoid the replication of marketing the same events in with different names and would also mean that it doesn't just sound like a bunch of local people trying to promote single events. Using the Canoe 2012 banner would most likely get the message out to a wider audience.
For the Vision and Mission statements I have a few querries. . . What are their purpose as they cannot be a standalone entity? Are they a general desire by the Committee or part of a strategic plan setting the direction of the sport for the coming years? If they are part of a strategic plan for Slalom then there are a few things that need to be considered. They need to be clear enough that everyone understands what they mean. . . Michelle is a classic example as she doesn't understand what I would refer to as 'verbage' i.e. a lot of big words strung together that have no real meaning.
For the vision, If you re-gig the words to something along the lines of "A Thriving UK Paddle Sport; A World Leader" then it reads a bit better, however, In my studies I have learnt that this does not suffice as a vision as there is nothing to measure . . . What you have created is more of a catchphrase for UK Slalom. The vision statement needs to be saying where we want to be and when we want to be there by. I am not going to suggest a vision as I think this will be the general direction in which slalom will move to. However, I would think something along the lines of "X% increase in participation by 20(15)" would need to be incorporated so that there is a target to work towards.
Our purpose - Maybee - To provide high quality Canoe Slalom competion in the UK, from Grass Roots to Elite, in order to make Paddle Sport one of the Premier Leisure Pursuits in the UK ??
Our Values - Ethics, Safeguarding welfare, Respect and Equality for all ??
. . . and I like the rest!!
-
John Sturgess
- Posts: 280
- Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 12:01 am
- Location: Gedling, Nottingham/Long Preston, North Yorkshire
As usual, when the question of having a larger sport comes up, everyone starts talking about recruitment - which is what all the posts on this thread are about
BUT
1) We do not have a RECRUITMENT problem, we have a RETENTION problem. As the figures I have presented to the ACM show, if every Club in England retained the paddlers they recruit as well as the ten Clubs with the largest junior sections, the sport would double in size in four years (e-mail me on ECSTCoach@jsturgess.freeserve.co.uk for detailed figures if interested)
2) Any time I talk to Clubs about what they could do to retain paddlers, I get the same answers: our Club couldn't do that: not enough coaches/volunteers/equipment/suitable water/club members who want to. But if you look at the Clubs who do do it, overcoming those problems, it is hard to escape the conclusion that not enough wish comes closer to the truth.
Look at tennis - enormous publicity - annual surge in people wanting to try post-Wimbledon each year - club system that cannot accommodate them (and certainly can't acommodate them affordably) - they lose interest - no increase in playing numbers - so we still have less than 10% of the competing tennis players that France has.
And for a sport that does handle these problems successfully, look at cycling (google 'Go-Ride' to see how they do it).
Could we start looking at the product and the experience instead? Like making sure we have the races they want?
BUT
1) We do not have a RECRUITMENT problem, we have a RETENTION problem. As the figures I have presented to the ACM show, if every Club in England retained the paddlers they recruit as well as the ten Clubs with the largest junior sections, the sport would double in size in four years (e-mail me on ECSTCoach@jsturgess.freeserve.co.uk for detailed figures if interested)
2) Any time I talk to Clubs about what they could do to retain paddlers, I get the same answers: our Club couldn't do that: not enough coaches/volunteers/equipment/suitable water/club members who want to. But if you look at the Clubs who do do it, overcoming those problems, it is hard to escape the conclusion that not enough wish comes closer to the truth.
Look at tennis - enormous publicity - annual surge in people wanting to try post-Wimbledon each year - club system that cannot accommodate them (and certainly can't acommodate them affordably) - they lose interest - no increase in playing numbers - so we still have less than 10% of the competing tennis players that France has.
And for a sport that does handle these problems successfully, look at cycling (google 'Go-Ride' to see how they do it).
Could we start looking at the product and the experience instead? Like making sure we have the races they want?
Hi Roodthomas, Munchkin & Andy
Thank you for the feedback!
Munchkin & Andy - Fair criticism – without commentary my post is somewhat opaque. I’ll break each section down to make it digestible.
Roodthomas – Given the question is ‘Growth of slalom, how do we do it?’ I suggest the vision and mission are the start of achieving growth. They provide a framework for a detailed strategy (prepared by the slalom committee) that will actually deliver growth.
The idea is that the vision stretches and inspires us while driving development in a specific direction. It is also a rallying point for all (both inside slalom and everyone outside) to understand what we are doing and why we are doing it.
The vision provides the goal for the mission. The mission is the who, how, what and why (i.e the overall shape of slalom for years to come) and is pitched towards the people within slalom, particularly the leadership and those that help them in achieving their goals]
I take your point on including a time frame – there are two approaches to a vision – one as a goal and the other as an objective. Let’s include a it and see what people think. How about;
Our Vision
‘Slalom UK - a thriving paddlesport and world leader; doubling participation and winning Olympic Gold by 2016’
There are three elements to the vision;
- first that it is in the future and something we are looking to achieve (i.e. we are not there yet – this is what we are aiming to do)
- second that slalom in the UK is thriving (i.e. [much?] bigger, more efficient, effective & successful – also enjoyable, fun & challenging)
- third that the UK will be the world leader of slalom (i.e. international & Olympic champions and that our method of running slalom is considered the template for all other countries)
…this isn’t to say we aren’t already doing many of these things, just that this is an evolution from where we are today – not a revolution.
Whatever we pull together needs to be sustainable, achievable and realistic; let me know if you think this vision passes that test or if it needs further improvement.
…I’ll work on the mission components next and post them up separately.
Thank you for the feedback!
Munchkin & Andy - Fair criticism – without commentary my post is somewhat opaque. I’ll break each section down to make it digestible.
Roodthomas – Given the question is ‘Growth of slalom, how do we do it?’ I suggest the vision and mission are the start of achieving growth. They provide a framework for a detailed strategy (prepared by the slalom committee) that will actually deliver growth.
The idea is that the vision stretches and inspires us while driving development in a specific direction. It is also a rallying point for all (both inside slalom and everyone outside) to understand what we are doing and why we are doing it.
The vision provides the goal for the mission. The mission is the who, how, what and why (i.e the overall shape of slalom for years to come) and is pitched towards the people within slalom, particularly the leadership and those that help them in achieving their goals]
I take your point on including a time frame – there are two approaches to a vision – one as a goal and the other as an objective. Let’s include a it and see what people think. How about;
Our Vision
‘Slalom UK - a thriving paddlesport and world leader; doubling participation and winning Olympic Gold by 2016’
There are three elements to the vision;
- first that it is in the future and something we are looking to achieve (i.e. we are not there yet – this is what we are aiming to do)
- second that slalom in the UK is thriving (i.e. [much?] bigger, more efficient, effective & successful – also enjoyable, fun & challenging)
- third that the UK will be the world leader of slalom (i.e. international & Olympic champions and that our method of running slalom is considered the template for all other countries)
…this isn’t to say we aren’t already doing many of these things, just that this is an evolution from where we are today – not a revolution.
Whatever we pull together needs to be sustainable, achievable and realistic; let me know if you think this vision passes that test or if it needs further improvement.
…I’ll work on the mission components next and post them up separately.