SCA Coaching and Volunteer Conference

SCA Coaching and Volunteer Conference 2016

This was attended by Louisa Oram and myself last weekend, 23 to 24 April 2016. We both took advantage of having the Friday off work to start the weekend off with an afternoon’s skiing on Cairngorm. I hadn’t been on planks for a year, but the conditions at the top of the mountain were ideal and best of all, it seemed as if nobody knew about it, as there was hardly anyone there. Skiing without queues! Superb.

Anyway, after a day on the hill we booked in to Glenmore Lodge where we were met by some of the SCA staff, Andy Murray and Mikaela Meik, who confirmed the various workshops that we were attending and ran through the housekeeping. Then to our rooms to drop stuff off before retiring to the bar for a beer and a bar meal before the evening session.

My session over the evening was the SCA Event Safety and I am sure that Leigh will breathe a sigh of relief as she now isn’t the only one in the club who has done this course. There was some interesting discussion as different clubs have different approaches to running events but I was pleased to see that the systems that we have in place are more or less what British Canoeing is recommending.

After the evening inputs, another beer, a catch-up in the bar with some other coaches and then off to bed.

Saturday morning started for me with a cooked breakfast and then a briefing before attending my workshop choice for the day which was an introduction to SUP (stand-up Paddleboard). This was held on Loch Morlich, sometimes in sunshine, sometimes in a blizzard! However I was dressed for the weather and enjoyed trying a new-to-me form of paddlesport.

 

 

Saturday night was a three course dinner, the Tuscan bean soup was particularly delicious, and then followed by an hour long input from the SCA staff regarding developments in Scottish Canoeing. Amongst the topics discussed were the proposed SCA Consultation roadshows (the Glasgow one is on the 10/05/16 at Glasgow Kelvin College), National Go Canoeing Week, some information about SCA Focus Clubs, SCA membership advantages and Coaching developments including a mention of the new roles of Club Activity Assistant and Sheltered Water Leader.

Sunday provided an opportunity for me to go sea paddling on the Moray coast. Again a day-long activity, we headed north after breakfast to Hopeman. We were one of three groups taking advantage of this sheltered harbour to launch. My group were looking at sea kayak leadership whilst the other two were looking at sea kayak rescues and the third had been working all weekend on a 3 star refresher and assessment. A few hours out in a big swell made for an enjoyable day.

We were back to the Lodge for 4pm and after coffee and cake I made my way home having thoroughly enjoyed my weekend.

There were a huge range of workshops available over the weekend in all the paddlesport disciplines including surfing, canoeing, white water kayaking, sea kayaking and SUP. Some were full day and others were half day. There were also some of the coaching modules available and skill sessions where you could work on your rolling or other aspects of paddlesport. It’s a great weekend and it’s not just for coaches. It’s also there for the volunteers who help to run our club.

So next October/November when details are published on the SCA website have a good look at what is on offer, and sign up for this weekend. You’ll enjoy it!

If you need any further info speak to me at some point……………………….Sandy