WEY To Join
Welcome... Please take a moment to read on to get to know some of the key aspects and pointers we think worth sharing with you as a new (or returning) club member – below we cover:
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01
TRAINING SESSIONS
Over the autumn/winter months, there is ample opportunity to develop your fitness by stepping into the land of land training. Come spring/summer and with midweek evenings lighter for longer, we can make the switch to more time on the water.
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SENIORS
A typical week for Seniors and Masters is shown at weybridgerowing.club/seniors-training-timetable
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To keep abreast of training sessions and session updates, be sure to join the 'WRC Coached Sessions' WhatsApp group – see your welcome email. You will be reminded to sign up for sessions by Tuesday and as far in advance as possible – for this please go to bit.ly/WEYToSignup-Seniors – but be sure to use the Google Sheets app when on your mobile phone, rather than trying to edit the signup sheet in the browser.
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Download Google Sheets: App Store, Google Play
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JUNIORS
A typical week for Juniors is shown at weybridgerowing.club/juniors-training-timetable
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To keep abreast of training sessions and session updates, be sure to join the relevant WhatsApp group – see yesterday's email for your squad coordinator. You will be prompted to sign up for sessions each week and as far in advance as possible – go to bit.ly/WEYToSignup-Juniors – but be sure to use the Google Sheets app when on your mobile phone, rather than trying to edit the signup sheet in the browser.
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Download Google Sheets: App Store, Google Play
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COACHED SESSIONS AND COACHING
With thanks to our volunteer coaches across the squads, Seniors and Masters coaching takes the form of ‘co-coaching’ including access to ‘remote coaching’ tools, such as Decent Rowing’s training videos plus a huge library of training resources available via the members' area: bit.ly/WEYToTrainSmarter (member login required, check your inbox/spam for your welcome email).
STUDENT HOLIDAY AND SENIOR MEMBERS ROWING SOLO
To go out unaccompanied in a single for instance, you must complete the Certificate of Watermanship (CoW) for Single Scullers. We will cover safety in detail tomorrow, but for now, please make a start with reading through our Safety Code.
Once you have read through the above and completed and passed the online safety quiz, you will need to undertake the practical assessment to receive your CoW as a Single Sculler – to give you a good steer on what to expect, check out these readiness checklists here.
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BORING BUT SUPER IMPORTANT
As it is a requirement for those in the bow seat and all single scullers to wear a hi-vis top (all the better to be seen!), we offer every new club member their choice of one hi-vis performance top upon joining – please choose from:
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Hi-vis Performance T-shirt and at checkout use the coupon code: FREE-HI-VIS-T
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Hi-vis Performance Vest Top and at checkout use the coupon code: FREE-HI-VIS-V
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We also keep stock of rigger-jiggers (an essential bit of kit for every rower), ‘Weybridge RC’ performance tees in navy, hoodies for just £23, and more – all this way to a new WEY To Shop!
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For other kit requirements, please read our Clothing Policy.
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HAPPY BOATS = HAPPY CREWS… and so it is at Weybridge, where the upkeep(1) of our boats, blades, CoxBoxes, the lot is everyone's concern. Of course, you will discover more and more about the ins and outs of our boats and blades along the way, but why not get a head start at bit.ly/AlltheRowingLingo and discover more about our fleet at bit.ly/MeetOurFleet
BORING BUT IMPORTANT
As an adult rower, you will come to use our pre-boating system (whiteboard in the boathouse!) before each outing – find out about its uses at bit.ly/WEYToBoat2
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When it comes to the proper upkeep of our boats in particular, it is a basic requirement that crews clean the outside and inside of their allocated boat after every outing.
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In fairness to all members and squads, boats should not be 'block booked' more than 2 weeks in advance. The only exception is when booking boats for race events, typically done by the Captain, Vice Captains, lead coach or squad coordinator. Also, please be sure to use the Google Sheets app, rather than trying to edit the boat booking sheet in your internet browser.
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If you have any queries on booking boats or reporting an issue with any bit of kit, please speak with your coach or coordinator in the first instance.
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02
Weybridge Rowing Club is committed to keeping members safe on the water and when engaged in rowing or training activities by following British Rowing's RowSafe code. We endeavour to meet this commitment by having a clearly communicated policy that is understood by members, coaches and leaders in the Club. To facilitate this all members will be assessed for competence in rowing safety knowledge and will not use club equipment unsupervised until they have been satisfactorily assessed.
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All in good time, the journey toward having a CoW, short for Certificate of Watermanship, is illustrated below – click/tap the image or here to enlarge.
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As with getting and being on the water, indoor rowing is usually a low-risk activity but it is not risk-free. There are risks from overexertion and using poor technique. Care is needed to ensure that risks are kept to acceptable levels – please read our Risk Assessment for Indoor Rowing.
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03
When it comes to racing, there is a fee for doing so; levied by the event organisers. The typical race entry fee is around £15. Rarely is it as high as £20, mainly for 'big' events.
The race fee (entry + admin incl. trailering, as applicable) is paid as a disbursement on your behalf by the Club, along with the fee for trailering, reclaimed from you through a ‘race fees account’.
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A race admin fee, usually £3.30, applies on a 'per-seat' basis and covers getting the boats to and from the event, and is split equally between competitors. As part of this race admin fee, a small surcharge of 2% (equivalent to 30p on a standard £15 'per seat' race fee) will be applied to all race fees paid on members' behalf by the Club. If someone has to pull out for an entirely unexpected and unavoidable reason after entries close, it means the fund will cover the cost of withdrawing the boat if a substitute cannot be found.
Check out the public race events that WEY typically enter at bit.ly/WEYToRace – here you can subscribe to the race calendar.
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In the meantime also and so that we can enter you in races, you will also need to buy separately through British Rowing your ‘licence to race’ – go to britishrowing.org/join/
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For bigger events and regular racing, you will need a Weybridge Rowing Club All-In-One (AIO, a lycra unisuit). We have two designs so when you come to race for Weybridge RC, please ensure your whole crew is wearing the same design AIO (7-2-5 Dress, British Rowing 2022 Rules of Racing).
For any training or racing kit queries, please email kit@weybridgerowing.club – or visit bit.ly/WEYToShop
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04
What would WEY do without people like you? As a community rowing club, we are run by volunteers. We are not only Clubmark accredited but also registered as a community amateur sports club (CASC).
Everyone in some way ‘chips in’ as it is after all (y)our club – and there are many opportunities to get involved! Without our volunteers, we would have to engage (read, pay) more people to do all that we do – and our subs would have to rise in a rather alarming way! There are many ways to get involved and help out, be that on a bigger event-by-event basis or the more bite-sized day-to-day, task-by-task – all make for fun and great ways to meet other club members and get involved with the wider rowing community.
Please do consider how you might like to help in maintaining such a thriving club, including and perhaps especially, our at-capacity junior section – some of the many ways to help out are shown here.
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Short on time to spare to help out? There are other ways you can support the Club… Typically between 100 and 150 members, the 200 Club, founded in 1990, is a well-established fundraising body. It is independent of the Rowing Club but exists to help support the Club's fabric outside of its core activities. Funds are not used to acquire boats or blades.
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If not already a member, why not join our other supporters at the 200 Club?
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Money does grow on trees! Or at least it does for us with easyfundraising. Every time you shop with the 1000s of retailers available via the easyfundraising website, you raise funds for the Club – check it out and register at easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/weybridgerc/
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Just one more thing... Feel free to email me directly to feedback on this email series and the joining process in general. For any suggestions for socials that we could add to the calendar, please email social@weybridgerowing.club
And finally, remember, do get involved, go with the flow and have fun – we insist!
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