On the evening of September 7th, the VCKC Board held its annual meeting via Zoom with all Board members and coaches present. All of the club’s members were invited to attend, too.
Coach’s Report – The State of the Club
Membership
The club now has 8 active members and is having regularly scheduled workouts. The coaches are very happy with the progress they see our athletes making and are very appreciative of the support received from parents and paddlers alike. Practices are currently held three times a week with one session on most Saturdays, two others on Monday and Thursday afternoons to accommodate school schedules.
Equipment
The club’s boat trailer is full to capacity and excess boats are being stored at both the homes of our two coaches. We acquired four additional kayaks in the past few months; a Hody Sport made K1 Van Dusen Eagle in excellent shape, an older and more stable K1 Lancer, and two K1 Orions given to us by San Diego Canoe & Kayak Team. (Thanks again SDCKT!) With the exception of the Eagle, these boats are more stable for our beginners to use and excellent additions for us. Each now has a cloth cover for storage.
We have also purchased four QuickBlade adjustable sprint canoe paddles that will provide years of service to the club. Club paddles have been loaned to each of the beginning paddlers so that they may be responsible for maintaining and managing some equipment. Learning to be responsible for your own equipment is a good thing for everyone. All beginners have purchased their own life vests.
Just this week, we have been told that a new racing Plastex C1 will be ours to use from Washington Canoe Club paddler, Ian Ross. He used this boat at the Super Cup races in Oklahoma and wants to keep a boat on the west coast for use at Nationals and Team Trials when they are closer to us than to Washington, DC. Thank you Ian!
SafeSport Audit
A reminder of the MAAPP policy and the need for SafeSport training was emphasized. All adults who interact with minors or have power over them must take SafeSport training.
Recruitment and Membership
While the coaches are feeling good about the success of our Spring classes, we are doubtful our monthly classes are attracting paddlers who want to become a part of the club – most of the weekend attendees have a great time, enjoy the introduction to paddling, but that’s it. It’s a “one and done” moment. We will need to rethink how we advertise and market our sport.
The meeting adjourned at 7:45 pm with the Board expressing compliments and thanks.
