Stuck on the Eddyline

How many times have you gone to sweep or back blade an upstream and just end up stuck in no mans land? One is left with the difficult decision to risk a penalty or take what feels like eons of time to reposition the boat and correctly negotiate the gate.

Reading recent social media comments, I feel like we are currently in this position as a sport. It feels like the sport is in an existential crisis and there is a momentum to try and avoid the inevitable disaster. Many have commented on the decline in participation numbers and Duncan Berriman produced the objective truth and reality of the situation.

A number of theories have been explored across a number of threads. I’m going to collate them in this article whilst proposing a theoretical framework that could be used to navigate the problem.

Duncan’s club mate and chairman Dave Rawding of Kingston kayak club, wrote a short paper entitled, ‘The State and Future Prospects of Slalom in the UK’ paper. He outlined and summarized 12 key strategic opportunities on facebook, directly to myself and a member of the World Class Programme. These can be seen below:

1.?Numbers of competitors:?Assess and address the declining number of participants.

2.?Number of competitions:?Evaluate the reasons behind the reduction and seek ways to increase participation.

3.?Equitable distribution of competition and training venues:?Ensure fair access across regions.

4.?Benefits of club collaboration:?Learn from successful examples, such as those in Scotland.

5.?Competition organization:?Examine whether competitions are better run by a single club or a collaboration of clubs, such as Yorkshire Slalom Committees?

6.?Support for volunteers:?Ease the burden on those running competitions by improving site infrastructure and providing support.

7.?Age of those running the sport:?Develop continuity and resilience plans to address concerns about an aging leadership.

8.?Impact of talent programs on clubs:?Evaluate and mitigate potential negative effects on grassroots participation.

9.?Accessibility of venues:?Address the polarization of the sport by increasing the number of accessible venues.

10.?Financial considerations:?Minimize expenses for competitors and their families to encourage sustained participation.

11.?Equity of opportunity:?Ensure that all participants have equal opportunities to engage in the sport.

12.?Winter Series of Friendly Events: To ensure no drop off at the end of the season as an introduction to new paddlers encourage and increase events like Stone Minis and Orton Mere.

From scanning the comments on Facebook there are a few other saliant points worthy of note.

My old boss and kayaking equipment legend Pete Astles highlighted the need for accessible coaching and how the culture has changed around volunteering and university paddling. This seems to coincide with the construction of Holme Pierrepont in the 80s and Lee Valley in the 00’s. A challenge observed by my respectable friends Andy Hadfield and Fiona Pennie-Douglas OLY demonstrated the barriers to becoming qualified as a coach by requiring time and financial investment. This is also the case when highly experienced athletes who wish to translate their paddling knowledge into can use a route through Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL). (However, I will echo the wise words of my former MSc tutor, Chris Cushion , that great athletes don’t necessarily make great coaches without learning their craft).

Although it is perhaps indirectly captured in Dave’s 12 key areas for review, I think it is worth mentioning Andy Neave’s work that has resurfaced from 2018 and brought up to date for 2023.

?The question about accessibility of events throughout the year is then inevitably raised. In Andy’s thread (which he warned the ACM and BC coach conference about in 2018, the latter of which I attended), Les Ford noted that regional events tended to be unevenly spaced.

“The 3/4s in the north are bunched together in the year. This year there were 3 within a few weeks in April May, and nothing till September when they ran on 3 consecutive weekends”.

Whilst I don’t think that Andy would claim to be Nostradamus, it must be incredibly frustrating for him to see his points re-raised in 2023. Now is the time to draw the line in the sand, listen and actively, collectively and productively move the sport forward in the UK. As I said previously, there is a momentum with a group of positive and passionate people who want the best for our sport. Momentum is great as long as it is turned into action.

So, how might we address the consistent decline in participation?

I think it is easy to delve into the tactical minutia of fixing problems, but there’s a risk of us trying to bail out the titanic with a tea cup if we don’t think strategically about the problem. My previous blog explored the experiences I had as I fell in love with canoe slalom. Since then I’ve come to the idea that it was 'community' that enabled that. I was welcomed into the sport with open arms and those arms held me tightly through the ups and downs. I developed a deep sense of belonging with friends, the endeavour and the pursuit of something that I felt was incredibly worthwhile. It is my feeling that those things have been lost to a low early morning mist hovering over the water waiting for the sun to burn it back. We know it’s there, we’ve just got to brave the cool morning in order to rediscover it.

For me striving towards a greater version of canoe slalom community. My previous blog talked about attending the Interclubs in my formative years. This was the quintessential manifestation of community for me. Clubs camped together, parents cooking together, paddlers racing and then spending free time exploring the forests, jumping off jetties or paddling on the flat water above the slalom course. Clubs provided judges and officials, there was catering, a bar and a disco and who can forget Uncle Jim’s early morning ‘bing bong’ wake up call and his caravan?!

The Interclubs absolutely personified belonging within canoe slalom.

For me, I was part of Matlock canoe club, guided by Chris Martin and Andy Hitchen. I would camp and socialize with my best mates adding to my experience. Stafford and Stone would win every year, but that was ok, because we had a great time and forged our own stories to tell away from the winning.

So how do we re-create community on a larger scale? How do we rediscover that level of belonging in the sport and move away from the absolutism I've previously discussed? How can we successfully navigate the course that is set in front of us, regardless of the success and errors to this point?

The following are the proverbial gates I think we need to try and navigate to find that stable water away from the boily eddyline we find ourselves trapped on.

·??????? Competitor Experience

·??????? Coaches, Clubs and Culture

·??????? Competition Structure

Competitor Experience

Let’s start with who the sport is for….. the paddlers. Whether one is aiming for international success or stepping into a canoe for the first time, it is imperative that the individual has a fulfilling experience. If one were to come away from an event feeling like they’ve not had value for money, in our challenging economic climate, why would anybody come back? What about the feeling of being developed and moving towards a goal? If one doesn’t feel like they are progressing towards something, perhaps they would walk away from it and pursue other interests? (This will link in with the next gate to negotiate around coaching)

How can we better recognise progress and achievement than what we already do?

How can we better promote the grass roots of our sport through social media through the expertise that exist within our population? (I am pretty sure I’d be useless as an online influencer.)

I remember Paul Ratcliffe OLY turning up at a Junior Championships in Matlock, signing autographs, hanging out with his sponsors and doing a demo run on the course after he’d won a silver in Sydney. That memory stuck with me to this day. Paul probably won’t even remember, but that gesture of paddling for 100 seconds on the Derwent would have had a profound effect on more than just me. How then could we increase the visibility of our most elite paddlers to inspire our future generations the way Paul Ratcliffe did that day and it not feel like a compromise for anybody involved.

Let’s aim to find a solution where the end product of a race day or a training session is a paddler leaving saying,

“I can’t wait for the next race.” Or, “I can’t wait for the next training weekend like that one.”

It’s possible with some imagination, some honest feedback and brave actions from those willing to stand up and make a positive impact.?

Clubs, Coaches and Culture

This gate is like doing an upstream on the Muncher at Holme Pierrepont. It can be pretty daunting, there is risk of failure, but if we work in unity with the water, it’ll feel effortless and amazing (and probably get a few whistles from those who see it done). If our primary aim is to build ?community and belonging and subsequently enhance the competitors experience, this is a key gate for us to execute correctly through planning on the bank and an adaptive skillset on the river.

My experience of being exposed to our flatwater cousin through my wife over the last ten years has helped me see the power of clubs when building community and belonging. Dave Rawding highlighted the pockets of excellence that we can learn from in slalom where a few strong clubs have become either dominant in terms of racing success or consistent in their approach to be able to attract, develop and release juniors into the ranking system. One that always sticks out for me apart from the incomparable Stafford and Stone is Green Star. I always remember Esther Matthews turning up towing a trailer of boats and paddlers jumping out and rushing to get their boats unstrapped so they could go paddling at the National Watersports centre. I also remember the affectionately named ‘Salisbury girls’ supported by the Trollopes’ and Andy Norman . Those clubs epitomize the meaning of community, promoting and facilitating friendships as well as skill development and competition.

That is only possible through great coaches. By this I don’t mean coaches who have worked with athlete’s to win international medals (although they may indeed be great), instead they are coaches who are selfless, love the sport and love seeing people learn and develop. They are willing to give up their personal time and energy because they want those they coach to be afforded the opportunities canoe slalom afforded them. I have previously mentioned my first coaches, Norman Crowson and Mike Herman, but I have had many over the years who encouraged and inspired me such as, Richard Lee, Nick Redshaw, BSc(Hons), PGCE, FCIEA , Bob Ratcliffe and Andrzej Wojs to mention but a few. The value of the coach is how they shape the individual’s experience on and off the water. They offer guidance, ask questions, shape the learning environment, keep you safe and foster enjoyment. They work with parents, they shape training plans, the list goes on. But finally, they contribute to the culture.

Culture is what we see, hear and feel. It is the lived experience when we operate within our specific environments. Culture has certainly become a buzz word in the world of sport and media and mostly articulated around ‘toxic’ cultures. Everybody contributes to culture, whether a coach, a parent, a paddler or a volunteer at the club. We all therefore have a responsibility to promote a culture that is welcoming, enjoyable, fulfilling, challenging, supportive and engaging.

I think though that our judges and officials are perhaps the ones who are often acutely aware of what the culture has become. Reports of judges not wanting to judge at Premier or selection races because of the pressure placed on their decisions and the fear of being abused by paddlers who feel they’ve made a bad decision are difficult to stomach. This special group of volunteers are the lifeblood of our sport, without them, the sport simply does not run. They can also often be left financially out of pocket which in my opinion is completely unacceptable. This is a broken reflection of the sports culture and perhaps shines a light on how our community is suffering (and sometimes prepared to suffer without speaking out.) When I spoke to the Chair of the committee last week and said, "imagine if we have to stand in front of a group of potential volunteers and say that they can expect to experience the following:

·??????? You’ll spend hours away from home at weekends

·??????? Sit/stand on the river bank for multiple hours rain or shine

·??????? Decisions you make may leave you vulnerable to being verbally abused or slandered.

·??????? You are likely to be out of pocket

There aren’t many people who would snap your hand off for that opportunity."

So we have to change what is on offer. Full expenses? More serious sanctions for individuals who are found to have written something inappropriate on social media? What if we could change that speech to,

"you’ll spend the weekend within a community of like minded friends, sharing stories of your day over lunch with a hot drink (all paid for of course)."

Ghandi famously said that, “the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” Whilst our volunteers aren’t necessarily vulnerable in the sense that Ghandi meant, we should absolutely think about how we as a sport treat them and recognise their value. ?

Competition Structure

Finally, I think canoe slalom would benefit from discussing how the current competition structure could evolve to support the aforementioned points.

Whether observed through the lens of financial, climate or personal sustainability I think there is an argument exploring what a regional system could look like at the grassroots of the sport. The justification for this would be in relation to Les Ford’s previous point observing how access to races in the north come at the start and the end of the competitive season, requiring competitors to travel much further distances for div 3 and 4 events in the mid-season in order to chase promotion. Is it possible through the managed calendar to promote a minimum of one division 3 and 4 per region each month? This could lead to regional development days to be run on the ‘spare’ weekends once again contributing to the competitor experience but enhancing that top line principle of community and belonging.

Radically (and potentially controversially), what if a regional set up were agreed and points that count towards promotion could only be scored within your own region. This promotes local competition as well as encourages clubs within the region to run regular competitions. I believe it has the potential to ameliorate the financial, climate and personal sustainability issues previously identified and also adds an element of equity where differences in finance may become an inhibitor or facilitator when chasing points around the country. This wouldn’t stop people travelling outside their region for experience, friendships and to explore different water venues. They just wouldn’t score points. For an example of this model in practice, the canoe marathon racing committee’s Hasler series employs something very similar to good effect.

It might also be appropriate to explore how promotion currently works. I think the current system enables paddlers to progress through the divisions very quickly. The jury might be out about whether that’s a good or a bad thing. That rush to progress is further incentivised through the various talent programme inclusion criteria. Again, this blog isn’t here to debate that point either. But what might the benefits of staying in a division for a little longer and in the same region when it comes to community and belonging? Perhaps it would help facilitate clubs operating as a giant family (no offence to any who currently operate like this.) It would keep and enhance friendships together on and off the water. It might encourage club collaboration. It might increase the value of staying local and investing in local business and amenities and reducing the cost of travel and accommodation to those who are just entering the sport. It might create opportunities to enhance the competitor experience with more development opportunities at races or training days.

All of this before we even talk about division 1 and the Premier series!

I think the top two divisions should mark a point for a paddler where they have served their ‘apprenticeship’ and know that this sport is for them. At this point, competition would become national with a distribution of events across the home nations. This to me is the transition point where the baseline enjoyment of the sport has been built upon the strong foundation of community. Individuals know what they are getting from canoe slalom and feel a sense of belonging within it.

Finding the pocket of the gate

So far, I have assumed we as a sport don’t want to be stuck on the eddyline. We have a vision of the stable water behind the gate. How do we now reach the pocket of the upstream and move positively towards our goal?

I’ve previously talked about the positive momentum observed in pockets of the community. I’ve also seen the through the slalom committee’s leadership the formation of a number of working groups to better understand the challenges. They will report back on their progress at next weeks ACM and I’m looking forward to hearing from the groups I don’t sit on as to what they’re found. I am also looking forward to sitting on a Q&A panel at next weeks slalom coaching conference hosted by Paddle UK .

Personally, I think that the next step is to take that big stroke which will move us laterally to the pocket of the upstream. That big stroke is committing ideas into action and then holding ourselves positively accountable to what we say we are going to do.

If we say we need to make access to coaching qualifications simpler, who is responsible for pursuing that, what is the plan and how do we keep track of things?

If we do indeed say we want to enhance the experience of the competitor, which races are doing it well, what can we learn from those models of excellence and adapt it to a different venue.

If we want to attract more volunteers and officials, who is responsible for changing the culture or finding more money to make sure nobody who gives so much to this sport is left out of pocket for accommodation.

These are really complex but worthwhile questions to ask and they can’t be solved independently, as you have hopefully seen, each of the ‘gates’ I propose we need to solve are all part of the same sequence on the river. We can’t get one part right without getting them all right. ?

I must extend my gratitude to both Davie Dickson and Dave Rawding for inspiring me to write this article. Thank you to both of you.

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