In some university programmes, the development of novice talent has become a forgotten objective. This is largely a consequence of the pressure placed upon head coaches nationwide to produce top crews for major events. This potentially short-sighted philosophy may be hurting clubs in the long term and, more importantly, impeding the overall development of prospective high performing athletes.
In some university programmes, the development of novice talent has become a forgotten objective.
There is certainly more pressure on head coaches today than ever before. With more money being invested by institutions, alumni and sponsors, the need to demonstrate results is paramount. Many have specific performance targets such as Head of the River results (Open and Women’s) and a set number of athletes or boats needing to qualify for Henley Royal Regatta. The big question is, how do they achieve these?
One route is to recruit ex-junior rowers who are seasoned performers. They are able to join a senior squad immediately and add instant value to crews while further developing their capabilities over the coming years. The challenge here is that there is a great deal of competition for these juniors and, with universities more reluctant to make reduced academic entry offers for student athletes, boat clubs are limited to those who meet strict academic entry requirements. The net result is a bit of a lottery for clubs, with success partly based upon whether good junior athletes arrive or not.
This is where the university novice programme would – and should – typically step in. Novice freshers at university are a seriously untapped resource for most university boat clubs. Sadly, the volume of students taking up the sport when they go to university is in steady decline. There are some programmes that buck this trend, and are doing great work to expand their athlete pool through recruiting new athletes, and, in turn, grow our sport.
Novice freshers at university are a seriously untapped resource for most university boat clubs.
The data behind this trend is alarming. Last year, of the universities that responded to a request for information, non-junior athletes on average made up only 15 per cent of their total squads. When you remove one particular university that is running an effective novice programme, this figure drops to 11 per cent. An equally important statistic is the number of post-junior novices that make it into ‘top’ boats at the universities interviewed. Last year, only 12 per cent of the athletes in these boats were not ex-junior athletes. Again, when you remove one outlying university from this figure, it drops to a mere 7 per cent.
The reason for these low numbers is down to two key factors. First, recruitment. It appears that the number of novice athletes joining a programme nowadays is lower than at any point in the last 20 years. This does not set any squad up for success. The second factor is coaching. The vast majority of feedback received identified inadequate coaching resources as the key reason for novice athletes not progressing into senior squads and the leading reason for athletes not committing to university programmes for the long term.
It appears that the number of novice athletes joining a programme nowadays is lower than at any point in the last 20 years. This does not set any squad up for success.
This lack of commitment to bringing new athletes into the sport in not only damaging the prospects of academic clubs, but is doing nothing for keeping routes into the sport open and expanding the accessibility, inclusivity, and diversity within it.
There are some great programmes in place to increase participation in our sport, including British Rowing’s Love Rowing Foundation and the fantastic work being done at the local club level, such as Warrington Rowing Club, Fulham Reach Rowing Club, and London Youth Rowing. However, the data shows that, unless you start rowing as a junior, your chances of joining a performance programme, continuing to row as an adult, and potentially representing your country are very small. This year, non-junior athletes account for less than ten per cent of the GB World Championship squad.
So, where do we go from here? With investment and commitment to university development squads, this would give athletes a clear pathway into senior squads and the quality coaches that are needed to achieve this. Recruiting these coaches may well be the biggest barrier to success, low pay does not help this, for instance. We simply must do better. It is clear that by not having efficient development programmes for non-junior novices, we could be missing out on potential GB talent, and we are certainly missing out on expanding participation and diversity. Simply relying on junior recruits is not enough. If universities invest properly in their novice/development programmes they could achieve a great deal more in the long term.
Imagine the impact on elite rowing if the post-junior academic pathway were more accessible. More athletes in the National Team who discovered the sport at university or beyond like Helen Glover, Imogen Grant, and Tash Morrice? Yes please.
All data referenced above is based upon information available as of 8/9/23
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