As Zoe put so beautifully in the last article “Our mission from day dot was to create a
community for coxes, their coaches, and the rowers who wanted to support their coxes’
development”. With this in mind, we look to what is next for WOX. Gathering momentum
from our learning, our mission, and our excitement over how WOX has been received, our
dreams are becoming realities.
Bubbling away in the background since the beginning has been an idea of an in-person
event where we could gather the best in the business to lead panels and workshops with our
WOX community. And now it’s happening – we recently announced our inaugural Coxing
Conference and boy are we excited.
After a wet Henley Royal, the sun is shining and most of the rowing crowd are enjoying this
as they watch their heroes competing at the Olympic games. Meanwhile, the WOX mentors
are working hard thinking ahead to the beginning of next season. Through our course walks
we learnt of the power of in-person events. Although this did not come as a surprise to us
mentors, it was more a relief that our hard work is being appreciated by so many. Naturally,
we are a group who love to delve into conversations face-to-face, learning from these, and
enjoying watching others gain knowledge as the WOX community comes together. This
encouragement has allowed us to take a leap and build on the conference idea.
The aim of the conference is to further our community interactions, open the floor to
questions, and continue to spark learning. Targeted at coxes, coaches and those supporting
their coxes’, we will have a host of panels with some very exciting guests and a few
surprises thrown in there too. Set at Leander, rich with history, we will overlook the Henley
Course and share stories of a multitude of Cox’s journeys. We will look at the technicalities,
the intricacies, the technological advances, and the power of the authentic voice. You all
know that we love to talk, but we hope to speak with actions as loudly as words at this
conference, and that is the joy of it being in person.
This will be the first of many conferences, where each time we can add new panels, different
approaches to learning, and further building a coxing skillset. Keep an eye on our social
media to purchase tickets. As ever, with WOX events, it will not be a profit maker, but will
allow us to cover our costs. If you would like to attend but the ticket price is a barrier, please
get in touch with us as we will have some subsidies available. We cannot wait to see you all
there and we hope you keep tuned for the review.
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