Oxford Academicals Rowing Club – Learn To Row Coach and Development Squad Coach

Oxford Academicals Rowing Club (OARC, or Accies for short) is a friendly, supportive and flexible rowing club, with an adult-only membership across three squads: men, women and development (mixed). We’re one of the three “town” clubs in Oxford and, despite the name, have no affiliation with university or college rowing. Our membership is growing quickly, and we are looking for an enthusiastic and committed coach to join us at an exciting time for the club.

About Us

We are a flexible and inclusive club. Our rowers range from novices to those with decades of experience, and include people wanting a more recreational approach as well as people wishing to train hard and compete. We recognise that our members have commitments away from rowing, and so we don’t have set crews outside of specific race preparation. We are proud of the inclusive and integrated nature of our squads, and maintaining this ethos is vital to the club.

We run Learn to Row courses in late spring and early summer every year. This year we will be running two courses, 13 May – 14 June and 17 June – 12 July. Each course consists of 16 participants rowing twice per week, with four 2hr outings offered on Saturday and Sunday afternoons + Monday and Wednesday evenings.

Those who wish to continue with the club after their course will then be offered a place in our Development Squad (dependent on attendance and a basic level of competency) with the aim of enjoying participation in rowing whilst improving their technical ability to the point where they are able to take part in senior squad outings. We would expect this squad to run year round on Saturday and Sunday late mornings, with the potential for midweek morning and evening outings depending on demand. The squad may also be supplemented with new members who have rowing experience but aren’t currently at the level needed to row regularly with the senior squad.

Who We Are Looking For

We are ideally looking for a single coach to coach the initial 2023 Learn to Row courses, and then to take on regular coaching of our Development Squad. However we would consider employing different coaches for the two roles.

Learn To Row Coach

• Develop outing plans for and coach 1 session in the rowing tank and 14 water outings for each of the two courses.
• Provide feedback to the club on individual progress and determine alongside the club whether candidates have reached the basic level of competency needed to safely continue with the club.

Development Squad Coach

• Work with the club to develop a training plan for the season.
• Plan and coach two weekend outings most weeks, including setting crews in advance based on availability provided by squad members.
• Provide feedback to the club on individual progress and discuss the transition of individuals to the senior squads.

About You

• You must be happy to coach individuals with a broad spectrum of abilities and potential and be confident in coaching adults.
• You will have some previous coaching experience, with coaching of beginners particularly valuable
• Ideally, you will be available for more than a year and will be interested in helping the club continuously develop all aspects of our Learn to Row courses and Development Squad.

For Further Details, or to Apply

Please contact [email protected].

Practicalities

Coaching will primarily be from the bank on the Isis in Oxford (Head of the River to Iffley Lock), but from time-to-time coaches may be requested to accompany outings outside of Oxford, or potentially to join us on training camps (we have had very successful trips to Seville in February 2020, 2022 and 2023).

The club will pay coaching fees, on a per-session basis, invoiced by the coaches in arrears at the end of each calendar month.

Application Dates: From Tuesday 2nd May 2023 to Wednesday 31st May 2023