Report to CCA board.

In 2000, Canada played host to a world marathon paddling championship, the first time that such an event has been held in Canada.

A special thanks to Allan Billard and the Paddle to the Sea Society which organized the event and also the qualifier last June where the team to represent Canada was selected. A special thanks also to Robert Deschamp, a former chairman of the Marathon Racing Council. This competition was the fulfillment of his dream. In summary, Canadian paddlers did well on their home waters. When points from Junior and Senior competitions were combined, Canada placed second, overtaking a number of strong marathoning nations. It’s fair to say that, in particular, Canadian Junior paddlers made their mark. As the CCA board knows well, the effort to bring a Worlds to Canada was a long struggle with many setbacks.

The original site for this competition was to be Shawinigan, Quebec. However financial backing for an event at that location fell through and the competition was held at the second choice, Lake Banook and the nearby canal in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The Lake Banook site is familiar to many who come from the the sprint side of paddling in Canada.

Indeed, many of the paddlers who represented Canada at this World event originated from the Sprint side of Canadian competitive paddling, not from Marathon. A week before the Worlds were held a successful Canadian Marathon Canoe Championships were held in Saint John New Brunswick. There were few, if any, ICF paddlers present at this event. That fact points to the dichotomy in this sport that MRC governs. As I write this report, a couple of provinces have indicated a strong interest in hosting a qualifier for the 2001 Canadian team, which is to compete at the Worlds in England in September. This points to a renewed interest in marathon paddling, with a surge coming from the ICF side among paddlers who want to represent Canada at World Championships.

For paddlers who watched or participated in the Worlds in Dartmouth, making a Canadian Worlds Marathon team is now a goal worthy of their aspirations. There is a two-fold challenge here for the MRC. The first challenge is to nourish this interest across Canada. It’s a big country, and there are ICF paddlers interested in representing Canada in several provinces. The other challenge is to sustain the essential “culture” of Marathon canoeing in Canada, which comes from the “sitdown” side of the sport. That brings us to a second point of interest and progress this year at the MRC, the development of a Competency Based Education and Training (CBET) coaching program.

Representatives from Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, took part in a CBET workshop in Ottawa in February, with a view to completing a Participant Development Model in time for this annual general meeting. Again, as I write this, it isn’t clear if that goal will be achieved. Getting participants to the table in Ottawa was a task in itself. Our provincial organizations are generally underfunded and financing travel is difficult at best. Some participants paid for this trip out of their own pockets and have little or no opportunity for compensation.

That said, a CBET program has great potential for the sport of Marathon paddling. CBET is certainly state-of-the art for sports coaching in general and Marathon is glad to be a part of this. Sitdown style Marathon lacks even a standard NCCP. Some provinces like Ontario have coaches certified under the sprint NCCP model. Other provinces lack even that. Coaching sessions and clinics are conducted by exceptional paddlers who may or may not have coaching credentials. Observers might think that the move to CBET is rather like moving from the bronze age to the computer age in one swoop. It’s time to look forward, not back.

This year the Marathon Nationals will be held in Selkirk Manitoba, Aug. 3, 4 and 5. Manitoba is welcoming both sitdown canoers and also ICF high kneel canoe paddlers and kayakers in many classes. A year ago at this time, Alberta officially joined the MRC. This year we are welcoming Quebec into the MRC fold, although in a diminished capacity. Last October the organization which had represented Quebec at the MRC table was dismantled. The Radisson Canoe and Kayak Club in Trois Riviere now represents Quebec nationally.

The last point of interest is the Marathon Racing Council’s financial position.The MRC has (or soon will) pay off the debt to the CCA incurred during the runup to the Worlds. We can put some money in the bank. We look forward to having a face-to-face AGM for the Marathon Council. A telephone conference call is a bare minimum necessary to conduct business. As a means of exchanging ideas and helping a sport to progress it falls short.

The MRC is looking forward to holding a face-to-face MRC AGM as early as next year and working to make this discipline of the CCA grow.

Sincerely Yours

Don Stoneman

Chair

MRC