Resources for Rowing BC Member Organizations

Rowing BC’s member organizations include both on-water and dryland training facilities with an involvement in getting British Columbians active in the sport of rowing.

Rowing BC provides support to member organizations in the following ways:

• programs and initiatives to support athletes all across the Long Term Athlete Development Pathway (see the Athletes tab above for current information)
• education and development avenues for coaches, and support to member organizations in accessing appropriate coaches for their needs (see the Coaches tab above for current information)
• training, resources and equipment for umpires (see the Umpires tab above for current information)
• sanctioning and guidance to organizing committees for regattas and events (see the Regattas and Events tab above for current information)
• resources and professional support to/for Boards and other key leaders at each member organization (see the Board Resource portal here)
• Annual Conference and Monthly Conference Content Series built on topic suggested/requested by member organizations (more information under the News and Resources tab and About tab above)
• assistance and advocacy for accessing grants and other available funding (see the Funding Opportunities page here and/or connect with memberservices@rowingbc.ca)
• communication channels including newsletter, direct contacts, website and social media to support and promote what is going on in and for the rowing community in BC
• online Classified ads for equipment and coaching needs in the community
• apparel supplier partnership and options for member organizations
• assistance with promotion and marketing of learn to row/come and try opportunities, regattas and other special events

This list is certainly not exhaustive. Rowing BC’s Mission is that All British Columbians are able to discover, pursue and enjoy the sport of rowing. If there is something your organization is working on that aligns with that Mission, Rowing BC’s Board and Staff would be happy to get involved and provide the additional supports that are needed.

The process to become a member organization of Rowing BC is outlined in Section 1 of the Rowing BC bylaws HERE. Contact Rowing BC Executive Director, Alia Zawacki for additional support.

Alongside becoming a member of Rowing BC, most organizations will also need to apply for membership with Rowing Canada Aviron. More information about that process is available HERE.

Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA) created and maintains the web registration system (RCA WebReg) which houses all of the data about the Canadian rowing community. This system can be accessed HERE.

Interacting as a System Administrator:

Each local rowing organization must identify one individual to be their System Administrator for the RCA WebReg system, allowing access to the back end of the WebReg system. To set up access and permissions for this individual, contact Sid Murdoch in the RCA Office (rca@rowingcanada.org). The individual appointed as the System Administrator has the responsibilities of:

• ensuring all programs for the organization are created in the WebReg system
• supporting local participants to complete their individual registration into the appropriate WebReg programs
• confirming and “activating” participants in each program at the program start date
• coordinating methods of payment that will be accepted (online options through WebReg vs. an option specific to the local organization)
• keeping the online list of registered Coaches, Board Members and Volunteers up to date
• uploading and linking relevant waivers and other forms related to the local organization’s registration processes so these can be directly completed by participants in the online system

Interacting as a Participant:

Individual participants will interact with the WebReg system at the time of registering for a program. They will each individually create a login and profile in the system. This will assign an RCA number that becomes their unique identifier. They can then sign up for programs that have been created by any rowing organization across the country. All registrations are listed as “pending” until the System Administrator from the local organization confirms and “activates” their registration.

For additional support with the RCA WebReg system, please contact memberservices@rowingbc.ca.

RCA and Rowing BC use the WebReg system for a variety of data and reporting purposes, including the invoicing of membership fees. The membership year runs April 1 – March 31. In the lead up to April 1, RCA and Rowing BC will each reach out to member organizations with an Annual Declaration Form and reminders to ensure that all information in the WebReg for each member organization is up to date. At this time, RCA and Rowing BC will also send an invoice for the annual membership fees of the local organization.

Current membership fee rates and related information are available HERE.

Membership fees for participants are invoiced on a monthly basis. At the end of each month, RCA and Rowing BC will send invoices to each local organization for the membership fees of any new participants who had signed up during that month. Fees are only assessed related to participants who have been “activated”. The WebReg system is built to ensure that membership fees will only be assessed once to each participant in a given membership year no matter how many different rowing programs they register into.

Current membership fee rates and related information are available HERE. This link includes additional scenario examples to explain how membership fees are handled in cases where participants are involved in more than one program, or the fiscal year of the local rowing organization does not align with the Rowing BC/RCA dates.

Rowing BC has, and continues to, focus on the strategic significance of diversifying revenue generation opportunities to support the projects and endeavours undertaken with and for the rowing community across BC. Less than 10% of annual revenue is collected in the form of membership fees in an effort to keep membership costs as reasonable as possible to all members across the province.

Membership fees for the coming April 1 – March 31 fiscal year are announced at the Rowing BC Annual General Meeting each November.

All participants in rowing-related programs MUST be registered and activated in the WebReg system at the start of their program.

A Come & Try membership option is available for instances when participants will drop in to try a program, or a group is coming for a one-day experience. This membership is still registered through the WebReg system, however, instead of each participant registering online, the System Administrator for the local rowing organization will put in an application for a Come and Try event on a specific date at a set cost and then supply a list of participants once the event has taken place.

This option was created to ensure Come & Try and other similar events remain low barrier while also ensuring that participants are still accurately tracked and appropriately covered by insurance.

More information is available HERE.

All participants in rowing-related programs MUST be registered and activated in the WebReg system at the start of their program.

Rowing BC understands that the expertise of volunteers giving their time to running each rowing organization varies. This means that experience with websites, newsletters, social media and other forms of communications, marketing and promotion may or may not be available within your current volunteer pool. To support this, Rowing BC has created some resources to be used by local rowing organizations, and is available for one-on-one support if needed.

Rowing BC Youth Promo Video

In early 2021, Rowing BC created this short video specifically to help rowing organizations across the province promote youth rowing to help engage new members during re-opening after the pandemic. Although it mostly focuses on youth and young adults, there’s no reason to not also use it more widely for promotion of your club and the sport in general!

• You can access the video on YouTube HERE.
• To supplement the video, Rowing BC created a resource document providing guidance on how to get maximum usage out of this video as a promotional product. That guidance can be read HERE.

Social Media Usage and Engagement

Rowing BC has created a beginner-friendly guide for utilizing social media to the benefit of your local rowing organization. That guide can be accessed HERE.

For additional support with marketing and communications, contact Rowing BC Manager of Programs and Communications.

Rowing BC gives out a series of Annual Awards including the following:

• Outstanding Volunteer – each Rowing BC member organization can submit up to 3 names to each receive an Outstanding Volunteer award each year
• Performance Coach of the Year – determined by the Rowing BC Awards and Recognition Committee with input from the Rowing BC Provincial Coach
• Athlete of the Year – determined by the Rowing BC Awards and Recognition Committee with input from the Rowing BC Provincial Coach.
• Club Coach of the Year – awarded based on nominations from Rowing BC member organizations
• Umpire of the Year – determined by the Rowing BC Awards and Recognition Committee with input from the Rowing BC Umpire Committee

In addition, Rowing BC maintains a list of relevant awards and recognition opportunities for athletes, coaches, umpires, volunteers and organizations. This information can be accessed HERE.