TANDRIDGE CANOE POLO - History of the Club
In the beginning
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The Club was formed in September 1994 in order to introduce over-12’s to kayaking in a safe, pleasurable and learning environment.
The main objectives of the Club are:
- To run a successful canoe polo league for over 12’s within the district of Tandridge.
- To be accessible to all young people within the area, whether as individuals or as members of local schools, groups or clubs.
- To be a platform to providing entry to a regional youth league or the National Canoe Polo League.
- To be a stepping stone towards setting up a Tandridge-based canoe club to offer slalom, rodeo and white water kayaking.
- To act as a focal point for local adult paddlers and instructors and to encourage them to share their skills and interests with young people.
- To promote contacts, friendship and shared activity with neighbouring canoe clubs.
- To work within BCU guidelines and training syllabus on safety and improvement in performance.
Catchment Area:
Tandridge District comprises the towns of Caterham, Warlingham and Oxted and stretches from the Greater London Boundary in the North, to Kent in the East and Sussex in the South. Its Western boundary extends to Bletchingly and Nutfield, just east of Redhill. Tandridge District has a population of around 80,000 people.
Venue:
Tandridge Leisure Pool was chosen as the venue since it has a rectangular fitness pool for the polo games, as well as a lagoon area, where skills instruction can take place simultaneously.
Membership:
From the very beginning the league proved to be a great success and it now caters for complete novices up to those with experience of all types of paddling.
Most members tend to join as beginners. In the years since its inception, there have been teams from Scouts, Guides, Ventures, canoe clubs, schools, ‘detached’ (street) youth projects, independents, Young Farmers and a specialist school for young people with severe speech and language disorders. Latterly, however, members have tended to join as individuals [or as groups of friends].
Constitution:
In 1996, it was decided to affiliate to the BCU and the objectives, membership and management of the league were reconsidered. These were formalised in our September 1996 Constitution, which thereafter has been reviewed on an annual basis.
Turning Point:
A key point in the Club’s history was in 1998 when Sue Hornby, the BCU's Paddlesport Development Officer at the time, encouraged the officers to apply for a National Lottery grant for equipment.
To meet the application requirements, the officers produced a 3 year Development Plan, with a Child Protection Policy, a volunteer screening process, and they focussed on broadening the Club's horizons to compete at regional level and introduce members to other aspects of paddlesport.
New Kit:
The work paid off and help from the Lottery enabled us to purchase our very first set of equipment for the Club.
Success in these areas meant that the BCU awarded us Top Community Club Status in May 2001. This was succesfully renewed during 2003 and again in 2006 and we were also awarded the Sport England Clubmark, which recognises a safe and well-run club. In 2007 we were also awarded a Silver Certificate by Active Surrey.
Volunteer Management:
A requirement for still more money to meet training costs led Sue Hornby to suggest that we apply to the Sport England Volunteer Investment Programme (VIP) Awards. The VIP support material gives excellent guidance as to how to recruit, involve, retain, recognise and reward volunteers.
It encouraged us to formulate a Volunteer Management Plan and this has been a further stepping stone to ensuring the future of the Club.
Past Funding:
Over the years, we have been grateful for funding from Surrey Youth Service, National Lottery, Awards for All, Oxted Parish Council, Limpsfield Parish Council, Tandridge District Council, Surrey County Council. Surrey County Playing Fields Association, Sport England, Rotary Club of Caterham, Lions Club and the Gatwick Airport Community Trust.
The Future:
Our Club is very much about getting out and about and "doing". However, we shall continue to review and adapt all our plans and policies to meet changing needs.
We frequently send out questionnaires asking for members’ feedback on improvements that can be made. Do let us know your views. The Committee will actively work to meet these suggestions.
The main objective of the club is to ensure that it continues to be popular for kids and above all, for everyone to have FUN!!!
