Juniors Programme Overview

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TwRC is dedicated to providing opportunities for children from the age of 13 (year 9) to grow and develop their fitness, self confidence and skills in rowing. It offers a great chance of identifying future talent and training juniors towards competitive rowing, as well as a chance to make new friends and have fun.

 

The junior programme takes the following outline:

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• During term time, the Twickenham Juniors Programme operates one ninety minute session each day Mondays to Fridays between 4:45PM and 6:30PM.  On Sunday afternoons there is a double session of three hours duration with a mid-session break. 

• Sessions are divided between water-based and land training, which comprises indoor rowing and strength and conditioning.   This allows for development of technique during the week and a longer fitness based workout on the weekend.

• Summer Term is the most competitive rowing season, with the highlight being the National Schools Regatta. All juniors train and, when selected, race.  Selection of crews is based on in-boat performance, indoor rowing testing, seat racing, technical proficiency, crew compatibility, and consistency in attendance.

• Autumn Term is the period in which the athletes concentrate primarily on developing their rowing proficiency and fitness.  There are opportunities for the more advanced rowers to participate in head races.  Towards the end of the Autumn term access to the water can be limited, first by the annual draw off in November and also by fast river conditions.  Water training can also be impacted by the reduced daylight.   In those circumstances, indoor rowing is used to develop technique as well as fitness.

• Spring Season. From mid-February onwards, longer days and improving river conditions the athletes to spend more time training on the water.  The focus in this term is on further development of their rowing skills and fitness ahead of the major competitive season.  There are also a number of head races that take place in this term.

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Termly Membership

Twickenham Juniors train during term-times only; membership fees are therefore due termly in advance.  There may also be opportunities offered to attend additional camps and courses that run during the school holidays for which there will be additional fees charged (to cover the extra coaching and use of club boats and facilities).

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Junior Learn to Row

We run Junior Learn to Row courses in the Easter and occasionally run them again in the Summer if there are spaces in the Junior Squad. The Learn to Row courses take place over the course of a week and prepares children with the basics from which they can then join the main Junior Squad.  The courses are run by the club's Junior Squad coaches.

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Keeping Safe!

TwRC take children's safety very seriously and are committed to delivering a good education in water safety. Any new Junior member that joins is obliged to attend a Swim Test and Capsize drill in their first year.

If your child is joining from another club, please ask their previous club to provide a letter that states they have already taken a capsize drill. In the meantime anyone who hasn't completed at the minimum a swim test must wear a life-jacket during sessions.

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