Overview
Indoor Rowing competitions between schools have been running successfully since 2002 when they were trialled in the Peterborough LEA. They now take place annually in locations up and down the UK. These events run on a league basis providing motivation and encouraging competitive interest in Indoor Rowing which is now developing nationally as a sport in its own right. The system, which has been modified through experience and use, is now being advocated as a model for leagues throughout the UK.
The following gives detail of how the competitions are organised. Please use the model as you see fit - new ideas, constructive criticism and comments are invited, in order to continually improve.
Format
To enable schools to enter with teams of various ages/sexes, the individuals' achievements are measured against the 'ARA Olympic Gold Medal standard times', and expressed as a percentage of that time. A team is five people from a school and can comprise pupils of any age or sex, however a mix of girls and boys is suggested. A maximum of two teams may be entered per competition by each school. It is hoped that these competitions will give an opportunity for schools to allow as many pupils as possible to compete, with the top 10 from each school being selected to represent the school at an area final. At this event the top school and best individuals receive trophies and presentation prizes. The best athletes at this local event are selected to form a team to represent the city at a Regional competition.
Scoring
To reflect the different levels of fitness and endurance ability the standard times require different duration pieces for different age groups with different expected distances between the sexes.
Eg: a Year 8 boy will row for 3 minutes and the distance achieved compared with the standard (810m) and expressed as a percentage score. Year 7's row for 2 minutes, Year 8 for 3 minutes etc. The percentages of the individual team members will be averaged to give the team score, the team with the highest score is deemed to be the winning team of that event. Recognition certificates are awarded to the school and the top 3 individual boys and girls.
ARA Olympic Gold Medal standard times
|
YEAR GROUP
|
ROWING TIME
|
BOYS TARGET
|
GIRLS TARGET
|
|
7
|
2 Mins
|
510m
|
490m
|
|
8
|
3 Mins
|
810m
|
750m
|
|
9
|
4 Mins
|
1125m
|
1020m
|
|
10
|
5 Mins
|
1430m
|
1275m
|
|
11
|
6 Mins
|
1720m
|
1540m
|
|
12/13
|
2000m
|
07:00.0
|
07:45.0
|
Results
An 'Excel' spreadsheet as a template, for running on a laptop, is
available and can be used for entries and calculating results. As races are run the scores can be updated and a final result calculated by the software. This is usually undertaken by a member of staff or older student.
Points can be allocated to the teams depending on finishing positions and can be added to give running totals and league positions, the exact format of this depends on the number of schools and matches run during a season. The wealth of data available means individuals progress can be tracked throughout the event and statistics accumulated.
Fun Relay
As an end to each session, a 'Fun Relay' is included. This allows all the children - and perhaps some staff! - to compete against each other and emphasises "team work". The format is a 10-minute row with each team member rowing for 1 minute each, the team with greatest distance wins.
Amateur Rowing Association - The Home of British Rowing