GB Junior Training Squad
ABOUT
The Great Britain Junior Training Squad (GBJTS) is a joint collaboration between the Sprint Racing Committee, the National Associations and British Canoeing’s World Class Programme to establish, create and deliver an annual series of coaching events and camps that are additional and complementary to club provision.
The ambition of these events is to bring the fastest Juniors in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland together and provide opportunities for them to train and develop. In doing this, we want to help equip young paddlers - up to and including U18 - with the skills to successfully perform at international events and to help establish new friendships across Great Britain.
We want to foster a sense of pride amongst paddlers who are part of the GBJTS, while also recognising that being named as part of the squad will also aid athlete grant and university applications. Furthermore, the GBJTS will support coach development for any coach in the racing community, with opportunities to attend, learn and share knowledge at each weekend.
Athlete Standards
Athletes will be invited onto the squad once they have hit one of the following standards:
Qualified for the Canoe Sprint Junior World Championships team, or named as a reserve
Qualified for the Canoe Sprint Junior European Championships team, or named as a reserve
Qualified for Olympic Hopes Championships representation as an U17 or U16
Achieved Girls or Boys K1/C1 U18 National Final in 200M, 500M or 1000M at the Junior National Championships regatta
Ranked in Sprint Division A (Girls or Boys)
Ranked in Marathon Division 1 or 2 (Boys)
Ranked in Marathon Division 1, 2 or 3 (Girls)
The nature of the squad will allow for various entry points throughout the season. Once an athlete has achieved one or more of the above standards, they will be eligible for entry into the squad and will be added to the named list (see tab 3).
It should be noted that attendance is optional and complimentary to existing support, this will vary across individuals. While an athlete may be named and eligible for the squad, they do not have to take up their place should they not want to. They can also choose to attend some but not all weekends should they wish.
The GBJTS wants to offer opportunities for crew boats to develop and as such, opportunities will be extended to crews even if one or more athlete of that crew has not made the standard and is not currently eligible to be formally part of the squad.
If you have not made the current standards to the squad but believe based on your race performance and results that you are of an appropriate performance standard, you and/or your coach can contact us to outline why you should be included.
Please submit any requests via email to charlie.barwis@britishcanoeing.org.uk
Requests will be considered by the GBJTS Steering Group and will provide a response in a timely manner.
For the avoidance of doubt, the GBJTS is separate and in no way linked to selection events. Attendance of the squad in no way enhances or inhibits an athlete's ability to be selected through the process laid out by the International Panel, which can be found HERE. Selection for international competitions is based solely on an athlete's performance at selection regattas.
