Hanlan Boat Club - Coaching Excellence Fund

Hanlan has made great strides forward with the construction of a new boathouse and  more recently has begun to renew our aging rowing fleet. The remaining and most important piece of the programming puzzle is quality coaching and coach development. Hanlan would like to become a centre not only for developing rowers and athletes, but also for developing coaches. Coaching at the club level was for a long time done by volunteers, but that has changed. This ongoing fund will allow our supporters to contribute to this effort, to help with both direct costs and coaching professional development costs. In parallel with this we are planning to extend coaching availability to all rowing programs at Hanlan, which will require additional resources. Pathways for coach development within all of the Hanlan programs will be created and our coaches at all levels of experience guided along those paths.

To assist in the payment of coaching staff salaries, stipends honouraria and professional development costs, allowing Hanlan to improve its coaching for existing rowing programs, attract new coaches, improve coaching skills among our staff and expand coaching availability to all programs at the club.

The Hanlan Boat Club is located in Toronto's Outer Harbour, in the centre of Canada's largest city, making it ideal for introducing rowing to a large and diverse community. The club runs a wide variety of rowing programs at the competitive (Junior and Senior), Masters and Community levels. There is an active Learn to Row program throughout the season. The summer youth camp introduces kids to rowing, and allows participation at no cost for those otherwise unable to afford it. Hanlan has throughout its history been a strong competitor at local, national and international regattas. Our members have gone on to compete successfully at the highest levels of the sport, including the Olympics. The club has recently completed the construction of a new boathouse to facilitate membership expansion as well as provide more and better indoor storage for boats. Hanlan also has access to Lake Ontario and open water rowing conditions. As such Hanlan is in an excellent position to increase participation in the sport of rowing among a very diverse population, at all levels and also within the newer disciplines of coastal and open water rowing. Quality coaching is of fundamental importance in developing new rowers and facilitating transitions from entry level to more competitive programs. Introducing, coaching and developing more rowers of all ages in the Toronto area will benefit the sport or rowing as a whole.