Castlebar Kayak Club 2.79

Castlebar Kayak Club
In 2013 the club received a Club Training / Development Grant from Mayo Sports Partnership. With
the funding received the club put together a Level 2 Instructors Course which was run by Canoeing
Ireland, the governing body of the sport. Six members from the club participated in the course
and three of those members have since qualified as Level 2 Instructors. Already Castlebar Kayak
Club had two Level 3 Instructors and one Level 2 Instructor in the club. As a result of running the
course it means a total of five Instructors and other Trainee Instructors are waiting to be assessed.
The Instructor / Student ratio for a Level 2 Instructor is 1:6 on flat water and for a Level 3 Instructor
is 1:8. Due to the ratios the club was always confined in the number of new participants it could
take on in any given year but for the first time ever this year the club ran two introductory courses
and the number of participants in the courses increased dramatically. Also more club members
than ever participated in National Events / Challenges such as The Liffey Descent; The Atlantic Sea
Challenge, The Galway Bay Sea Challenge etc.
Castlebar Kayak Club Instructors also work in conjunction with the Special Olympics and five of
the athletes that we train have qualified for the National Special Olympic Event that is to be held in
Limerick in June 2014. The club are optimistic and hopeful that some of these athletes will qualify
for the Special Olympic World Summer Games that are to be held in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
in 2015.