Archive for category: News

Dear Clubs,

The Board of Rowing ACT has implemented a Review of the Federal Head of the Lake Regatta and has appointed a three person expert panel to conduct the Review.

The following Terms of Reference will be considered by the Review Panel:

1. The best possible business model to ensure that the ACT Head of the Lake Regatta becomes a leading Regatta for Schools on the Rowing Australia Calendar, including promotion and engagement with ACT and interstate schools, facility requirements, revenue options including seat-fee and merchandising settings and opportunities for sponsorship from the corporate and government sectors.
2. The best possible regatta program to ensure that the ACT Head of the Lake Regatta becomes a leading Regatta for both independent and government Schools on the Rowing Australia Calendar.
3. Clear descriptions for all key roles involved in the management and the promotion of ACT Head of the Lake Regatta.
4. Other matters as they may arise during the review.

The expert panel will include the following:

• Alice Evans is Rowing Australia National Events Co-ordinator, and formerly was a key figure in Rowing Victoria regatta administration.
• Kent Peters is a qualified national umpire from WA who umpire refereed at the Head of the Lake this year. He is Director of Business at Canberra Grammar School, and has a son who rows at CGS.
• Alan Butorac is a nationally accredited BRO, former RACT Board member and parent involved in local regattas in past years.

Written submissions are requested from key stakeholders in Rowing ACT, including the Chief BRO in the ACT, all Rowing Schools in the ACT and a cross section of  interstate Rowing Schools who have competed in Canberra in the past and those who may potentially compete in the future.
The opportunity for personal interviews with key stakeholders will be available.
The Review will commence in April 2018, and a draft report be completed by 13 July 2018.  A Consultation Period will then follow with a Final Report to be issued by 12 August 2018.

Written submissions and requests for personal interviews should be directed to: Alice Evans aevans@rowingaustralia.com.au

History

The Head of the Lake Regatta has a long and rich history in the ACT as a schools’ regatta.  The Lake filled in April 1964 and in the following month the Australian Rowing Championships and Olympic trials were held.  Discussion started very soon after that on the possibility of Canberra hosting its very own Head of the Lake event.  In August 1964 thirty boys from Telopea Park High school were the first Canberra schoolboy organised crew to use Lake Burley Griffin in a four bought from the ACT Rowing Association.  This was seen at the time as the first stage of a plan to establish Canberra’s own Head of the Lake.  This led to the first Head of the Lake being held in April 1966.  Telopea High, Daramalan, Grammar, Lyneham and St Edmund’s all regularly competed in the 1960s.

Since then Rowing ACT has regularly hosted major school regattas on its calendar. The Federal Head of the Lake is the oldest of these regattas: it was inclusive of all schools, and events were won by government schools during the early years. Later the Independent Schools Rowing Association (ISRA) was formed in Canberra and they ran an exclusive regatta that was restricted to non-government schools based in NSW and ACT (not Victoria), and also excluded the Sydney GPS.

With the ISRA regatta migrating to Penrith, and now under the control of RNSW, RACT has re-established the Federal Head of the Lake, as a focus for schools rowing.

The 2018 Head of the Lake event was held in March attracting around 600 crew.  It was very successful and attracted good press coverage with the Canberra Times reporting that students from Canberra Girls Grammar, Canberra Grammar, Daramalan, Radford and Marist were leading the local contingent.

 

Rowing ACT has announced a medal design competition for Head of the Lake competitors with prize monies totalling $1,800.  This is in response to the strong wish expressed by schools for the 2018 event to have its own medal rather than using the normal regatta medal for places.  The 2018 Head of the Lake event was held in March attracting around 600 crew.  It was very successful and attracted good press coverage with the Canberra Times reporting that students from Canberra Girls Grammar, Canberra Grammar, Daramalan, Radford and Marist were leading the local contingent.

The Head of the Lake has a long and rich history in the ACT as a schools’ regatta.  The Lake filled in April 1964 and in the following month the Australian Rowing Championships and Olympic trials were held.  Discussion started very soon after that on the possibility of Canberra hosting its very own Head of the Lake event.  In August 1964 thirty boys from Telopea Park High school were the first Canberra schoolboy organised crew to use Lake Burley Griffin in a four bought from the ACT Rowing Association.  This was seen at the time as the first stage of a plan to establish Canberra’s own Head of the Lake.  This led to the first Head of the Lake being held in April 1966.  Telopea High, Daramalan, Grammar, Lyneham and St Edmund’s all regularly competed in the 1960s.

 

Details of the Competition are as follows

Prizes

• The winning design will attract a first prize of $500 for the person or group who submits it.  The second and third prizes will be $200 and $100 respectively.
• $1,000 will also be awarded to the eligible Member Club from which the winning design is submitted.

Entry Eligibility

• Open to Member Clubs (and their members) which enter the Head of the Lake Regatta.
• Designs may be submitted by the eligible Member Club or directly by members of an eligible Member Club.
• There is no limit to the number of designs that may be submitted.

Medal Design

• The design for the heads side should be in relief, be innovative, be related to rowing.   It is preferable to have some identifiable Canberra feature but this is not a requirement.
• The tails or reverse side must be predominantly a field (/flat) area to allow for inscriptions.
• The design needs to incorporate the following Legend – Rowing ACT [and] Head of the Lake, in any order.
• The design should specify whether the edge is plain or reeded.
• The design should specify whether there is a rim.
• The design must be scalable between 3.5cms and 7cms.
• No cut out designs i.e. medal will be solid.

Judging

• The winning entries will be judged by a three-person panel appointed by Rowing ACT.  One of those members will have expertise in graphic design.
• No member of the panel is to have a family member submitting or assisting with a design.
• The decision of the Panel will be final.
• The panel may commend non-winning designs.

Ownership of the Medal Designs

• All designs submitted will be owned by Rowing ACT.
• Rowing ACT may, at its discretion, alter and use those designs for any purpose.
• The winning design may be altered by Rowing ACT to meet Head of the Lake medal production requirements or for any other refinement it judges to be necessary or desirable.

Acknowledgement

• Rowing ACT will publicly acknowledge and profile the winning entrants and designs.

Entry Submission

• Electronic entry forms and designs should be submitted to holdesigns@rowingact.org.au.   They should be at least 300 dpi.  Electronic entries are preferred.
• Paper entries should be submitted to Rowing ACT, Head of the Lake Design Competition, PO Box 7074, Yarralumla ACT 2600.   Paper entries must preferably be in ink to provide sufficient detail for scanning.

Closing Date

• Designs must be received by 15 August 2018.

 

In response to feedback regarding communication, Rowing ACT is releasing a Communications Strategy which will be implemented by the newly formed Communications Subcommittee. This strategy not only aims to improve communication within the ACT rowing community, but also sets goals to improve Rowing ACT’s media presence and awareness of the sport.

 

Click below to access the strategy:

Rowing ACT Communications Strategy May 2018