Please complete the form below with the details of the person attending the upcoming EGM on behalf of your club.
Author: Pat Kiely
Club Support Officer
Rowing Ireland is delighted to announce the two winners for the volunteers of the year award for 2021.
Thank you for all the nominations over the last few weeks and well done to all the nominees on their hard work and commitment all year.
Winners
Paul Gallen – Athlone Boat Club
Sinead Dolan – Commercial Rowing Club
Congratulations to both Paul and Sinead on winning Volunteer of the Year! Paul is the Treasurer of Athlone Boat Club and Sinead coaches the junior women with Commerical Rowing Club.
Volunteer of the Month 2022
We will be relaunching the volunteer of the month in January, keep an eye on our social media over the next couple of weeks.
The Northern Ireland Executive guidance for Exercising and Sports as it relates to Rowing.
There may be further guidance relevant to educational settings.
| FAQ’s | Question | Answer | Reasoning (Information Resource) |
| 1 | Can outdoor training take place? | Yes. | To determine the number of people permitted to attend or participate in an outdoor gathering, the person responsible for the gathering must carry out a risk assessment, and take all reasonable measures to limit risk of transmission. Outdoor sporting activities/events of 30 or fewer do not need a risk assessment. |
| 2 | Can club members travel outside their county? | Yes. | There is no restriction on inter-county travel. Guidance for travelling both internationally and within the Common Travel Area during the COVID-19 pandemic can be found at travel advice and guidance on the NI direct website |
| 3 | Can changing rooms and club houses remain open? | Yes. | Changing rooms and shower facilities can be used, but you should avoid or minimize time spent where possible (for example, by arriving in kit and showering at home) and increase cleaning and ventilation. |
| 4 | Can Gyms with plenty of room and ventilation be used while maintaining social distancing and apply strict sanitation protocols? | Yes. | All indoor sport, whether organised formally by your local sports club or informally by a group of friends, is permitted (subject to risk assessment and appropriate mitigations). A risk assessment, as set out in the regulations, must be completed where there will be over 15 people taking part. |
| 5 | Can outdoor rowing events take place? | Yes. | To determine the number of people permitted to attend or participate in an outdoor gathering, the person responsible for the gathering must carry out a risk assessment, and take all reasonable measures to limit risk of transmission. Outdoor sporting activities/events of 30 or fewer do not need a risk assessment. |
| 6 | Can indoor competition take place? | Yes. | All indoor sport, whether organised formally by your local sports club or informally by a group of friends, is permitted (subject to risk assessment and appropriate mitigations). A risk assessment, as set out in the regulations, must be completed where there will be over 15 people taking part. |
| 7 | Can members travel together to and from training/events? | Yes. | Travel to and from sporting events When sharing transport e.g. private car when travelling to and from venues, it is important to maintain a flow of clean air though the vehicle. Ideally by opening windows back and front. |
| 8 | Who do we need to keep contact details of during club activities? | Yes. | Record keeping A person responsible for an indoor sports facility, a gym, or an activity centre is required to obtain visitor information (participants and coaches) and record this in a filing system for 21 days from the visit. |
| 9 | Does our club require a COVID-19 Compliance Officer? | Yes. | Designating COVID compliance officers is a good way to help with coordination of risk mitigation actions. |
| 10 | Should the use of the covid doc 1 & 2 documents on the Rowing Ireland website continue to be used for events? | Yes. | The covdoc1 and covdoc2 documents have been updated to reflect the current guidance from the relevant governments. |
The return to sport protocols put in place by sports governing bodies should be strictly adhered to including hygiene measures, social distancing and other mitigations.
Any behaviour which may encourage the risk of transmission around sports activities, such as car sharing, congregation of people on the side-lines and sporting celebrations, should be avoided.
Sports governing bodies have a responsibility to ensure full compliance with the protocols and are expected to put arrangements in place to deal with non-compliant clubs, participants and coaches.
Please see Sport Northern Ireland Return to Sport Guidance sportni.net/return-to-sport/ and NI Direct government services. nidirect.gov.uk/articles/coronavirus-covid-19-regulations-and-guidance-what-they-mean-you#toc-13
The Northern Ireland Executive guidance for Exercising and Sports as it relates to Rowing.
There may be further guidance relevant to educational settings.
| FAQ’s | Question | Answer | Reasoning (Information Resource) |
| 1 | Can outdoor training take place? | Yes. | To determine the number of people permitted to attend or participate in an outdoor gathering, the person responsible for the gathering must carry out a risk assessment, and take all reasonable measures to limit risk of transmission. Outdoor sporting activities/events of 30 or fewer do not need a risk assessment. |
| 2 | Can club members travel outside their county? | Yes. | There is no restriction on inter county travel. Guidance for travelling both internationally and within the Common Travel Area during the COVID-19 pandemic can be found at travel advice and guidance on the NI direct website |
| 3 | Can changing rooms and club houses remain open? | Yes. | Changing rooms and shower facilities can be used, but you should avoid or minimize time spent where possible (for example, by arriving in kit and showering at home) and increase cleaning and ventilation. |
| 4 | Can Gyms with plenty of room and ventilation be used while maintaining social distancing and apply strict sanitation protocols? | Yes. | All indoor sport, whether organised formally by your local sports club or informally by a group of friends, is permitted (subject to risk assessment and appropriate mitigations). A risk assessment, as set out in the regulations, must be completed where there will be over 15 people taking part. |
| 5 | Can outdoor rowing events take place? | Yes. | To determine the number of people permitted to attend or participate in an outdoor gathering, the person responsible for the gathering must carry out a risk assessment, and take all reasonable measures to limit risk of transmission. Outdoor sporting activities/events of 30 or fewer do not need a risk assessment. |
| 6 | Can indoor competition take place? | Yes. | All indoor sport, whether organised formally by your local sports club or informally by a group of friends, is permitted (subject to risk assessment and appropriate mitigations). A risk assessment, as set out in the regulations, must be completed where there will be over 15 people taking part. |
| 7 | Can members travel together to and from training/events? | Yes. | Travel to and from sporting events When sharing transport e.g. private car when travelling to and from venues, it is important to maintain a flow of clean air though the vehicle. Ideally by opening windows back and front. |
| 8 | Who do we need to keep contact details of during club activities? | Yes. | Record keeping A person responsible for an indoor sports facility, a gym, or an activity centre is required to obtain visitor information (participants and coaches) and record this in a filing system for 21 days from the visit. |
| 9 | Does our club require a COVID-19 Compliance Officer? | Yes. | Designating COVID compliance officers is a good way to help with coordination of risk mitigation actions. |
| 10 | Should the use of the covid doc 1 & 2 documents on the Rowing Ireland website continue to be used for events? | Yes. | The covdoc1 and covdoc2 documents have been updated to reflect the current guidance from the relevant governments. |
The return to sport protocols put in place by sports governing bodies should be strictly adhered to including hygiene measures, social distancing and other mitigations.
Any behaviour which may encourage the risk of transmission around sports activities, such as car sharing, congregation of people on the side-lines and sporting celebrations, should be avoided.
Sports governing bodies have a responsibility to ensure full compliance with the protocols and are expected to put arrangements in place to deal with non-compliant clubs, participants and coaches.
Please see Sport Northern Ireland Return to Sport Guidance sportni.net/return-to-sport/ and NI Direct government services. nidirect.gov.uk/articles/coronavirus-covid-19-regulations-and-guidance-what-they-mean-you#toc-13
Republic of Ireland Rowing Ireland Covid-19 Protocols
Frequently Asked Questions
The Republic of Ireland Government has updated the guidance for sports clubs, there is no change for outdoor sports with some changes made to indoor sporting activities.
| FAQ’s | Question | Answer | Reasoning (Information Resource) |
| 1 | Can club members train in crew boats? | Yes. | All members can train, which must include a qualified coach and if required a parent for safeguarding purposes. |
| 2 | Can club members travel outside their county? | Yes. | There is no restriction to inter county travel. |
| 3 | Can individual rowers go out in sculls from the club? | Yes. | Individual training is allowed. |
| 4 | Can dressing rooms and clubhouses remain open? | Yes. | Where all individuals are vaccinated the use of showers and changing rooms is permitted. Where individuals have mixed immunity status the use of these facilities should be pod based. See Sport Ireland Guidance note. (November 2021) Link. |
| 5 | Are clubs required to look for proof of vaccination or recovery from covid to allow access to club gyms? | No. | Sport Ireland advice is, that only gyms in the fitness and leisure industry are required to see a COVID pass (vaccination or recovery) for people using their facilities. |
| 6 | Can Gyms with plenty of room and ventilation be used while maintaining social distancing and apply strict sanitation protocols? | Yes. | If all members attending the session are vaccinated there is no limit to numbers. If it is a mixed session (vaccinated and unvaccinated) pods of six must be adhered to with strict social distancing between pods. See Sport Ireland Guidance note. (November 2021) Link. |
| 7 | Can more than one pod of 6 train indoors at the same time? | Yes. | A clear and obvious separation must be maintained at all times. Coaches may interact between the two pods, but they must wear facemasks. |
| 8 | Can coaches interact with more than one pod? | Yes. | Facemasks must be worn by coaches and support personnel. |
| 9 | Must participating attendees at allowed training sessions wear a face mask? | No. | Facemasks may be worn by attendees participating in the session but it is not mandatory. Coaches and support staff must wear facemasks. |
| 10 | Can outdoor rowing events take place? | Yes. | No change to outdoor events. |
| 11 | Can indoor competition take place? | Yes. | With 50% spectator capacity only. Spectators must have proof of vaccination or proof of recovery from virus to gain entry to the venue. Spectators must be fully seated. |
| 12 | Can members of pods travel together to and from training? | Yes. | Private transport (carpooling) carrying those not yet vaccinated or of mixed immunity should be aware of higher risk. The use of appropriate face masks is recommended. If carpooling consider use of pod system in which the same participants pool together for all activities. |
| 13 | Who do we need to keep contact details of during club activities? | Yes. | A log of all persons attending any club activity must be kept including; coaches, athletes and support personnel, with contact information to enable contact tracing, should it be required. |
| 14 | Does our club require a COVID-19 Compliance Officer? | Yes. | Designating COVID compliance officers is a good way to help with coordination of risk mitigation actions. |
| 15 | Should the use of the covid doc 1 & 2 documents on the Rowing Ireland website continue to be used for events? | Yes. | The covdoc1 and covdoc2 documents have been updated to reflect the current guidance from the government. |
Any club or group that is not in a position to apply these measures or enforce them should not hold training sessions.
Any local club or group found to be in breach of these measures will result in the club being excluded from the exemption to be allowed training indoors.
Please see the Sport Ireland Return to Sport Guidance Note November 2021 Here, also Statement on COVID-19 public health measures – 3 December 2021 Here.
