Welcome to the Young People's section of the Yorcie website. Yorkshire is proving to be a great venue for young people to be involved in paddlesports. We have some great clubs, awesome facilities and the support of some really committed old people.

My name is Gareth Field and I am an old person. I work for the BCU as the Paddlesport Development Officer. Big title.  What it means is I am employed to help promote paddling for young people in Yorkshire. My role is to support the clubs to develop opportunities for young people to develop their paddling, whether in competition or recreationally. So in practice that means I help the clubs become more young people friendly and to help promote what young people want.

At the moment we have some really active clubs that are really good at organising events. In 2006, amongst other events we had a regional youth event at Hatfield Water Park and a sprint regatta at White Rose Canoe Club in Leeds.  We had slalom events running throughout the year, and novice and premier Under 16's canoe polo leagues have just commenced their 2006-07 season.  For these and more events, see the Events calendar.

So what I need from you is to know what you want to happen in the region. Do you and your mates want a freestyle session, slalom training camp, canoe trip, rivers trips, etc…?  You tell me what you want and if there is enough support I will try to arrange it. More importantly, I will support you in arranging an event!

So drop me an e-mail and tell me what you think your club or the region needs to help paddling. 

Thanks.

Gareth Field