University of Warwick Boat Club Alumni Section
During 2002 & 2003 Ken Loveday (Kendo) and Mark Williams worked with the University and UWBC executive committee to set up an alumni boat club. In February 2004 the Warwick Graduate Association Boat Club (WGBC) was formally established and registered with British Rowing (formally the Amateur Rowing Association).
The UWBC is often looking for new sources of finance to help aid the purchase of equipment and facilities. The primary function of the WGBC is to provide funding to the UWBC but equally importantly it provides a chance for you to carry on rowing after you leave Warwick and maintain contact with your fellow graduates. The WGBC alumni boats are often seen racing along side the UWBC at various heads and regattas promoting the more 'social' side of the sport. Not forgetting, of course, the legendary "Barford International Invitation Regatta" the day of the Rowing club ball.
+ WGBC Objectives
- To participate in the Head of the River Race (HORR) on the Thames in London annually.
- To participate in at least one or two additional regattas each year.
- To organise official social events in London at least twice yearly.
- To assist in the search for corporate sponsorship for UWBC.
- To use knowledge and experience to offer advice and coaching to the current UWBC squads. To aid "knowledge transfer" whereby the experience of a boat club executive committee member is not simply lost when they leave the university as graduates.
- To mobilise support for UWBC at the races which they compete in throughout the year.
- To assist in the development and organisation of the annual rowing ball.
+ Benefits for the alumni
- Opportunity for staying in touch with fellow alumni from members' own years at Warwick.
- Chance to meet alumni rowers from other years at Warwick.
- Opportunity for building social/business networks.
- Chance to continue to compete in the sport.
+ Benefits for the current UWBC members
- Coaching: As a number of alumni rowers have progressed to great heights in both coaching and practising the sport, the alumni club would be in an ideal position to offer coaching to the current squads
- "Knowledge Transfer": The current concern should be that when the executive committee members graduate and leave the University, knowledge and experience are lost. The club is often left to repeat mistakes that have been made in the past! This is detrimental to the development of rowing at Warwick and simply cannot be allowed to continue
- Financial: The current list of alumni rowers' employers spans nearly every well-known graduate recruiter imaginable. From Banking to Accountancy to Engineering to IT to Management Consultancy, nearly every sector of business is represented
- Recruitment: Current student rowers will have an instant database of contacts, which they will be able to use in researching their chosen career paths and graduate recruiters. Such liaison is already being encouraged, with introductions to recruitment personnel having been set-up for students who have expressed interest in applying for jobs at alumni rowers' employers
ALUMNI EVENTS
The following is a (not necessarily exhaustive) list of the events that WGBC and the Alumni organise or attend during the course of the year:
| Month | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| January | Barford International Invitation Regatta (BIIR) | Barford |
| January (evening of BIIR) | University of Warwick Boat Club Ball | Warwick area (varies) |
| March | Head of the River Race (followed by social) | Putney |
| July | Henley Royal Regatta | Henley |
| August | Peterborough Regatta (with camping and BBQ) | Peterborough |
As these dates draw close, specific details of the itineraries and arrangements will hopefully be emailed out. Former members are encouraged to attend any of these events.
Club history & Alumni Contributions
We welcome content from past members that can be featured on our site and recorded for members to come.
Below are articles featuring accounts and photographs provided by alumni members.
Thanks to Godfrey Bishop for a very informative account of UWBC's foundation.