Greetings all.

The purpose of of this blog is to keep you informed about events at Upper Thames as they happen. Most months I have made entries which, when taken together, form something of a running commentary about what's going on.

When I became Captain in July 2009 I felt that one of the things I could get on with straight away was the business of giving the membership a greater sense of involvement with the week to week issues as they cropped up. In turn this would lead to an understanding of where we were going over time, and provide a chance for members to have their say.

This has worked quite well, and members don't seem to have any problem letting me know where they think improvements could be made these days!

After a year as Captain, the club has definitely become more focused on rowing. We are now at the point where our boat fleet gathers very little dust. Our new facilities have significantly improved what we can offer and our membership has never been so large and active.

I'm very concsious of UTRC being a club for all of our membership, not just individual squads. As a consequence we have made worthwhile progress on bringing together the intermediates, who are the heart of the club. Everyone is as important as each other these days.

Thanks to this blog and the use of emails as well, I have been able to say exactly what my goals for UTRC have been clearly from the start. They are:

1. To focus on rowing, and encouraging members to compete from time to time.
2. To make sure the club's finances are not stretched too far after the building development work.
3. To recruit good people in all areas of club life.

These aims sound straightforward enough, but of course they involve being aware of every aspect of club life, and I've made it my business to gain an understanding of more or less all areas. Whilst this has not always endeared me to everyone ("it's got nothing to do with you" etc.), it has meant that we've begun to develop a greater sense of who we are and where we're going. In other words, the culture has slowly begun to change in the direction I've set out above.

At UTRC we are extremely lucky to have a world famous location, and excellent facilities right on the regatta course. We are at the geographical centre of rowing, and my task is to make sure that we make the most of this. On a summer's early morning there is no better place in the world to row as far as members are concerned. Rowing at Upper Thames is like playing golf at St Andrews or tennis at Wimbledon, and it's important that we don't lose sight of this simple truth and continue to attract good people.

Best wishes,

Justin