Rowing used to be very much an amateur sport, and this applied to everyone involved - Athletes, coaches and administrators. Times have changed: athletes at the top of the tree are funded in various ways, enabling a wider spectrum of people to take up the challenge of representing their country. Even small clubs rely more and more on professional input from coaches and other support staff. They bring expertise and knowledge learnt in their training which their amateur predecessors simply did not possess.
However, amateur input from people who are now universally called volunteers, is becoming more and more important. There were thousands of volunteers in Beijing who helped the Olympic Games to take place with great efficiency. They were universally well-informed and helpful; even when language was a barrier, they made their guests welcome.
Closer to home, MCSBC has been relying more and more on the help given by volunteers. It is physically impossible for the Director of Rowing and the Boatman to look after everyone in a club of roughly 80 athletes. In the past year in particular, three young OMs, Greg Flower, Andy Groves and Toby Johnson have given hours of their time to help their successors in the Boat Club to benefit from taking part in rowing.
Two long-standing and faithful coaches have retired from the club this year. The expertise and dedication of Jamie Jameson and Peter Bossom will be sorely missed. They may have been on the staff, but they were volunteers in the sense that they did far more than their duty to help the club and its members.