Registration Opens for 2024 RowOn Coaching Conference Presented by Filippi Canada

The 2024 RowOn Coaching Conference Presented by Filippi Canada is just under two months away and registration is now open for the full slate of sessions at the Conference.

This year’s Conference will take place on Nov. 30 – Dec. 1 at the Holiday Inn Burlington – Hotel & Conference Centre in Burlington, ON. The Conference is once again hosted by Row Ontario and AMP Rowing and features two keynote speakers and a selection of lecture and practical sessions on Saturday, Nov. 30, and the choice to attend two limited-participation fireside chat sessions on Sunday, Dec. 1. Each attendee will be guaranteed five sessions in addition to the keynote speeches. Breakfast and Lunch will both be provided with lunch taking place along with a presentation of coaching awards on Saturday afternoon. The bulk of the Conference will be run on Saturday, with the Fireside Chat sessions running on Sunday morning.

Register Today

With the recent announcement of the RCA National Conference moving to a virtual format, the RowOn Coaching Conference will be the largest in-person rowing conference in Canada. Filippi Canada will be the presenting sponsor for the Conference.

“This is a big year for the RowOn Coaching Conference Presented by Filippi Canada and we can’t wait to bring it to the rowing community,” said Andrew Backer, CEO of Row Ontario. “With our partners at AMP Rowing we’ve been growing the Conference each year since returning to an in-person format in 2022 and this year we have more speakers, more sessions, two new streams, and a new Conference App that we’re really excited about. These changes are a great next step for the Conference, and we’re looking forward to seeing coaches from the Ontario rowing community, as well as across Canada and the US at the Conference.”

At the close of the 2023 Conference, Row Ontario announced that Michelle Darvill and Paul Thompson would headline the 2024 Conference as the keynote speakers. Since that time, Darvill, who coached the Canadian women’s eight to a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, was part of the Netherlands coaching staff at the 2024 Paris Olympics which won an Olympics-best eight medals. Her keynote speech titled ‘Fostering a Supportive Atmosphere to Form a Thriving Rowing Community’ figures to be one of the highlights of the Conference. As will Thompson’s keynote titled ‘Coaching in High Performance and High Performing Environments’, which will kick off the Conference as the first speech of the day. Thompson is the Performance Director for Rowing Australia and has led crews in three countries (Australia, Great Britain, and China) to World Championship and Olympic gold medals. Both Darvill and Thompson will present a second session on Saturday and will be the featured speakers in Sunday’s limited participation fireside chats. The keynote speeches are presented by HUDSON, the official boat supplier of Row Ontario.

The Conference will be run through the WHOVA App (available in mobile and web versions), which will become the all-in-one go-to place for attendees to register, choose their sessions, review speaker bios and session descriptions, and receive communication pre-, during and post-event. The Conference will feature a total of 24 sessions which will include a Coxswain Stream and a Diversity & Inclusion Stream.

Early Bird registration prices for the Conference will be in effect until Thursday, Oct. 31. Group ticketing options and registrations for newly certified coaches (2024) are also available at a discounted rate. The option to register for just the Coxswain Stream (which also includes lunch and a panel session at the end of the day) is available at a 50% discount from the regular registration price. Group ticket options are also available for the Coxswain stream. Note: Group ticket purchasers must have the names and contact information for all members of the group at the time of purchase.

The 2024 RowOn Coaching Conference Presented by Filippi Canada is a unique opportunity for all levels of coaches, from beginners to veterans, to gain valuable professional development knowledge and learn from an esteemed group of presenters from throughout the rowing world.

For those requiring overnight accommodation it is recommended you stay at the Holiday Inn Burlington. By calling the Hotel directly at 905-639-4443, individuals can make their own reservations. For individuals to receive the established Group Rate, they must identify themselves as members of the Row Ontario group initially when making the reservation. All reservations must be received by the group’s cut-off date of Tuesday, Oct. 29 to receive the group rate.

The full schedule of sessions can be found below. To review the session descriptions and presenter bios visit the event page on our website.

Full Conference Schedule

Title: Coaching in High Performance and High Performing Environments Presented by HUDSON
Presenter: Paul Thompson
Type: Keynote Presentation

Title: Fostering a Supportive Atmosphere to Form a Thriving Rowing Community Presented by HUDSON
Presenter: Michelle Darvill
Type: Keynote Presentation

Title Effective Sculling Technique
Presenter: Paul Thompson
Type: Lecture Session

Title: Key Elements of Success: Lessons from Pathways to Olympic Gold in 2021 and 2024
Speaker: Michelle Darvill
Type: Lecture Session

Title: Coaching Junior Rowing: My Top Ten Tips
Presenter: Chris Chase
Type: Lecture Session

Title: Recruiting and Retaining Coaches
Presenters: Mark Williams, Katie Bruggeling-Lavoie, Dan Bechard
Type: Lecture Session

Title: What’s Happening in Ontario?
Presenters: Phil Marshall and Sandra Farwell
Type: Lecture Session

Title: Deepen Your Understanding of Beach Sprints
Presenter: Iain Wilson
Type: Lecture Session

Title: Building a Training Plan
Presenter: Mary Rao
Type: Lecture Session

Title: Rowing Technique Panel
Presenters: Katie Bruggeling-Lavoie, Connor Elsdon, Carol Love, Volker Nolte
Moderator: Al Morrow
Type: Lecture Session

Title: Exercise Physiology Session (Title TBD)
Presenter: Ben McKellar (CSIO)
Type: Practical Session

Title: Mental Performance Session (Title TBD)
Presenter: TBD
Type: Practical Session

Title: Boat Repair by HUDSON (This session will run twice)
Presenter: TBD
Type: Practical Session

Title: Basic Rigging (This session will run twice)
Type: Practical Session

Title: Advanced Rigging (This session will run twice)
Type: Practical Session

Title: Coxswain Session by Kristen Kit (Title TBD)
Presenter: Kristen Kit
Type: Lecture Session – Coxswain Stream

Title: Coxswain Session by Katie Bruggeling-Lavoie (Title TBD)
Presenter: Katie Bruggeling-Lavoie
Type: Lecture Session – Coxswain Stream

Title: A Coxswains Preparation & Execution
Presenter: Brian Price
Type: Lecture Session – Coxswain Stream

Title: Starting Your Inclusion and Diversity Journey
Presenter: Shauna Bookal
Type: Lecture Session – D&I Stream

Learning to Navigate the Para-Rowing System
Presenters: Mike Petrychanko and Abbygayle Durliat
Type: Lecture Session – D&I Stream

Diversity & Inclusion Stream – Session #3
Presenter: TBD
Type: Lecture Session – D&I Stream

Title: Fireside Chat Sessions
Presenters: Paul Thompson and Michelle Darvill
Date: Sunday, Dec. 1

Sponsors

Filippi Canada is the presenting sponsor for the 2024 RowOn Coaching Conference.

HUDSON Boat Works, the official boat supplier of Row Ontario, is sponsoring the keynote speakers for the 2024 RowOn Coaching Conference.