Canoe Club"s Members are Beijing Bound

Karen Payton - Karen Payton • Published 4 Jun 2008 12:00 0 Comments

ALVA boasts Scotland"s only floodlit canoe slalom course and last weekend it was packed with junior competitors from all over the country.

The Scottish Schools Championships took place in Clackmannanshire on Saturday 31 May and Sunday 1 June, when Scotland"s top junior paddlers competed on the River Devon.

The Alva course is home to CR CATS and over the past 15 years the club has played a significant part in the canoe and canoe slalom sports world.

The club has been associated with a number of outstanding athletes during this time at junior and senior level, both male and female.

The club"s most successful member is Campbell Walsh, 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist, former world cup champion and current European Champion.

Along with Fiona Pennie, who has qualified for her first Olympic Games, Campbell, has secured a place at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

With the club"s proven links to national and world success, CR CATS" chief coach and chairman Johnny Brown hopes his protégée"s success will have spin off benefits for the club.

Johnny said, 'The whole British Olympic Team in Canoe Slalom is Scottish, with two of them CR CATS members. Campbell and Fiona did a lot of their winter training at Alva during their junior days.

'They have been based at Nottingham"s National Water Sports Centre for some years now, but we"ve granted them life memberships of the club. Campbell and Fiona"s success could help to boost our membership - there"s great team spirit here and we"ll all be cheering them on as they compete in Beijing.'

The floodlights at Alva allow club members, who come from all over Scotland, to train throughout the winter months.

In the summer the members train every week at Grandtully in Perthshire.

Thanks to funding from sportscotland, CR Cats have been able to buy the land adjacent to the river course, retaining access to the river.

The club currently has 18 members, all juniors aged between 10 and 18.

Congratulating the club on it"s success, Councillor Bobby McGill said, 'It"s wonderful to think that potential Olympic talent could be competing on the River Devon this weekend, following in the footsteps of Campbell and Fiona.'

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This article appeared in Alloa & Hillfoots Advertiser 05 Jun 08

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