Teams
It is great to see we have such a large number of you interested in getting involved with teams this year. We have always been quite successful as a club and it looks like we now have strength in depth, including a growing junior section !
The additional interest from members creates agood “selection” headache for our team managers. We would like to try to include as many of you as possible, so to facilitate this we will be sending everyone who has expressed an interest in teams an email with the list of competitions and ask everyone to select up to 3 events you would most like to be considered for selection. Just because you choose an event does not necessarily mean you will be selected but this will allow us to try to include as many of you as possible. You may still be asked to get involved in things you haven’t selected but it gives us a guide. When making your selection please consider not only your availability for that date but also if it is a qualifier, are you available for the championship and are you prepared to travel, eg 5 hours to Lincoln and stay overnight ?When you receive this separate email list,PLEASE complete these forms and email or post them back ASAP so you can be considered for selection.
So how will team managers choose theirteams ?
The first thing is -are people good club members? eg do they offer to help at eventsor in the administration of the club?do they attend club training and / or competitions? do they come to social events and the AGM ? As we want to encourage people who want to be active members and take part in ALL aspects of the club not just turn up for team events and see it as a way of competing for free - as the club pays for entry fees and stabling – costing over £7,000 per year .
Only then will they look at people’s ability and competition record together with feedback we get from our many training sessions. So pleasecome along and support these events so we can meet you and see how you and your horse are progressing. Also it is very important to keep your horse details up to date on the website eg what level are you competing at? What BD, BE, BS points or £’s have you got? They will be referring to these records all the time for checking eligibility for certain competitions and ensuring you are entered in the correct team. So as you go out during the year and gain experience and points please update these records on a regular basis.
Where we enter more than one team in a competition we will try to ensure one of the teams is made up of our strongest horse and rider combinations , so that we ensure the club has every chance of continuing its successful record. We will then make up other teams selecting people on a rotation basis, to try to be fair and give everyone an opportunity to get involved as far as possible.
I hope this makes our teams policy a bit clearer and more importantly transparent ! We aim to be as fair and open as we can so that Horsham Teams are never seen as elitest or “clicky” in any way. We will always try to be a friendly, welcoming club to any new team members and look forward to meeting many of you in the coming months!
From :
Marilyn Turner – All Teams co-ordinator and Senior Show Jumping team manager
Ros Wells – Senior Dressage team manager
Helen Millichamp – Senior Horse Trials team manager
Teresa Lavender – All Junior teams Manager
Ros Head – Chef D’Equipe at competitions for all senior teams.
HDRC Teams policy.docx