On Monday 9th and Tuesday 10th December 2019, British Eventing’s two new Rider Working Groups met for the first time at the BE head office in Warwickshire. We welcomed on the first day the Working Group representing riders at BE80(T) to BE105 level, and on day two the rider representatives from Novice to Advanced level came together.
The Working Groups have been recently formed, in conjunction with the Eventing Riders Association of Great Britain (ERA of GB), in order to strengthen the connection of the membership to the strategic direction of the sport. The groups will help identify and assess areas of potential development and improvement of the sport. Chief Sport Office Paul Graham said “I am delighted with the level of enthusiasm, passion and engagement that the Working Groups brought to the table. With such a diverse group of people making up the Working Groups we are pleased to have widespread representation from across the sport”. The Agenda The agenda included an overview of British Eventing’s structure, a presentation of results from the 2018 Annual Survey, a discussion around social media, the proposed new look Team Challenge, an introduction from the President of the Event Riders Association as well as several group activities. The groups discussed development of the sport and how the overall experience for members could be improved, plus how feedback will be gathered in a meaningful and quantifiable way. Key areas discussed by both groups included:
Moving forwards, the groups have been tasked to look at three key topics ahead of the next meeting:
In addition, a sport-specific survey will be put together in conjunction with the Working Groups and will be released to members in the New Year. The aim of this survey is to drill deeper into the above listed topics; to find out what new competition opportunities members at all levels would like to see, how BE can improve existing competition formats and much more. This survey will be conducted as an addition to the Annual Survey. The working group commented “We thank those of you who have taken the time to contact us already. Please be assured that your comments have been logged, and the group will be working through them to put forward for consideration. We will endeavour to get actions and/or responses where possible and will make sure we provide regular updates and communications. “We would all like to remain accessible to receiving your thoughts and ideas on how we can improve our sport, so if you have something you would like raised, please feel free to contact any of the representatives.” Contact Rider Working Groups The next Rider Working Group meetings are due to take place in late January/Early February ahead of the next BE Sport Committee meeting. Contact members of the Working Groups and view the Terms of Reference HERE. |