As a club growing rapidly we look forward to continuing our competitive spirit nationally and locally. To afford this, we look forward to welcoming a new Head Coach for the elevation of coaching structures within the club, whilst also setting aside funding to access additional essentials such as repairs and transport costs.

Your support is absolutely vital for the development of our club and its members. Every donation and share is greatly appreciated!

Our Story

The University of York Boat Club (UYBC) was founded in 1963 and is the university’s oldest sports team, established a month after the founding of the University. We are a student-run sports club with a strong team of local volunteer coaches, who provide a high standard of coaching allowing our novice and senior squads to compete regularly at national levels. As well as several early morning water sessions a week, our coaches also spend time with rowers during land training and video analysis sessions, operating on a one-to-one basis to ensure all members progress technically.

Challenge Week is a fantastic opportunity for you to show your support for our club in a way that will allow us to continue an upward trajectory of competitive success. Any donation you are able to make to support us would be much appreciated!

Since COVID both our mens and womens squads have been making huge leaps in terms of achievements. The senior men last year qualified for Henley Royal, and the senior women came 58th in WeHorr. Going forward we would appreciate the support as the club grows in both size and calibre. We have been working hard this year to improve both our novice training programme and the integration into the seniors to ensure the best chances for the years to come. Your support could help to improve our fleet, ensure we are able to attend races, allow the appointment of a head coach and continue the current successes of the club.

To achieve our goals we need your help, no matter how big or small the donation. Every bit of money we receive will make a massive difference.

Where will the money go?

Our club is rapidly expanding, with over 150 active members. However, in order to allow our growing numbers the opportunity to train and fulfil their potential we need working equipment and training.

Specifically, we are hoping to raise £3,500 towards a new Head Coach who will work part-time to coordinate and assist with coaching plans across our 6 squads.

Additionally, to allow training to continue, aim to allocate £1,500 towards equipment. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Boat Fins and Footplates
• Trestles
• Cox Headsets
• Race Transportation and Accessibility
• First Aid Kit Refills

Why is this so important? 

Focusing on training and racing is an excellent investment into future squads which will ultimately continue the legacy of hard work fostered by UYBC. Our team is becoming increasingly more competitive, and we expect to further represent the university in future competitions. Our recent successes at BUCS head, where our mens top eights came 9th, our womens top eight came 11th, are a testament to the club’s growth. This was soon followed by the senior women and senior men breaking course records for Yorkshire Head, and winning in their respective 8+ divisions. This Challenge Week’s impact will successfully continue in fueling our rowers to give each training session and race everything they’ve got.

The continuation of this shared goal is reliant on our amount of funding, this year especially, as we aim to develop our skills, maintain equipment, and facilitate accessibility to competitive events.

The Challenges

Below are some of the challenges we will complete as a club throughout the week:

• 24h Erg at Greg’s Place - Kicking off Challenge Week with a big push on the erg!
• Sports Union Track Run - 936 laps, equating to the distance from York to Lancaster.
• York River Clean Up - Taking care of our river and its surrounding area to ensure that everyone can enjoy it at its best.

Squad challenges will include:

• Senior Men - Dusk til dawn erg outside the Minster.
• Senior Women - Rowing/erging the distance from UYBC to Lancaster (127km).
• Novice Men - Million metre row on a singular erg.
• Novice Women - Ergathon from York to Henley.
• Coxes - Cox race! Men’s coxes vs women’s coxes.
• YuRow - Rowing/erging the distance the Vikings sailed to reach England (1200km approx).

Other activities including individual, group, and squad challenges will also be taking part - so keep your eyes peeled!

Find us here

Give us a follow on Instagram @uybclub to keep up with the latest challenges and updates.

Help us raise awareness by resharing posts or leaving a comment - your support means a lot to us!

Help us succeed!

We would love you to donate as much or as little as you are able, and any donations are hugely appreciated. Your donation could also help us unlock fundraising challenges which will help us reach our goal even faster (you can see these on the challenges page).

If you are looking to support an individual athlete or challenge please put a message with your donation saying who!

Alternatively, if you are unable to donate then please do spread the word by signing up as a Challenge Week Ambassador for our club, and sharing our social media posts to your own socials so as many people as possible can read about our efforts - thank you!