News

Posted: 27 October 2023

We are delighted to announce the appointment of two new Directors to the Board of Scottish Rowing at the Scottish Rowing AGM on 1st October.

Dr Laura Graham joins as Director (Coaching), bringing a wealth of experience to her role. Her primary area of expertise is sport education and coach development, with a BSc Hons in Sports Medicine, an MSc in Adult Education, and a PhD in Coach Development. She has been employed as a lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) for sixteen years.

Laura enjoys using her experience and skills wherever possible as a volunteer helping to support rowing in Scotland. She is a Level 2 qualified coach, working mainly with novice seniors at SPRC; a Coach Educator for British Rowing, delivering coach education in Scotland; and has been Club Captain at SPRC for several years. Laura also holds coaching qualifications in paddleboarding, kayaking/canoeing, strength and conditioning, has RYA certification for Competent Crew and L2 Powerboat. Recently, Laura has been working with British Rowing to help redevelop coach development pathways throughout the home nations and she aims to progress this work with her role on the Scottish Rowing Board.

Dr Laura Graham has been a member of the Scottish rowing community for around fifteen years, having taken up the sport as an adult through a Learn to Row course at SPRC. She enjoys the social, emotional, and physical benefits of training and competing with her teammates, particularly the annual club trip to race at World Masters.

Sophie McCall joins the Board as Director (Development).  Sophie brings a huge amount of experience in working in sport development both in Scotland and further afield and has worked for Scottish Cycling, Scottish Rowing, BUCS and at a number of major events including Commonwealth Games, European Championships, World Championships and World University Games. 

She is currently Head of Development & Participation at Scottish Cycling where, as part of the senior leadership team, She is responsible for leading the growth and development of cycle sport across a number of disciplines with a wide portfolio including participation programmes, events and facilities. She has experience in developing sports strategy, securing funding and increasing community engagement and participation in sport. She brings to her roles a wide network of partners across the sporting sector.  

 As a rower Sophie is proud to have of rowed and coached with Dundee University Boat Club and Inverness Rowing Club and she has been a member of Clydesdale ARC since 2013. She is also a coach educator and tutor for British Rowing.

We are very excited to welcome them to the Scottish Rowing Board.

We also had the opportunity to launch our 2023 Annual Review which set out the highlights for the 2022-23 season.  This is available to read or download HERE.