BCU 5 Star Leader - White Water

Successful performance at this level indicates that you are at the top level of performance, involving a high level of personal skill and leadership in advanced situations. This is a leadership award and as such is the appropriate award for paddlers who wish to lead groups of up to 4 paddlers in advanced white water scenarios in suitable white water kayaks. The five star leader has the skills and judgement to select appropriate river trips for paddlers with a range of experience, however this is not a coaching award and as such is not a suitable qualification for introducing people to the sport.

In order to obtain the 5 Star Leader award, you will have to attend a training course which will last a minimum of 3-days; then prior to assessment you have to log sufficient relevant experience, have attended an Advanced White Water Safety and Rescue course and have an appropriate first aid certificate in place. The assessment course lasts 2-days.

5 Star White Water Leader - Syllabus Overview

What do I need to do before the training course?

You should hold either:

• BCU 4 Star White Water Leader
• 'old scheme' BCU Level 3 Inland

If you do not hold either of these awards, with sufficient evidence of equivalent experience / training, you may still be able to access the course using the APL process.

What will the training course involve?

The coach will cover personal paddling skills such as making eddies, running drops and suitable positioning on grade 3-4 white water. Leadership methods and tactics for such environments will also be covered in detail, including group control, risk management, CLAP and decision-making. Looking at these factors will also lead to some coverage of safety and rescue considerations and incident management - however this should not be the focus of the course as you are required to attend a BCU Advanced White Water Safety and Rescue course prior to assessment, where these techniques will be covered in far greater depth.

Training courses will vary in their exact content and delivery, depending on the experience and previous knowledge of those on the course. You should expect to leave the course with a clear idea of what you need to do in order to progress to assessment.

Please see the 5 Star Leader White Water trainer's notes for more information.

What do I need to do before the assessment?

• You must provide documentary evidence of a minimum of 30 varied, quality, advanced whitewater kayak river days in 3 different geographical areas. Logged experience of paddling grade V with peers.
• Recognised first aid award (minimum 16 hrs training including CPR) within the last 3 years
• You must have one of the following Leadership Trainings:
  
• 5 Star Leader White Water training within the last 3 years 
  
• ‘old’ 5 Star White Water training within the last 3 years (at least 3 days of logged formal training in personal skills, leadership, incident management, safety and rescue prior to assessment). 
• BCU Advanced White Water Safety and Rescue or 2 days formal safety and rescue training delivered by a registered BCU 5 Star Leader White Water Provider (only available prior to 1/10/2010).
• Aged 18 years or above

If you meet all of these requirements, you must then complete the Canoe Wales Leader Registration (LR Form), at least 2 weeks prior to your assessment. Leader registration is valid for 12 months, so it is worth doing it as early as possible to avoid worrying about it as your assessment approaches.

All that is left to do is to book on to a course! Check out up-coming courses registered with us using the online date list.

What is involved in the assessment?

To get an idea of what the assessors will be looking for, please check out the 5 Star Leader White Water Assessor notes.

Following successful assessment 5 Star Leaders must have comprehensive membership (in order to have 3rd party liability cover), knowledge of Child Protection guidelines and must remain current.