About Us
Glasgow University Canoe Club (GUCC) is an inclusive club dedicated to kayaking, we encourage people of all abilities to come improve their kayaking skills and explore Scotland along the way!
What we do
The club has members across a wide range of kayak disciplines; however, we're primarily white-water paddlers, with many of our members also enjoying canoe polo and freestyle kayaking.
Training
We are a relaxed club when it comes to training, but it’s important to learn some key skills before heading out to the rivers and continue improving those skills to get the most out of your time on the water. We run weekly pool sessions on a Thursday 8-10pm, providing a safe and warm environment to develop your technique. During these sessions we also make time to play canoe polo, and if you’re feeling steezy, you can even try some freestyle.
We also run regular evening sessions at Pinkston Watersports, an artificial whitewater course here in Glasgow, giving you a chance to practice on white water on weekdays too.
Trips
River trips are the highlight of the club, we run a couple trips a month, this includes day trips as well as weekends away. From bouncy rivers suitable for beginners to grade 5 waterfalls, there’s something for everyone! Trips are an amazing opportunity to experience some exhilarating white water, explore Scotland's stunning scenery and have fun with your pals. Destinations can include Fort William, Glen Etive, Pitlochry area and a surf kayak trip on the East Coast.
Competitions
We love to mix with other universities across the UK both socially and competitively. We host the annual SUS polo competition. Come along and play for one of our canoe polo teams to shred some gnar. Some of our members also attend freestyle and boater-cross competitions around Scotland. Many of our members who specialise in other disciplines also compete in BUCS, slalom, WWR, sprint and more.
Social Events
The club has an excellent social side! After every pool session we head to Bank Street Bar for drinks, FREE PIZZA and good craic -- a great opportunity to meet new and old club members! For those keen to continue the party we have affiliations with GUU, QMU, Buff Club, and Record Factory, and we explore many other places. We've got tons of annual social events, including our Scavenger Hunt, Halloween Flat Crawl, White T-shirt Party, Subcrawl (a Glasgow favourite), Christmas dinner, and Burns Night. Our end-of-year Wallaby Island trip is a favourite, where we paddle out to an island in Loch Lomond and party away the sins of the previous year. Fear not any non-drinkers -- we also host events such as film nights, potlucks, and other activities such as climbing.
Insurance (The boring bit)
Upon joining, please check the level of insurance cover the GUCC provides to you. Paddle Scotland recommends the full or recreational Paddle Scotland membership or equivalent, which provides civil liability insurance. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the appropriate insurance cover for any activity you take part in. GUSA recommends that all students who play high risk sport, go abroad to compete/train, or play in governing body leagues may want to consider/need to take out personal liability insurance or join the sports governing body to be covered. Some insurance providers also offer specialist sports cover.
Trips listed as 'Peer Paddling' trips are not official club activities, therefore you are not covered by the club's Associate Paddle Scotland membership or GUCC membership.
More details on this can be found in the Peer Paddling information in the Resources section of this page. Before attending any Peer Paddling trips, you must sign this document and email it to commodore-canoe@gusa.gla.ac.uk and secretary-canoe@gusa.gla.ac.uk.
How to join:
- Fill in the Mandatory GUSA survey (found on the homepage of this website) and wait 10 minutes.
- Join UofG Sport with either a 12 month membership (£192) or semester membership (£105)
- Use the join section located on the top right of this page to select your GUCC membership!
- Expect to receive an email containing a link to our WhatsApp community where you can be kept up to date with paddles and chat to your new friends!
Get sendy!
