Our staff play a hugely important role at the boat centre and we’re proud to have the opportunity to work with so many amazing people from the age of 14 upwards!

A lot of our senior members of staff have been with the company for many years and some even started in their mid teens. We get to watch our staff grow and mature with some training in paddlesports and becoming coaches themselves.

Below is a handful of our team members, a brief introduction and what they do here at the boat centre.

Sophie Dollar – Centre Manager

After starting as deck crew at age 15, Sophie has worked her way up through the ranks ending up as our centre manager, where she is responsible for coordinating all the other members of staff here and making sure we’re operating smoothly. 

When she isn’t hidden away in the office she’s a fierce paddler! Qualified across multiple disciplines as a leader and a coach, Sophie is at the forefront of  driving forward Leam’s activities and courses.

Leading by example, Sophie is responsible for inspiring many of our young deck crew to get into the world of paddlesports, ushering in the new wave of paddlesport coaches, some who are eager and excited, others she drags in kicking and screaming.

 

Sam Wyse – Shift Supervisor

After getting into Kayaking at 19, Sam decided to pursue a career in the outdoor activities industry upon leaving uni. 

Sam’s passion is simply to have fun on the water, which he passes on to other coaches and pupils with great enthusiasm. Re-known for bringing back as many soggy students as possible, Sam will make sure you have ample opportunity to practice your rescues, whether you wish to or not.

With an uncanny resemblance to Human-Shrek, and a tendency to fall comically into the water (of which videos get plastered all over social media), Sam’s exploits bring in much laughter at the boat centre.

 

 

Jack Halls – Shift Supervisor

Jack joined the company at 18 as deck crew, and has spent his years working at both Warwick Boats and Leam Boat Centre, working his way up to Shift Supervisor.

Nicknamed the Viking – for his rugged looks and tendency to conduct the occasional raid on the fridge – Jack is never more at home than in an open canoe, showing equal grace and power in his paddling ability. 

A very practical member of the team, Jack has taken on the responsibility of (literally) holding the boat centre together as our maintenance manager, whilst also providing tremendous anecdotes that always require an explanation of the punch line. 

 

Dan  Castle – Shift Supervisor

Having been a deck crew for a number of years, Dan has officially joined the management team as the new Leam Boat Centre Shift Supervisor.

Having joined with little paddling experience and no qualifications, Dan is a leading example to many of our young crew as to what they can achieve in just a few short years. Working towards his kayak coaching qualification, being an exemplary white water paddler and joining the management team at just 18, we hope that Dan can pass on his enthusiasm and joy for the job to the next generation of instructors and deck crew.

Bringing a youthful energy to the team, you are most likely to find Dan on the water, trying out a new trick in a kayak, or attempting to show off his paddleboarding skills, which he is annoyingly good at given he has been doing it for far less time than the rest of them team.