Since 2003, GRS and Bachelors Barge Club have been running an Independent High School Rowing Program for students who are in high school and attend a school which does not have a rowing team, and who have completed some previous rowing at Bachelors Barge Club (or other similar program). If you have no rowing experience, please refer to the paragraph later on. The purpose of this article is to provide you with some information regarding the details of this program. Please read the entire article carefully.
For those of you who do not know me, I am Jamie Gordon, my sister is Margaret, the manager of Bachelors Barge Club. I am a current member of and rower at the club, I give private rowing lessons at Bachelors, and I run my own business repairing racing shells. I have taken the USRA Level III coaching certification, and I have been teaching rowing since 1979. 2003 was the first year I ran the Independent program and it was a great success with eleven students competing from five high schools. Last year we had 39 participants from nine schools and 5 coaches. Previously I was head coach of Temple University's Women's Crew, an NCAA Division-I rowing team. I have also coached at Colgate, Purdue, Mount Holyoke College, and my alma mater, Yale. I have been a coach and administrator at The Craftsbury Sculling Center, The Florida Rowing Center (Director), and The Schuylkill River Development Council (Director of Rowing). As a rower, I have eight National Championships from High School through college and beyond.
Safety is the most important facet of my job. This program will be happening on a very crowded river, so discipline is crucial. All aspects of safety will be drilled into the students heads before they ever get into a boat. Students will be required to sign an athletes contract. This will cover safety details, behavior, attitude, logistics and other commitments to the program.
My performance goals for the program are based on my conviction that sport is an excellent way for young people to learn about themselves. The rigid discipline and work ethic needed to prepare to compete in any sport is a form of learning not covered in the classroom. Mastering physical skills and finding what it takes to be an athlete fosters maturity in youngsters. My job is to put them in an atmosphere where they can push themselves to find their potential. The emphasis will be on hard work, realistic expectations, and constant improvement. Of course, kids want to row because it is fun. I will add this; Rowing is fun, but rowing well, going fast, and competing are even more fun.
Here is some information about High School rowing in the Philadelphia area. The Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association (PSRA) is the governing body for most of the races in which the program will participate. The rules of eligibility for the PSRA require that each child compete for the High School that they attend. If you are the only one from your high school, you will be competing in a single for the spring races.
Each student from a non-rowing high school who wishes to row in the spring season must have the acknowledgment of their High School Athletic Director or Principal. To allow the student represent the school, the administration must certify that each student from that school is in good standing at the school and what grade they are in. This takes the form of a letter, on school letterhead, to the director of the PSRA. If you decide to join the program, I will help you obtain this letter.
This program is sponsored by Bachelors Barge Club, but is not run by BBC. Essentially, the parents are hiring me as a private coach for the students. Even though the students will be competing as individuals, and under the name of their schools, they will be part of a squad that contains students from many other schools. Though most of them will not be able to race in the same boats, all of the members of the squad will be required to consider each other as teammates, regardless of their school.
There are several fees associated with the program. First, Bachelors requires that each child in the program obtain a club membership.The new junior membership policy is that students will pay a full-year membership for $450. Please include a check payable to Bachelors Barge Club for $450 on the first day of the program. If you need to pay in installments, please contact me directly. Please also remember that members of Bachelors who are in high school can only use the boathouse and equipment during supervised programs. Full-year membership means that each student will have the option to join any other BBC rowing program during the same calendar year without incurring any additional membership fee. The membership portion for most programs is $150, so, if the Summer 2012 Junior Racing program is $600, you will pay only $450.
Second, The program fee covers the different aspects of my costs. The fee covers all of the costs of running the program, including costs like my and my assistant's salary, membership fees for the PSRA, boat rentals and maintenance, regatta entry fees, and boat transportation. The total for the 2013 program fee is $1900 per student. Most parents pay this fee in installments. I ask for a $400 deposit to reserve your space, and three payments of $500 over the course of the season to pay off the balance. Anyone who may need financial assistance is required to contact me directly. We have a limited number of discounted BBC memberships and program fees available to qualified students.
Third, any school which is represented in our program by four or more students requires an Organizational membership to USRowing. This is a $350 fee for each of those schools, which is shared by the student’s families. This year it looks like Boy’s Latin, GFS, Strath Haven and Upper Dublin will all need USRowing Organizational memberships.
The costs not covered in the above fees include:
- Uniforms; Individuals can wear whatever they like during races, but team boats must have matching shirts.
- Other workout clothing; all practices will be outside during Feb. through May in all kinds of weather. Dress appropriately.
- Food on race days; Most students will have only one race per regatta, however, later season races will have morning heats and afternoon finals, requiring the student to be at the boathouse for long periods on some race days. A bag lunch and snacks are the best solution. Most parents choose to tailgate at the regattas during the race days.
- Transportation to and from practice and races.
If you are interested in participating in this program, please sit down and go through the requested information below. Practice will be six days per week, and once races start, five days per week with the sixth day being a race day. Most of the races happen on Sundays. The usual off day will be Monday, however, on some weeks, depending on vacation schedules or regattas, we may practice on a Monday and take another day off. Practice time will be the same as it has been for the last several years, start time at 4PM sharp going until 6:15ish, Tuesday through Friday, with a practice on Saturday from 9AM to 11:15AM.
I will determine who will be invited to join the program based on the number of responses to this letter. If you are interested in participating in this program, please email me the following information:
- That you are interested
- The name of your High School, and year in school
- How you will be getting to the boathouse and what is the earliest time that you can arrive after school based on safe driving and taking into account rush hour traffic
- A quick summary of your rowing experience
- Email addresses for student AND Parent.
Please email this information ASAP to me at: jamesagordon@comcast.net
I will email out invitations later this month and, at that time will request a $400 deposit to reserve your spot. Please do not send anything until you have been invited.
Rowing experience is required for this program. Our program has a limit to how many students we can effectively serve. If we are close to that limit, we reserve the right to decline to invite students with no rowing experience. If the numbers allow us to take students with no rowing experience, those who are invited will be required to take a Pre-Season Learn To Row course at Bachelors. This course will meet eight times: Feb. 5 - 8 and Feb. 12 - 15 from 4PM - 6PM. To be eligible for the Spring program, each student will need to make at least six of these classes. The cost for this Learn To Row is $250.
Please call me with any questions at 215 850-4570. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Jamie Gordon