New Members

This week our club was flooded with potential new members.

Our morning practices in just one short week went from having a group of around thirty returning members to being overwhelmed with just shy of ninety.

So where did all of these people come from? The answer lies in a few places.

Some where convinced to join the team by friends who were already members. Others were interested in the sport and contacted our Vice President of Public Relations through our website. By far, the vast majority decided to come out to practice because they learned about the team from the LSU Student Involvement Fair.

Last week LSU held it's Student Involvement Fair on the Parade Grounds as it does every semester. Along with the other sports clubs, religious groups, political groups and service groups LSU Rowing set up a booth. Current members of the club enthusiastically approached any passersby that gave our set-up more than a glance.

Some people feigned interest and others were down right rude. Many seemed genuinely interested and asked if any prior experience was required. It was not. They asked questions about competitions and club dues and after a while they would ask "When do you practice?"

At which point the recruiter would hesitate and say begrudgingly "Six a.m. every week-day." Which he or she would quickly follow with an explanation that it is the only time that no one is busy and that after the first week it just becomes a part of the routine

Most people came up with a polite excuse for why the no longer had any interest at all in the club. A few just laughed at the idea of being up that early, but some brave souls were undeterred and signed up to attend the first week of practice and receive informational emails.

We hosted two "Learn to Row" days in the afternoon at our dock. The potential new members came and learned about the basics of a rowing stroke, the parts of a boat, proper technique on the ergometer and the details of how the club is run.

Monday morning the masses came to practice and coaches, assistants, club officers and returning members shuffled people around in the dark, dividing them into boats and running groups.

The group of new members that was able to go onto the water learned the one of the best reasons to start practice every morning while it is still dark.

So we can watch the sunrise.

It was a good one.

Welcome

Rowing clubs across the United States face challenges unique to the sport in their struggle to stay afloat.

Success or failure on race-day often hinges on factors beyond the oarsmen's control. Adverse weather conditions, faulty equipment and so many other disadvantages take an immeasurable toll on the crew in its pursuit of victory. Issues such as these make the day-to-day operation of a successful rowing program even more difficult.

These problems are often magnified for developing programs outside of the established rowing communities of the east and west coasts. 

This blog will attempt to bring light to the problems faced for young collegiate clubs in the American Southeast and will specifically chronicle the struggles of the growing Louisiana State University Rowing Club. It will also serve as a learning experience for me, the blog's main author and a proud member of the LSU Rowing Club. 

I do not believe that I know enough about the sport to make overreaching judgements on the sport as a whole, but I firmly believe that my perspective gives me a view on rowing that differs from the norm.

I hope to share my views with you.