Read This Before First Practice
Published by Allison Baker
Sep 17, 2023
!!! VERY IMPORTANT - WATCH YOUR SPEED !!! There will be hundreds of students at Sandy Run for crew practice. Buses and cars will be arriving and departing. It is a very busy place. The park staff are extremely serious about safety. Be thankful they want to keep the area safe for all the rowers walking about. Police are often in the area and they will issue tickets.
Rowers are to arrive at Sandy Run for practice at 4:15. Rowers, bring water to stay hydrated during practice. The water fountains at the park are usually turned off until the danger of freezing is past. Once you drop off your rower, he/she will head down to the boathouse to get the boat ready to go on the water. If it is raining, there will be practice. Practice is almost never canceled.
We must clear the park by dark. The coaches will have the rowers off the water by sunset. The rowers must store the boat for the night and receive any instructions/feedback. When you arrive at Sandy Run for pick up, there will be a long line of cars, sometimes stretching from the drop off point to the entry sign. If your rower has a cell phone, he/she may call you to determine your location. I suggest that all rowers in a carpool stick together when leaving the boathouse to ensure efficient loading and departure. This is important as we must clear the park by dark.
Your rower may want to take a bag with warm, dry gear to put on after practice. Some rowers pack a snack to eat while waiting for pick up. After the first week, your rower will have a better idea of what works for him/her in the bag.
Getting boats in and out of the water takes practice. Remember, these boats are 60 feet long and heavy and EXPENSIVE. Novices have so much to learn to handle the boats properly even before they are on the water. Please be patient if some days the wait for pick up is longer than other days. The coaches are very experienced and plan for certain end times, but the reality is that safety issues arise and must be dealt with and this may result in delays.
Missing practice during winter workouts only affected the individual rower. Missing practice now affects the 8 other people on the boat. If your rower is going to miss practice, be sure he/she has followed the notification procedures given by the coach.
Once Daylight Savings Time begins, practice will end later.
Rowers are to arrive at Sandy Run for practice at 4:15. Rowers, bring water to stay hydrated during practice. The water fountains at the park are usually turned off until the danger of freezing is past. Once you drop off your rower, he/she will head down to the boathouse to get the boat ready to go on the water. If it is raining, there will be practice. Practice is almost never canceled.
We must clear the park by dark. The coaches will have the rowers off the water by sunset. The rowers must store the boat for the night and receive any instructions/feedback. When you arrive at Sandy Run for pick up, there will be a long line of cars, sometimes stretching from the drop off point to the entry sign. If your rower has a cell phone, he/she may call you to determine your location. I suggest that all rowers in a carpool stick together when leaving the boathouse to ensure efficient loading and departure. This is important as we must clear the park by dark.
Your rower may want to take a bag with warm, dry gear to put on after practice. Some rowers pack a snack to eat while waiting for pick up. After the first week, your rower will have a better idea of what works for him/her in the bag.
Getting boats in and out of the water takes practice. Remember, these boats are 60 feet long and heavy and EXPENSIVE. Novices have so much to learn to handle the boats properly even before they are on the water. Please be patient if some days the wait for pick up is longer than other days. The coaches are very experienced and plan for certain end times, but the reality is that safety issues arise and must be dealt with and this may result in delays.
Missing practice during winter workouts only affected the individual rower. Missing practice now affects the 8 other people on the boat. If your rower is going to miss practice, be sure he/she has followed the notification procedures given by the coach.
Once Daylight Savings Time begins, practice will end later.