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Overview
Welcome to the River City Rowing Club Junior Crew. The junior crew is an
organization that was created to provide middle and high school aged
students the opportunity to participate in the sport of crew rowing. Just
like the many other group activities that many of our children partake in,
the parents play an integral role in assuring that the club operates
effectively to the benefit of our children.
Our club has an executive parent board consisting of a president,
vice-president, secretary and treasurer. The parent board meets with the
four coaches: varsity men, varsity women, novice men and novice women. The
coaches and parent board meet monthly or as often as needed to discuss the
team’s activities and to address all issues concerning the Junior Crew.
One of the most challenging jobs for the board is to encourage parents to
donate a few hours a year to help the team. The team hosts and travels to
several events each year and every one of these events requires the help
of many adults.
The coaches and parent board do as much as they can to provide the rowers
a safe and healthy organized activity, but they can only do so much when
it comes to providing individuals that are needed fill the various jobs
involved with running the team. If the club relies too heavily on the
coaches, parent board and the few parents that always help, then the
quality and effectiveness of the program suffers to the detriment of our
children.
This handbook was created to educate the parents and to hopefully allay
any fears of the amount of time commitment required to fill the various
volunteer positions. A brief overview of what to expect during a typical
season will be presented and a description of the volunteer positions will
be provided. Please take a few minutes to read the contents and determine
where you can help. Thank you.
Typical Season
The typical season for the coaches and parent board members is from
September through August. The executive board meets with the coaches
during the summer to close out the past season and then to prepare for the
upcoming season. As for the rowers, their activities begin in September,
in preparation for the fall season. The number of days during the week
that the kids will meet for practice is strictly a coach's decision. They
will meet a minimum of three days a week in the fall. As you can see from
the schedule, from September through December, there are very few events
slated. The fall season can be considered a period of conditioning for the
rowers and especially for the novice rowers, a time to learn. In the fall
the team will usually compete in "Head" races, which are events where
boats are launched at intervals and their total time to complete an
approximately 6 kilometer course is determined. No "head to head" racing is involved. The
novice teams may or may not participate in some of the earlier events if
the coaches feel they lack the experience to safely go out on the water on
their own. They will, in all likelihood, participate in the River City
Junior Fall Regatta hosted at the port. At the Head of the Port, an
invitational regatta for junior (varsity only), masters and collegiate
teams, the novice team members are asked to help perform various duties
(to be assigned by the coaches). They are asked to help out so that they
get a feel for how a regatta is conducted and what to expect when they
participate in their first regatta. The novice teams will be expected to
arrive when the varsity teams are expected at the port. The coaches will
provide all information prior to the regatta.
As one can only imagine, as the season progresses the weather only gets
worse until spring. So what happens to practice or scheduled races in
inclement weather. Generally, for practice, it is the coach's decision
that dictates whether the rowers go out on the water. If it is cold and/or
rainy, the boats will usually go out if they were scheduled to do so.
There are only two conditions that will keep a boat off the water and
those are strong winds and thunderstorms. Strong winds make the water
conditions unstable and unsafe for the boats. Thunderstorms pose the
potential hazard of lightning strikes. As a rule, if the sound of thunder
can be heard while the boats are out on the water, the coaches order the
boats back to the dock ASAP. If lightning can be seen while out on the
water, the coaches direct the boats to reach solid ground immediately and
to disembark the boats until the storm has left the area. The same rules
hold for regattas, but the event itself may be cancelled if strong winds
are expected.
After the fall season, the racing season begins. The sprint racing season
doesn't actually begin until around March. After a one to two week break
around Christmas and New Year's, practice resumes. As you can see from the
schedule, the period from January through May is extremely busy. Our
Kick-Off Dinner in January brings all of the rowers and their families to
a potluck dinner that will formally introduce the coaches and parent board
members to the whole team and their families. All parents are strongly
encouraged to attend this dinner because the coaches will break out into
individual groups and discuss the upcoming sprint season with the
families. This is a great opportunity for families to ask the coaches any
questions they may have.
The next event that RCRC participates in is the Peninsula Indoor Rowing
Championships or "ERG Races." At this event, which takes place on dry
land, rowers compete against other league by "rowing" 2
kilometers on ERG rowing machines. The race is tracked by computer. Monitors are set up in the
gymnasium so that spectators can track the progress of the racers. RCRC
participants are usually asked to stay until the last RCRC rowers race to
help cheer the the team members. It's an extremely exciting event.
These races take place in Burlingame and because the whole team usually
doesn't go, participants usually provide their own transportation.
The Ergothon, in which rowers "row" long distances on the ERG rowing machines, is our primary fundraising event. Prior to the
Ergothon, the
rowers are asked to solicit sponsors for them. The sponsors are asked to
pay a certain amount of money for each kilometer erged or the sponsor may
give a flat amount. The rowers are asked to sign up for a time slot during
the day during which they will erg. Food and beverages will be available
for the participants. This is an all day event.
The Novice Invitational Regatta is held at Lake Merced, near the San
Francisco Zoo. Here, as the name implies, only novice teams, both women
and men, are racing. Depending on the size of our novice teams, either a
bus will be reserved or 12 passenger vans will be rented. If vans are
rented, parent volunteers may be asked to transport the teams. The
coxswains meetings are generally held at 6:45 or 7:00 a.m., so as one can see,
the team would have to leave the port fairly early. In the past, the buses
have left around 5:00 a.m. for events held in the
Bay Area. Breakfast and lunch will be provided at all regattas.
League Races are the events where each of the teams will compete against
other teams in the league. Usually, three to four teams will compete at a given
league race. These races usually begin around 8:00 a.m. and are completed
usually by 1:00 p.m.. Depending on the scheduling of the races, we may host a
race or travel outside of the Sacramento area. If we have to travel
outside of the Sacramento area, the team will charter buses for the event.
Each rower is required to ride the bus to the events so that the coaches
know who will be there and can determine who will be in each of the boats
entered. Usually, there is room on the buses for parents to ride. A small
fee is asked for each non-rower/non-coach individual that is riding the
buses. The majority of the teams are in the Bay Area along with a couple
in the Stockton area. There is also a team from Humboldt.
The Windermere Invitational Regatta is primarily a varsity event for our team
and is held at Redwood Shores in Redwood City. Because this is a two-day
event and not a league race, all participants are asked to pay for the
entry fees and overnight lodging. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are
provided. In the past, only the varsity "A" boats have competed. Transportation to and from the race is generally via rented 12 passenger vans.
The San Diego Crew Classic is also a varsity event. One of the largest
crew events on the West Coast, it hosts collegiate teams, masters,
juniors, and in some years, international teams. Again, this is
strictly a varsity event. In the past, both the varsity and junior varsity
boats have attended. It is strictly the coach's decisions as to which boats will
be going. Since this is not a league race and is optional on the part of
the rowers, the team does not pay for transportation, lodging or food. All
of these are the responsibility of the rower. The team will reserve plane
tickets, reserve hotel rooms and provide opportunities for the rowers to
feed themselves. Passenger vans are rented at the airport to be used for
transportation while in the San Diego area. In the past, we ask that a
couple of parents accompany the team and act as chaperones to help the
coaches monitor the activities of the rowers while in San Diego.
The season culminates with the Southwest Regional Junior Championships
held at Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova. This is a three day event that
starts with team set up and practice on the preceding Friday. There is
also a pasta dinner on Friday evening that is provided by the club. Races
take place on Saturday (8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.) and Sunday (8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.). This is a
large scale event involving teams from throughout the Southwest Region, including
teams from Arizona, Southern California and New Mexico. Since
it is such a huge event, many volunteers are needed.
What to Expect as a Parent
The club relies on the rower's parents to help support the efforts of all
junior crew activities. As stated earlier, the parent board members are
parents of rowers whose primary duties are to ensure that the team
activities that our children are involved with are conducted in a safe,
organized and efficient manner. To achieve this goal, the parent board
must be able to rely on the help of all parents. There are several
opportunities for parents to help the club. The following information
identifies the volunteer activity and briefly describes the associated
duties:
Parent Board President: Oversees all non-coach activities involved with the junior crew. Meets
with the coaches and other parent board members at least once a month or
as needed. Coordinates the activities of all volunteers to coincide with
team events.
Parent Board Vice President: Assists president with the same duties. Historically, this individual is
responsible for reserving all transportation for the team.
Treasurer: Responsible for monitoring the financial activities of the junior crew. Up
to date record keeping is required of this individual. Responsible for
receiving and dispersing all monies involved with the operation of the
team.
Secretary: Responsible for maintaining all of the team’s policies and procedures.
This individual attends all of the meetings and prepares the meeting
notes. Responsible for the maintenance of team rosters and ensuring that
all individuals have the proper documentation required to be an active
member of the team.
Communications Coordinator: This individual is responsible for sending out any team related messages
via e-mail to all of the rowers and their families. Any pertinent
information that needs to be disseminated to the whole team or individual
teams will be sent out by this individual. The team will provide all names
and e-mail addresses of all the rowers as they become available.
Fundraising Coordinator: This individual will be asked to coordinate all fundraising activities.
The current fundraising activities are the Ergothon, holiday wreath sales,
Ace Hardware inventory and the Jamba Juice sales. All of the information
regarding these activities will be provided by the club. The goal will be
to implement existing and new activities as they become available.
Gear Coordinator: This individual will be responsible for placing all uniform and gear
orders for the team. A total of three orders will be made each year. This
person will obtain all orders from the rowers and will then place an order
on behalf of the team. This person will also be responsible for accepting
delivery of the gear and distributing the gear when they are delivered.
Payment will be made by credit card or by check disbursed by the
treasurer.
Carpool Coordinator: This individual will devise and implement a feasible carpool plan to
provide transportation for our rowers. All rower information (address,
schools, etc.) will be provided by the team. Only the information of
rowers who choose to participate in carpooling will be made available.
Primary Volunteer Coordinator: This person, along with the help of the parent board, is responsible for
recruiting parents to be coordinators for most of the team's events such
as the Annual Kick-Off dinner, the Ergothon and the regional championships
at the end of the year. Besides recruiting, this individual will be
responsible for ensuring that all volunteer coordinators are on track to
fulfill the needs of the individual events. Generally, this position
entails frequent communication with various individuals via e-mail and
infrequently by phone. This person is not expected to fill any unfilled
volunteer positions. The parent board will be responsible for finding
individuals in the event that positions remain unfilled. Needless to say,
you will get to know many of the parents on the team. This position is not
expected to attend any monthly board meetings. This position requires
someone who is willing to keep track of the progress of all the individual
event coordinators and to report same to the parent board.
Regatta Food Coordinator: This individual is responsible for asking parents to volunteer their time
and to donate food for the rowers at home and away regattas. This person
will ask parents to sign up to bring certain food items for breakfast and
lunch. A list of requested food items will be provided by the team. This
person will also ask parents to sign up for shifts to help serve food
items to the rowers during the regattas. It is to the discretion of this
coordinator to determine how long and when the shifts start and finish.
The coordinator will ensure that the volunteers are reminded of the food
items they signed up to bring and the times that they signed up to staff
the food tent. E-mail addresses and telephone numbers of all families will
be provided. The coordinator is not expected to be at the food tent at all
times.
Parking Coordinators: These individual
are responsible for directing the boat trailer and
spectator traffic at the port during home regattas. The primary
responsibilities are to direct the visiting boat trailers down towards the
boathouses, allowing visiting teams to transport food items towards the
boathouses, direct spectators such that parking space use is maximized and
keeping vehicles out of the Laborers Training Camp parking and training
area if those areas will be used by that group during a regatta.
Individuals must be willing to arrive at the port by 6:00 a.m. The shift ends at 8
a.m. A minimum of two are required.
Porta-Potty Coordinator: This individual is responsible for ordering portable sanitation units from
United Services (club has an existing account) for each of our hosted
regattas. Number of units will depend on the expected number of
participants and spectators. Units must be delivered on the day prior to
the event and placed in a specific location. Units will be picked up on
the day following the event. All information necessary to place a proper
order will be provided by the club. Individual will place the order and
inform the parent board of the specifics prior to the event. An extremely
small amount of time and effort to assume this position.
Kick-Off Dinner Coordinator: This individual is responsible for organizing this pre-sprint/spring
season potluck dinner. Families will be asked to bring food and drink to
support this event. A suitable location must be reserved. A list of
possible/likely locations will be provided by the parent board. Volunteers
must be organized to help set-up and clean-up for this event.
Ergothon Coordinator: This individual is responsible for organizing the food and drinks that
will be available to the rowers during the Ergothon. This person will ask
for food donations from families and ask for volunteers to help serve the
food during the Ergothon. This an one day/all day event. This person will
also keep track of the rower's sponsors and the money that is pledged.
This individual will work directly with the treasurer to ensure transfer
of the money to the team.
Championships Volunteer Coordinator: This individual will be responsible for organizing all of this team’s
parent coordinators associated with the Southwest Regional Junior Rowing
Championships located at Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova. In short, this
individual will be asked to find and organize volunteers for this 3 day
event. The volunteer coordinators needed for this event include: food,
Friday evening pasta feed, set-up/tear-down/equipment, barbecue and the
course/regatta volunteers. This individual will ensure that these
individual coordinators are fully informed of their own responsibilities
and that all jobs will be completed. This person will also be responsible
for ordering a barbecue unit (from the Lake Natoma Aquatics Center) do be
delivered to the team site on the designated barbecue day. The following
is a list of the championships positions:
- Food Coordinator: Organize the food
and drinks that will brought to the championships for breakfast on
Saturday and Sunday, and lunch on either Saturday or Sunday.
- Pasta feed Coordinator: Organize a pasta feed for the rowers on Friday
evening. This may include the cooking of a pasta dinner, salads, drinks,
dessert, etc. It will be to the discretion of the coordinator how this
will be accomplished. Many individuals may be involved.
- Set-up/Tear-down Coordinator: Organize individuals to help set up team area
Friday afternoon and tear down/clean up the area Sunday afternoon.
Coordinator will be responsible for bringing any necessary equipment to
Lake Natoma and returning the same equipment to the port.
- Barbecue Coordinator: Organize the barbecue luncheon for either Saturday
or Sunday. The barbecue historically consisted of tri-tip steaks and/or
chicken. This individual will be responsible for ensuring that steaks and
chicken breasts are delivered to the event and are prepared for the rowers
and their guests on the designated day. The meats, charcoal, etc. will be
at the expense of the club. This individual will also be responsible for
the clean up of the barbecue equipment.
Regatta Volunteers
In order to conduct a regatta, various positions of the course must be
staffed by parent volunteers:
Finish Line: Three individuals are needed to determine the order of finish
of the boats, establish finish times (head races only), record finish
times, signal (by use of a flag) when a boat crosses the finish line and
relay times to the time keeper at the boathouse.
Time Keeper: One individual is needed to receive recorded times from the
finish line. These times are then relayed to the computer operator and
also posted on the results board. This individual will remain at the
boathouse throughout the duration of the race.
Starting Line: One or two individuals needed to help out as directed by the
race officials (only during head races). |
