Welcome freshmen
It was Open House/Parents Weekend/Alumni...something this Saturday for Willamette University and the program. We hosted about 75 parents and alumni at our fall rowing facility and despite the weather's best efforts to darken the day, managed to put on a good show for all involved.
We started the day by giving a brief tour of the facility. There isn't a ton to see but the parents enjoyed seeing where their kids learned about crabs, blister treatment and the art that is sweep, while the alumni marveled at both the new equipment and how some of the "old, reliable" were still kicking. I definitely appreciated Ryan mentioning the storied history of the Jerry E. Hudson, my all time favorite boat. I understandably have a soft spot in my heart for that shell and I hope that in a few years she is retired and placed on display in the boat house.
Next we did a little introduction to rowing, allowing parents and their athletes to play around on the ergs as well as sit in a boat and take strokes while in the relatively safety of the dock and slough. Despite Ryan's concerns that this wouldn't go well - I had to spend most of the pre-festivities hours reassuring him that everything was going to be fine, yet another important aspect of my job - the parents absolutely loved it and the athletes thought it was fantastic.
Having gotten the parents ready for a little rowing, we moved onto the penultimate part of the day, racing. We set up four boats, a novice men's and novice women's boat, a varsity women's boat and then a mixed alumni boat. I have to admit that I stacked the alumni boat a bit using Tiff Wood, the two varsity men, very experienced and decorated former college rowers and of course the only coxswain - I believe - to steer a Willamette Men's Varsity 8 to a conference championship, plus Susan and Jenny, arguably the best female rower in program history. Still it was close between the varsity women and alumni with the boats trading leads until the end when the alumni boat sprinted to a 2 second win. While I was pulling for the Willamette boats, I was really proud to see the alumni boat take top honors even if we did do it with a 3 time Olympian as our stroke.
The final act was dedicating our newest racing shell. We've been holding onto the boat for a few weeks now and Friday Ryan and I applied the name before covering it in a Willamette flag. After the races we had the varsity women carry the shell down to the dock area where we unveiled the "Susan R. Parkman," a more than fitting tribute to a coach who has helped revive the once flagging tradition of Willamette. Willamette rowing has always had an incredibly proud though understated history that rivals any of the sports currently at the university. In recent years it had fallen through the floor but with Susan's arrival the program has re-emerged as a contender in the west not only for regional championships but is anxiously pushing for it's first team and 2nd overall NCAA championship appearance. Therefore it was only appropriate that the latest shell, the one we hope to get to the championships with, be christened in her honor and we hope to do her proud.
All in all it was a great weekend and one of many to come. It was fantastic seeing the parents so involved and seeing the alumni, small in number but great in spirit, back talking about how we need to continue to push the Willamette Alumni groups, and get more alumni involved. I think we're all proud to once again be part of Willamette Crew.
I will say this as sort of a cliff hanger closer. Ryan got choked up talking about how much Susan meant to his career and how influential she was.
I've been thinking about that this weekend and while my influential coach was in high school in a totally unrelated sport, the alumni who came out this weekend mean the world to my career and I get a little choked up thinking about them. Sonja mentioned it's been 8 years - for me 7 - but I swear being around them it felt like it was 2002 or 2003. We weren't always friends and we didn't always get along but when the shit hit the fan, when the chips were down and when you needed to hear something to get you fired up, there was always someone in a Willamette jacket ready to kick some ass. You learned to rely on these people who became friends and then family. We were small but strong, tough and united believing that we were the baddest athletes on the campus. And I remember seeing those all sports competition results where rowers kicked everyone in the teeth and came out as the most athletic, most fit. It wasn't enough to simply be but to belong to something greater than yourself. These friends made the 5 ams, the missed weekends, the cold wet days and heavy work load worth it. I stayed for 3 years and wouldn't trade any moment for any other in the world.
We started the day by giving a brief tour of the facility. There isn't a ton to see but the parents enjoyed seeing where their kids learned about crabs, blister treatment and the art that is sweep, while the alumni marveled at both the new equipment and how some of the "old, reliable" were still kicking. I definitely appreciated Ryan mentioning the storied history of the Jerry E. Hudson, my all time favorite boat. I understandably have a soft spot in my heart for that shell and I hope that in a few years she is retired and placed on display in the boat house.
Next we did a little introduction to rowing, allowing parents and their athletes to play around on the ergs as well as sit in a boat and take strokes while in the relatively safety of the dock and slough. Despite Ryan's concerns that this wouldn't go well - I had to spend most of the pre-festivities hours reassuring him that everything was going to be fine, yet another important aspect of my job - the parents absolutely loved it and the athletes thought it was fantastic.
Having gotten the parents ready for a little rowing, we moved onto the penultimate part of the day, racing. We set up four boats, a novice men's and novice women's boat, a varsity women's boat and then a mixed alumni boat. I have to admit that I stacked the alumni boat a bit using Tiff Wood, the two varsity men, very experienced and decorated former college rowers and of course the only coxswain - I believe - to steer a Willamette Men's Varsity 8 to a conference championship, plus Susan and Jenny, arguably the best female rower in program history. Still it was close between the varsity women and alumni with the boats trading leads until the end when the alumni boat sprinted to a 2 second win. While I was pulling for the Willamette boats, I was really proud to see the alumni boat take top honors even if we did do it with a 3 time Olympian as our stroke.
The final act was dedicating our newest racing shell. We've been holding onto the boat for a few weeks now and Friday Ryan and I applied the name before covering it in a Willamette flag. After the races we had the varsity women carry the shell down to the dock area where we unveiled the "Susan R. Parkman," a more than fitting tribute to a coach who has helped revive the once flagging tradition of Willamette. Willamette rowing has always had an incredibly proud though understated history that rivals any of the sports currently at the university. In recent years it had fallen through the floor but with Susan's arrival the program has re-emerged as a contender in the west not only for regional championships but is anxiously pushing for it's first team and 2nd overall NCAA championship appearance. Therefore it was only appropriate that the latest shell, the one we hope to get to the championships with, be christened in her honor and we hope to do her proud.
All in all it was a great weekend and one of many to come. It was fantastic seeing the parents so involved and seeing the alumni, small in number but great in spirit, back talking about how we need to continue to push the Willamette Alumni groups, and get more alumni involved. I think we're all proud to once again be part of Willamette Crew.
I will say this as sort of a cliff hanger closer. Ryan got choked up talking about how much Susan meant to his career and how influential she was.
I've been thinking about that this weekend and while my influential coach was in high school in a totally unrelated sport, the alumni who came out this weekend mean the world to my career and I get a little choked up thinking about them. Sonja mentioned it's been 8 years - for me 7 - but I swear being around them it felt like it was 2002 or 2003. We weren't always friends and we didn't always get along but when the shit hit the fan, when the chips were down and when you needed to hear something to get you fired up, there was always someone in a Willamette jacket ready to kick some ass. You learned to rely on these people who became friends and then family. We were small but strong, tough and united believing that we were the baddest athletes on the campus. And I remember seeing those all sports competition results where rowers kicked everyone in the teeth and came out as the most athletic, most fit. It wasn't enough to simply be but to belong to something greater than yourself. These friends made the 5 ams, the missed weekends, the cold wet days and heavy work load worth it. I stayed for 3 years and wouldn't trade any moment for any other in the world.
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