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It's really hard to believe that our first regatta is two weeks from today. 13 days seems like a long amount of time but given everything that must be accomplished between then and now, 13 hardly seems fair.
So where are we now?
The women's program took a couple of early hits with injuries and the loss of two excellent rowers to other activities. It's a real shame but the group has come together and everyone is stepping up their game. The results have been mostly encouraging and even days when it seems as though things aren't clicking, it is not for lack of effort. As a coach you cannot get frustrated with that. Effort, desire, heart are so important to the success of any team and the women are not lacking in that department. We have time to find the right combination and have slowly been inching forward.
As good as the news is for the women, it's unfortunately as bad for the men. The good news on the men's side is that we've picked up three athletes who have made an immediate impact on the team, already pushing through guys who have been on the team for months or in some cases, years. Their effort and enthusiasm has been a welcome addition. However, the men's team as a whole can't seem to decide what it wants to be. In general there is a massive black hole that is sucking all the energy out of the team. Workouts are simply workouts and once they are complete - if they get done at all - the men fracture. It's a real shame to see this because of the raw talent and potential on the team, almost more than what you see from the women. The difference between the two teams is attitude. The women have the right attitude, the men don't.
This has made for a very frustrating combination, something that we are working hard to balance out. There's been a lot of discussion between the other coach and I on where we're going to go from here. We don't want to leave anyone behind and want to work with everyone. However, as the season starts to ramp up, eventually I believe we both feel that we're going to have to go with the team that wants to do something because it's a better use of time and effort and then see what we can do with the other team with whatever we happen to have left.
We have time to fix this before the season starts to count but it's at the point now where the athletes need to step up their game. As much as we wish we could, coaches and their desires cannot make the season.
So where are we now?
The women's program took a couple of early hits with injuries and the loss of two excellent rowers to other activities. It's a real shame but the group has come together and everyone is stepping up their game. The results have been mostly encouraging and even days when it seems as though things aren't clicking, it is not for lack of effort. As a coach you cannot get frustrated with that. Effort, desire, heart are so important to the success of any team and the women are not lacking in that department. We have time to find the right combination and have slowly been inching forward.
As good as the news is for the women, it's unfortunately as bad for the men. The good news on the men's side is that we've picked up three athletes who have made an immediate impact on the team, already pushing through guys who have been on the team for months or in some cases, years. Their effort and enthusiasm has been a welcome addition. However, the men's team as a whole can't seem to decide what it wants to be. In general there is a massive black hole that is sucking all the energy out of the team. Workouts are simply workouts and once they are complete - if they get done at all - the men fracture. It's a real shame to see this because of the raw talent and potential on the team, almost more than what you see from the women. The difference between the two teams is attitude. The women have the right attitude, the men don't.
This has made for a very frustrating combination, something that we are working hard to balance out. There's been a lot of discussion between the other coach and I on where we're going to go from here. We don't want to leave anyone behind and want to work with everyone. However, as the season starts to ramp up, eventually I believe we both feel that we're going to have to go with the team that wants to do something because it's a better use of time and effort and then see what we can do with the other team with whatever we happen to have left.
We have time to fix this before the season starts to count but it's at the point now where the athletes need to step up their game. As much as we wish we could, coaches and their desires cannot make the season.
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