Tryouts 2016

Well they are in the bag, the team is set!!   They actually went pretty well.  Monday was a decent day so we were able to get the outdoor run done for the whole team and then the pressure was off.  We definitely didn't want them to have to run inside.    I am so freaking proud of my girls!!!  Almost every single one of them improved their times and a couple dropped almost 2 minutes!!  I think there were only a handful that didn't make the 9:00min mark!!  So excited for them!

The 4K went pretty well as well and the rest of the stuff was easy peasy anyway.  We ended up choosing the girl team on Tuesday and the boys finished up on Weds.

John kept all the varsity girls, there were only 11 of them anyway.  I ended up cutting one Freshman girl.  She'd come late to winter conditioning and really just couldn't keep up.  She failed all the tryout criteria and in my opinion just wasn't ready for the intensity required.  John is going to pull one of my novices up so that he has enough girls for an 8 and a 4, which leaves me with exactly 18 girls.  I'm a little worried that I'm running exactly even, no extras.  If anyone quits on me or gets sick or injured, then I'm screwed. But, there's not much choice.  I'm excited/nervous/thrilled/terrified that I have 2 8's worth of girls.  For a good long time, I thought I'd only have one 8 which while much easier to coach, isn't as good for the program.  Now that I have 2 8's it's great for the program, but I'm very nervous about taking out 2 8's.  Once they are up and rowing, it will be great because they can race each other and push each other, but until they can row... I'm worried about 2 8's crashing into each other, the shore, other boats etc....  Girls team is 33.

The boys team is set now as well.  Zack, of course, did just fine.  They ended up cutting 3 returning rowers, but kept all the novices and are 50 strong.  We're all running exactly even, so it will be exciting/nerve wracking to see how the season sets up.  Please let us have a bunch of dedicated, hardworking kids, who never miss practice!

Tryouts

We made it through tryouts.  In the school, it certainly wasn't any fun for the boys to run the mile around the school hallways, but they did it.  We had 4 brand new boys come out and 2 that did Fall so that was a little bit exciting.  We ended up keeping everyone.  Didn't make any cuts.  I'm not sure that's the right decision, but there were really only 2-3 that should have been cut and we just didn't have the heart to do it.  We have enough boats, so we kept them and we'll see what happens.  Even so, I still got an ICBTS (I can't believe this shit) email from a mom who insisted that we shouldn't cut anyone because we are a club and paid for by the parents of the team members and she didn't want us to get into any trouble cutting a kid who wanted to participate in the sport.  First of all....WE ARE NOT A CLUB, we are a VARSITY SPORT!  Secondly, it's such a relief to know this mom is looking out for us, so that we don't get into any trouble.  Here's a big can of Shut the Hell Up!  Made me want to cut her kid, just because.  Just proves to me that no matter what we do - someone is going to give us shit.  No win!

Zack did great, of course, there was no doubt.  We ended up with 50 boys and 35 girls.  The girls cut 3 and that was it.  We hit the magic number, 80 - that's what our Treasurer needed to make the budget work.  So, I guess everyone is happy....

I just love this picture.  So many Ergs, just waiting.  Representing so much hard work, so much potential.  It's going to be a great season!

Spring means Spring....seriously

Tomorrow is the first official day of the Crew Spring Season, starting off with tryouts and this is what we're looking at...

It's not a lot of snow, but it's freaking snow!!  Which means we'll be doing all the tryouts, including our mile run inside the school.  That sucks for everyone.  Even the dogs are like "what the hell??"  Plus, it's not helping the ice melt down at the boathouse.  Come on Mother Nature... cut us some slack!