Finding Good in 2009

I like to come into the office for at least a day over the holiday break. I usually use the time to clean my desk (yes, only once a year) because it's so quiet. There are no girls here, the phones aren't ringing, email is quiet, but the desk might have to wait until 2010 because I got busy looking back at 2009 and thinking about the year.

There have been many articles in the papers, as there are every year, taking a look back at the year. Who were our heroes? What went well, what didn't. This year, sadly, there is a lot of talk of what didn't go well and what isn't going well....the economy, the wars, unemployment, homelessness, etc. It is, in a word, depressing.

Years ago, at one of Row New York's events, Previn made a comment about Row NY being one of the only truly "good" things. I thought it was a nice thing to say, if not slightly extreme, but this year made me realize how right he was. This is not a pat on the back (my own or the rest of Row New York's) it's just a realization. What the girls do here is just good stuff-- in the purest sense.

We are surrounded by so many things in this country that might seem good, but really aren't. Famous athletes who might be phenomenal human specimens, but who lack a moral compass, individuals who helped drive our economy into the worst recession we've seen since the Great Depression, and corruption from leaders of all kinds. But here, hard work and patience and teamwork really are rewarded. You want to make the boat, you work hard. You want to make the boat go fast, you work harder. You want to do well in the class, you study. You want to be respected by your teammates, you work hard with them, stand up for them, respect them. You want to experience joy on a river with eight other people, you pour your heart into the effort and you reap the rewards.

So, after a week of eating too many butter cookies and reading about the year that was 2009, it was coming into the Row NY office and my messy desk where I found some clarity. If anyone reading this wants to share in it, please come for a visit, it's free and I promise you, it's truly good stuff. Look at the smiles on the faces in the picture (above) and you will see what I am talking about. Wishing you all happiness and health in 2010!

Row New York Holiday Party is Tonight!

Another great picture from the Jingle Mingle. These five won the Row New York event!

Row New York Visits Juvenile Center

Previn and alums Hannah "Cat" Saona and Yanique Palmer visited the DJJ's Horizon Juvenile Center on Monday. The threesome spoke to detainees about the RNY program, its "control the controllable" philosophy, and about setting future goals. There was also time to share Halloween pics, including Seymour dressed as bat-dog. The group-- about thirty of them-- had a great time. Their group leader said that in two years, they hadn't seen anything so inspirational. Go team!

Women's National Team Comes to Row NY Jingle Mingle!

Row New York's third annual Jingle Mingle was a big success. The event puts mixed teams together for 500 meter pieces of friendly competition and fun (well, if we can call 500 meter pieces at full pressure fun :) The event was hosted by Rowers for Row New York-- HUGE thanks for all their hard work--they organized all the medals, t-shirts, and food. The icing on the cake was a visit from the Women's National Team. Eight of the women came up from Princeton to race with the Row New York girls. Their warm-up alone was something to behold! Thank you so much to the women for joining us!

Please Join us for the Jingle Mingle!

Well, it's that time of year again. Time to put on the unisuit (or t-shirt and shorts would be just fine), drink a big cup of coffee, and come race with the Row New York girls. Don't worry, the pieces are only 500 meters and there will be plenty of people cheering you on.

For $20 you get a Jingle Mingle t-shirt with the reindeer erging (above), food, and maybe even a medal (I'm still trying for one). There is a corporate event so bring down your work friends and try to beat Credit Suisse. Also, kids are welcome and they all get a medal.

So....December 12th, 9:00AM, 10-27 46th Avenue, Suite 101, Long Island City, NY 11101.

Waffle, Erg, & Movie Day at Row New York!

Row New York held its first annual Waffle, Erg, and Movie day on Saturday. There were about 25 ergs set up (the novices got to go running instead) and Titanic playing at the front of the room. Once the girls were done erging, they each ate about six waffles. Wyatt skipped the erging and went straight to the waffles.

Row NY Boathouse Renovation Begins

Monday was quite a day. Yes, I know it's Friday. I'm about five days behind right now. The city officially "broke ground" on the six million dollar renovation of the boathouse. For anyone who has been to the boathouse, you know how sorely this renovation is needed. Between the many squirrels who call the place home, the leaking roof, and the fact that the girls have to turn the boat sideways to get it through the door, the place is definitely in need of some love. So, thanks to the Queens Borough President's office and the Parks Department, our new "home" is scheduled to be completed in spring 2011. I even got to shovel some dirt with the Queens Borough President herself. Thank you Helen Marshall!

Row New York Novice 8 Wins Gold!

Big CONGRATULATIONS to the Row New York novice 8 for winning at the Bill Braxton Regatta in Philadelphia on Sunday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PREVIN!

The girls pushed their way through academics yesterday, trying to stay focused while planning Previn's surprise party. There was no shortage of giddiness as they made a happy birthday banner, wrapped presents, and hid a huge cake. I'll admit it, I was even a little giddy. Kudos to the novice girls who pushed their way through two hours of math prep. Varsity, well, I still love you even with your lack of focus yesterday. Previn, you are the greatest! Happy, happy birthday!

Making Signs!

It has become a little tradition at Row New York for the novice girls to make signs to cheer on the varsity girls at the Bill Braxton Regatta in Philadelphia. We bring the novices, even though they're not racing, just to give them the race "experience" without any of the stress of racing, rigging, freezing their a**es off, etc. Also, they are taking a trip to visit UPENN.

Go WHAT? Row WHO? Row New York!

Note: this was one of my favorite signs. Very straight forward. Win.

Learning About Money at Row New York

Melissa ran a great lesson for the novice girls here yesterday. She showed them how the further they go in school, the higher their salaries will be. Uhhhhh, not sure it always works out that way, but the stats support this statement, so we'll stick with it. The girls broke into teams and each group had to figure out how much they would have left over at the end of each month based on a certain salary. Bottom line, those with higher salaries got to go on more trips, see more movies, and have more fun with their friends. So, here's to working hard in school! And going far in school!

More Halloween Pictures

The girls really did it up this year. Not to mention Previn---look at those udders! Me, on the other hand, well....the girls thought I was a "mom" for Halloween. Better luck next year!

Halloween at Row New York!

The Row New York girls and coaches in full costume on Saturday!

Row NY Novices Gear up for First Race

Once a week, I get out to the boathouse and am reminded of why I love Row NY so much. There's nothing better than being on the water. The fall is especially pretty, watching the sun set, and the leaves on the trees are all sorts of browns and oranges. The coaches are wonderful--funny, kind, dedicated, and smart. But the girls are, hands down, the best part. Without fail, they always make me happy. Just being in their company for a few hours is uplifting.

This novice 8 (pictured above) is learning to feather, preparing for their first big race---the Halloween Regatta--tomorrow! Stay tuned, more pictures coming.

Row New Yorkers at Girls' Leadership Day

Row New Yorkers attended Girls' Leadership Day on Saturday with our Development Director, Kathleen Klock. The event focused on economic empowerment and featured interactive workshops and discussions with female leaders. Our girls are pictured here with two jewelry designers who created their own businesses. Thanks to the New York Women's Foundation for hosting!

Row New York Event Big Success!

(Kennise Farrington & Rosie Perez)

I will admit it, I was a little bit worried that the rainy cold weather and the recession would put a damper on our annual fall event on Thursday. I am happy to report, though, that it was a wonderful night! Our event chairs, board members, and supporters were not deterred by the weather and showed up to show their support and enthusiasm for Row New York! Big thanks to all!

Row New York Fall Event!

Buy tickets for Row New York event here!

Row New York Parents' Dinner

On Saturday night, we crammed 60 Row New York parents into our office for our annual Parents' Dinner. Previn sent the girls down the street for a pizza dinner and the parents stayed behind for yummy Italian food and wine. The evening ended with erg races (see above for Previn taking on an 8 year old). We have a great group of parents this year and fun was had by all!

Row New York Event is Next Thursday!

Please join us next week! You can buy tickets here.

Row New York Seniors Meet Their Mentors!

Thanks to a group of wonderful women who have volunteered to be writing mentors this fall, all of our seniors are well on their way to having top notch essays to submit with their college applications. Melissa (our Academic Director) is piloting this initiative in an effort to give our seniors one on one help through this important process. The pairs met for the first time during a luncheon on Saturday at our offices. The group was led by volunteer extraordinaire, Kara Courtois, a rower and counselor with "College Coach". BIG THANKS to our great volunteers and GO seniors....we know fall of your senior year comes with a lot of stress, but we know you're all going to do great things!

Row New York Event is Next Thursday!

You can buy tickets here.

Don't Take This on the Subway

This is a picture of Melissa leaving the office today for practice. We can't get packages mailed to the boathouse so we end up carrying some pretty random things on the train. Today reminded me of a day about five years ago when our offices were located next to Ground Zero. I ran out the door with two new gas cans (like the one Melissa is holding) and headed down to the subway. I jumped on the uptown #4 train and everyone cleared out of the car. I mean, they literally opened the doors on either end and made their way to the next cars and I was left alone with my gas cans. Even as a native New Yorker I couldn't really blame my fellow passengers....I mean, two gas cans on the subway???!! What was I thinking? I like the fact that Melissa also had an extension cord with her today.

First Day With Fall '09 Novices

So we not only survived our Western pilgrimage across Meadow Lake, we now have 40+ novices rowing out of the big blue house! Props to Previn and Melissa for getting this group off the ground without a hitch (or water, electricity, or a real toilet). Who really needs all these frills when we can finally walk boats straight out of the boathouse and down to the dock without making a four point turn? Anyway, the new group of novices is great. They have wonderful energy and seem to know one another quite well already thanks to Melissa and her ingenious ideas (and Starbursts). For the rowers out there, this video shows the novices completing one of their first sets of jumpies. Oh, how we long for the days when jumpies were new and funny, right?

ROW NEW YORK FALL EVENT!

Please join us on October 15th, 2009 to celebrate Row New York! Special guests Ted Nash and Rosie Perez! Buy tickets here.

Row NY Tryouts BIG Success

Tryouts are one of my favorite Row New York experiences. I might not feel that way at 11PM when the day is finally wrapping up, but it's still pretty great. I love the energy in the room...a lot of excitement and anticipation. We have been holding tryouts at the Flushing YMCA since 2003 and not a tryout goes by without my remembering how different those early days were...back when 8 girls showed up, compared to the 170+ who came out for the team on Thursday. Good luck to the new group of novices!

Row New York Tryouts are on Thursday!

Tryouts for Row New York's Girls' Competitive Team are THIS THURSDAY @ 4:00PM at the Flushing YMCA. No experience necessary. Call 718-433-3075 or email info@rownewyork.org. Click link for map of Flushing YMCA.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=13846+northern+blvd.+flushing+ny&sll=40.757416,-73.880074&sspn=0.008566,0.016994&ie=UTF8&ll=40.76447,-73.827803&spn=0.008565,0.016994&z=16&iwloc=A

ROW NEW YORK FALL EVENT!

October 15th, 6:30-9:30 @ 28 West 36th Street.
Row New York's Fall Event!
Please join us.

Row NY Moves to Temporary Boathouse

As things go, I've been meaning to make this post since Monday, but better late than never. The big move to the temporary building finally happened on Saturday. Row New York will be housed here while the city does a $5.5 million renovation on our current boathouse. Pretty exciting! Huge thanks to the Queens Borough President Helen Marshall's office and the Parks Department for making that happen.

Special thanks to Pat Whetzle for getting this temporary boathouse off the ground (literally), Previn for ending up in the lake and orchestrating it all (he was in the lake by choice) Marinela, on the other hand....

Also thanks to the Rowers for Row New York for coming out on Saturday morning to move large heavy objects with us. Why sleep in when you can come to Flushing to do stuff like this? And Gary, where would we have been without your truck? And Melissa, your studly launch driving skills...

As you can see, Wyatt and Bea had a ton of fun too. Wyatt thinks he was personally resonsible for pulling the whole dock across the lake. Previn, Peter, Mike, and Gary were there for the photo opp.

Row New York Tryouts

ROW NEW YORK TRYOUTS are September 24th @ 4:00PM at Flushing YMCA
Call 718-433-3075 or email previn@rownewyork.org for more information.
Open to High School girls in 9th-11th grade.

Row New York Staff Retreat

Once a year, the Row New York staff escapes the city together for three days of planning and reflection. Evenings are reserved for cooking and rowing (see Marinela above in the single...that's Previn's head a few feet from her starboard oar, and that's Melissa and me on the raft). We spent this year's retreat at a small and sloping house (you got used to the steep incline across the living room after the first night) in Gloversville, NY in a house called Hiawatha.

I love this tradition because it really gives us the opporutunity to spend large amounts of time figuring out what went well over the year and what we can do better next year withouth the interruption of cell phones, land lines, emails, texts, tweets, etc.. It's also fun having the evenings with such a great staff!

SAT Prep

So our neighbor here at our Long Island City offices just asked me if we're ramping up for the fall programs. I said "yes" but added that we never really come to a full stop around here. Maybe a pause, but barely a stop. He said, "Oh, but it's been so quiet." I sometimes forget how loud we must be as neighbors, 40+ girls in one space erging or meeting. There's nothing quiet about that. Then I realized that we've been doing SAT prep for the last 8 weeks. See picture. Aha, that seems to have done the trick in terms of keeping the noise level down!

Row NY Event-Please save the date!

Success in Philly!

The RNY comp summer team headed back to the Schuylkill River for the
Philadelphia Youth Regatta. Once again armed with a young but talented
team, the team finished second in the J16 event, silver in the Girls
Eight, and bronze in the Eight's dash. For the first time, the crew
also fielded a second summer eight that also rowed competitively in
the 8+'s races. The regatta concluded a short but productive summer
racing season for the team. This week, the athletes will be doing some
extra miles and capping off July with an old vs. young RNY race (note:
"old" meaning 18) and a summer barbecue.

A Golden Weekend for Row New York

The team traveled to Providence and Boston this weekend. After
visiting with the coaches and touring the campus at the University of
Rhode Island, the team raced in the Sweeps and Sculls Regatta on the
Seekonk. The varsity four captured gold, the eight took silver, and
even the B eight managed to win its duel against the other B entry.
The team then headed to Boston for the Cromwell Cup, where the crews
finished 2nd and 3rd in the eight and raced competitively in the
junior four event. On what turned out to be a gorgeous weekend, it
was a great start for a young group that included over ten rising
novices.

Rowing with Initiative for Women With Disabilities

Last summer, the executive director of the NYU Initiative for Women With Disabilities, Judith Goldberg, asked me if Row New York ever provided adaptive rowing programs. I said we never had, but we'd love to. She had a group of young women with physical disabilities who were new to the sport of rowing, but eager to give it a try. I put her in touch with our Director of Programs, Previn Chandraratna, and then left on maternity leave.

Previn, when left to his devices, can figure pretty much anything out, and creating an adaptive rowing day with no funding or appropriate equipment was no exception. He pulled the slides off of ergs so the wheelchairs could be positioned right in front of the flywheels and he recruited Row New York summer leaders (experienced Row New Yorkers entering 11th or 12th grade) to help get the young women into the Stillwater training barges. What resulted was an amazing day for all involved. So amazing, in fact, that they came back for a second row last week.

For more information, check out: http://iwd.med.nyu.edu

Building a Boathouse---thanks to Pat Whetzle

The Queens Borough President's office is supporting a multimillion dollar renovation of our current boathouse in Queens. For those of you who have been to the boathouse, I'm sure you know why this is a good thing. The complicated part is what to do about the program while the renovation is taking place. The simple answer is that we will put up a temporary structure for a year or two. Back to the complicated part---this is no small feat.

Luckily, rower/contractor extraordinaire, Pat Whetzle, approached me at our fall fundraising event and said he'd be happy to help with the project. At the time, I had no idea just how invaluable Pat's help would be. After all, how hard could it be to put together a building? The thing must come with directions, right? We're a strong and hardy group. We've put together tables from Ikea. We can rig boats.

But as soon as Pat started talking about demo work in the parking lot, pouring cement, erecting columns with heavy machinery, and getting a hold of a forklift to unload the boathouse pieces, I began to realize that this was no table from Ikea. This is a building! And....it is scheduled to arrive on July 20th at 2:00PM.

So, for those of you here in NYC who are handy or hardy or both....feel free to give a shout if you want to help us put this thing together!

Note: I'll write an update once we have this thing up :)

Row New York Summer Leaders

Every summer, we hire five rising juniors and seniors to work as Summer Leaders for Row New York. It's a total win-win. We get great in house talent to help run our learn-to-row camps for over 200 girls and the Summer Leaders learn to coach and make some cash for college. Okay, they are sitting behind me right now ordering pizza so I am guessing it's a combination of pizza and college.

We have a great group this summer...Kennise, Vanessa, Felicia, Tiffany, and Margot.

We'll Miss You Austin!

Today's entry is on Austin Phillips-- our wonderful Academic Director and Novice Coach who is headed off to law school in the fall to attend the University of Tennessee. Lucky for Tennessee, sad for Row New York.

Austin joined us in the summer of 2007 and has added so much to Row New York that I'm not entirely sure where to begin. I called one of her old coaches to ask him if he had anyone to recommend for the job when Austin announced her decision to go to law school. His response? "Amanda, you're not going to find another Austin." Lucky for us, we DO have a wonderful replacement for Austin (more on her soon), but we sure are going to miss her.

Austin has this way about her that naturally draws others toward her. It's not uncommon to find a small swarm of girls around her desk on any given afternoon. I guess that's where the term "magnetic" personality becomes appropriate. In a kind, but firm way, Austin has demanded respect from the girls and she has asked a lot of them....be on time, work hard, be strong, no excuses, be good to one another, no exceptions. And she has been many things to them...coach, mentor, tutor, life advisor.

One of my favorite Austin moments was when, at the last minute, Planned Parenthood cancelled a workshop they were to run and Austin, in two short hours, successfully came up with a curriculum to cover reproductive health and healthy relationships and we all know what that's code for, right? Unsurprisingly, the workshop went very well.

I'll also never forget the first day of practice for her first group of 45 novices. We were at the boathouse and it was a beautiful September afternoon. Austin, after only meeting these girls for about an hour at tryouts, somehow knew ALL of their names. I asked her how this was possible and she explained that she had spent the night before committing them all to memory based on their tryout forms which included Polaroid pictures. You should have seen the look of surprise when the girls realized that someone from Row NY already knew their names. These are the "little" things that go so far.

There are so many stories like the few I just shared, but I think everyone gets the idea. Austin has been wonderful and we will all miss her terribly. On a lighter note, I am including a picture of Austin performing the stanky leg dance at a regatta this spring. Important note, the regatta was officially over at this point.

Thank you Austin---we will miss you!

Row NY's CHAMPS Middle School Regatta

Row New York’s spring 2009 CHAMPS Program, conducted in partnership with the New York City Department of Education and the Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation, provided 10 weeks of learn-to-row, water safety, and team-building activities for girls from four middle schools in Brooklyn and Queens. The program culminated on June 10th with a CHAMPS Regatta, which brought students and families out to the Meadow Lake Boathouse and pitted MS 53 against the Scholars Academy in a best-of-three barge race. All three races were extremely close: Scholars Academy took the first, MS 53 took the second, and Scholars took the third by less than half a length. The team from MS 53 received silver medals and the Scholars Academy team received gold medals and the 2009 Row New York CHAMPS trophy to display at their school.

Eight students from Junior High School 185 in Queens also attended the Row New York CHAMPS festivities. After completing 10 weeks of learn-to-row activities, these girls had their first experience of getting in a real rowing shell and taking their first few strokes, with the guidance of Row New York’s competitive rowers. They looked strong and confident in the boat, and we are looking forward to seeing them at the tryouts for our competitive team in the fall.

Special thanks to Kathy Walker from the CHAMPS Program and Ben Nisbet from the Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation for their support of Row New York CHAMPS and for joining us at the Regatta.

After 5 Years With RNY, Camille Graduates!

When we met Camille (picture above with her mom, Amelia) she was 12 and shorter than her mom. The pair showed up at the boathouse after reading an article in the newspaper about Row New York. Amelia had a feeling rowing would be a good sport for her daughter. They were enthusiastic, friendly, frankly, Camille was pretty adorable...all limbs and feet at age 12. But, we had to turn them away since Camille wasn't even in 7th grade yet.

Amelia and Camille showed up on the dock again when Camille started 8th grade. The rest is history. Camille gained strength and speed with Row New York winning silver at New York State Championships two years in a row, five years later, she is a high school graduate headed off to row at the University of Central Florida....on a full rowing scholarship!

Congratulations to Camille and her family!