Welcome to the Young Mom's Rowing Team!!!

Welcome to Roca's Young Mom's Rowing Team Official Blog Site!!!! Get ready to learn all about our team and read all about our adventures at practice!

I'm writing to you as one of two coaches of the team. Our team has been slowly building since March and is finally a solid team of 13! Besides one veteran rower from previous years, we are all new to the sport and have a lot to learn. Since March we have been trying to get into tip top rowing shape by holding weekly workouts at Roca. We've gotten to know each other through fun events, like movie nights, dinners, zoo trips, and participating in the AIDS walk Boston. And now, the time to get in the boats is finally here!!

We are wrapping up our first week of practices at the boat house in Malden. Our rowing coach, Kyle, is very knowledgeable and patient with us throughout our 2 hour practices. Luckily the weather has been warm and sunny all week! We started our Monday practice on ERGS (rowing machines like you would find at the gym). Kyle showed all of us the correct form and gave us the sequence to repeat over and over again in our heads (finish, arms out, body over, ROW)....We also learned the difference between starboard and port and we got the chance to practice on land with one of the 12 foot oars! All of us left practice excited to get in the water the next day but a little nervous about falling in.....

Tuesday was equally was warm and we were eager to get to Malden and get started! After warming up on the ergs (we totally impressed Kyle with our sharp and witty ability to remember our commands), Kyle thought we were ready to head into the water! He explained how fragile the boats are and showed us how to properly lift the boat all together and gently place it into the water....well, we were a little nervous about falling in and the boat was sooooo heavy...there was a slight mishap...but alas, Kyle came to the rescue and was able to fix the boat after we broke it a little.

Getting into the boat was accompanied by a lot of screaming and fear that the murky river water was going to get on our workout outfits! 8 girls got in after setting up their oars in the riggers. I had the ultimate pleasure of sitting in the position of the coxswain (which means I faced the girls and didn't have to row...much more complicated position in the end, but I was just enjoying the view!) Kyle had his own boat mishap when his motor on his boat that he follows on died and we were left drifting through the river while he tried to salavage his boat! We pulled through and a few of us even got to practice the rowing strokes with the actual oars in the water! Especially Jennifer who was in the fortunate position of the back and had to row us out of the shore!! Thanks Jennifer!!!!

So we wrapped up day 2 feeling a little discouraged but eager to continue and get better! Hopefully today will give us all another chance to really get the feel for the oar in the water and put our commands to work!

Check back later to see how the events of day 3 practice unfolded!