Parents, Athletes, Coaches and HTCrew Friends;
Though we had a rough weekend at the ISA Regatta, we are happy to congratulate the Men's Novice 4x of Nick Herceg, Alex Blue, Alec Rogers, and Sam Liebe Randall, who had a fantastic race to beat out Conestoga in the last few meters. They battled the crew from Berwyn all the way down the course, only to be passed in the last 500-m, though they hung tough and battled back to win a nail biter, one of the closest races in Haddon Township History. I'm very proud of their efforts and of the team's efforts thus far in the season.
Oftentimes when you are constantly playing in the grass its hard to tell that it is growing under your feet and I want to take this opportunity to remind everyone how much our grass has grown in two years. For those parents and athletes that were not on the team in 2008, I think it’s important to remember who we were, who we are, and who we strive to become.
What we have been able to accomplish:
Your efforts have yielded tangible results, which have meant an improved experience for our incredible kids at Haddon Township, so far, your work has yielded:
- The purchase of 4 BOATS IN TWO YEARS. Including 2 brand new quads, a double and single. All of which have been put to immediate good use.
- If your kids have been with us from the start they have been coached by 2 OLYMPIANS. Renee Hykel and 3 time Olympic Medalist and World Class Coach, Michiel Bartman and 2 elite rowers, Michelle Secsher and Jeneatte Dailey.
- Races, races, races. More quantity more quality. In 2007-08 combined, Haddon Township rowed in 33 boats in 12 races (fall and spring). In the spring of 2007 Haddon Township raced at five regattas and entered 3 or fewer boats each regatta. To my knowledge, and from what I've been able to look up from previous race results, Haddon Township won 2 of those races and never won a varsity race.
- This year alone we will have entered approximately 91 boats in 14 races (fall and spring). In just Manny Flick 2,3, and 4 we placed top three in 19 races and 7 boats of Haddon Township athletes have had the pleasure of coming across the finish line in first place. We have already won three Varsity races this year. In fact, the 24 boats that have raced in three race (excluding this weekend) have only finished worse than third 5 times.
- College coaches now routinely come to our practices to recruit. Several of our athletes have been in contact with coaches about possibly getting scholarships to compete at the University level.
- Captain’s now routinely organize practices, students call if they are going to be late, and athletes now take responsibility for their own development within the program. If your kids row at Haddon Township they have stated their athletic goals and are working every day to achieve them. They are learning the often challenging and difficult process of turning dreams into reality. We are teaching and have taught the positive attributes of hard work, team work, good sportsmanship, goal-setting, organization and determination. Everyday they show up at practice they are learning to overcome adversity with determination and a positive attitude, they are learning to turn bad races into positive learning experiences, and achieving even more than they thought that they could.
A note of thanks. For those of you who have not had the opportunity to race every weekend I am truly sorry however, I think you should understand, though we have come a long way, we still simply don't have enough seats to fill all of the rowers. That is why I made the decision last year (and have continued this year)to double my workload and organize two practices a day, and why all of the boats (except our newest) must be double and sometimes triple used at practice and races.
I'm not sure some parents or athletes always understand the momentous task of running the day to day operations of the team or the incredible progress we have made in such a short time, so I would to take a moment to thank those individuals who have worked overtime, often on a daily basis to make it happen. I think it is important for everyone to know how very hard the board and the coaches are working to provide a good environment for your children.
Who to thank:
John Glace: Goodness, you have been a life saver on so many occasions and have probably taken your share of lumps from members at CRC for requesting to let us use their equipment so often. I know we call on you, literally daily, and I'm sure we are a huge drain on your time and energy, but the team could not run without you.
Shelia King: Your tireless efforts for the team have oftentimes gone unsung, yet you still plug on, helping to organize events, trailering, managing the team; being one of the first parents on the regatta course and last to leave, and spending inordinate amounts of time working to push the team forward in general. Your job is not one that I envy, but you do it with energy and determination, and you have helped the team provide an incredible atmosphere for its students.
MaryEllen Cuneo: I still haven't fully comprehended the incredible amount of energy you have put forth to fundraising. Your hard work has been a huge cog in the wheel of our development. I still remember coming to the first board meeting and telling the original members that we had to nearly quintuple our current fund raising budget and you volunteered without hesitation and immediately took to the task of yanking us forward. We will sorely miss you and Greg next year and will have to appoint more than one person to do the job you have been doing yourself for the last year.
Jeff King: Driving the trailer, loaning your truck (even though it’s probably not good for it), helping to set up for events; you have been an incredible asset to our team, I can’t personally thank you enough.
Justine Stevens: Cutting bagels so the kids don't cut their fingers off, volunteering for more and more tasks, and working events like the Haddon Hammer, you have continued to take on bigger roles on the board even when it hasn't always been convenient for you.
Marie Ely: thank you for your continued support and your increased role on the team. Volunteering for events and always eager to help, we appreciate your contributions to the team.
Dave Fry: Driving the trailer, fixing the launches, organizing work days, and always showing up to events with a smile, you have been a joy to have as part of this team.
Lori Harte: The effort and organization that you have brought to the team has been incredible. Always at events and always quietly working hard for the team, just like your son. We will miss both of you when Bill goes on to bigger things next year.
Luann O'Brien: Organizing the incredible banquet last year and always positively working hard for the program, thank you for your efforts.
Ed Davis: Organizing pasta parties at your house and always willing to attend events and work to make everyone's job easier. I appreciate all you do for the club.
Barb Bowen: Your role as our faculty liaison has been a great asset to the team. Thank you for your continued help.
Coaches: Without your continued effort there simply wouldn't be a team. Your energy your input and your hard work has done volumes for our kids.
We have gotten here but we aren’t there.
Though we have come a long way we still have a long way to go and we need your help, your patience, your support and your positive energy. Our biggest challenge is finding enough competitive seats for our athletes. Currently we have 27 active athletes and only 15 seats. We do borrow boats from CRC, a relationship that we have thoroughly stressed and exhausted (ask john) with our constant needs, but that still only gets us to 21 seats for 27 rowers. This is the ONLY reason we have been unable to race all boats all the time. This is the ONLY reason some of our athletes have had to run or erg at practices instead of row. I truly want nothing more than the ability to put kids in boats they can be successful in and have them row every single practice and at every race. We know how hard it can be to have to run or miss a race, and as a coach it is the worst part of my job to tell kids they can’t race because we don’t have the equipment. This has been a problem and will continue to be a problem for us until we can afford buy enough equipment to support our needs. As a coach I ask for your patience and your help. We need hands at events, we need new ideas, we need fundraisers, and most importantly we need optimism for our goals and the discipline to get there.
Additionally, in order to make this team more sustainable I think we need to reduce the role of the kids involvement in fundraising. We want them to have a life outside of crew! Ideas like the Haddon Hammer have made great strides towards that end. We need more ideas like this and we need more people willing to get a little dirty making this program the best it can be.
These are the hurdles we continue to face and will continue to fight aggressively to overcome.
Thank you for your efforts.
Sincerely,
Scott Wisniewski
Head Rowing Coach
Haddon Township Crew Club
