SI Crew Syllabus

Mission Statement, Philosophy, and Goals

Composition of Crews

The primary Spring Season begins on January 10th, and all interested sophomores, juniors, and seniors wishing to row must email Coach Sam Nelsen at snelsen@siprep.org or show up to practice. The Fall Season will begin in August or September, and is open to all experienced and novice sophomores, juniors, and seniors, as well as those participating in other SI non-sport co-curriculars (Fall Play, other performing arts, Robotics, etc). The fall season focuses on longer distances for races, technique and base fitness development, and cross training, in a somewhat less stressful training environment that serves as a development period for the spring season. It is not currently a “lettering” season, and choosing to participate should be done for personal enjoyment and development.

Tryouts - Freshmen

Initial tryouts for Freshmen run for a week at minimum, usually in late January or the first week of February, and are held in accordance with the rules of the Athletic Department. Athletes will not be expected to know how to row or cox when joining, and can expect to learn during their time on the team. Initial tryouts may extend to a later date at the discretion of the coach. Additional tryouts, length of additional tryouts, and availability of space on the roster all depend on initial turnout, resulting initial cuts, and on factors specific to individual student-athletes (for example: trying out after a winter sport, trying out concurrently with another spring sport, trying out after being cut from another spring sport). Traditionally freshmen begin rowing in the spring, but with the considerable rise in other sports’ club off-season activities, this tradition has been weakening. Please contact the head coach if you would like to row in the fall.

Among other factors, rowers will be selected based on fitness level, ability to learn and demonstrate the fundamentals of rowing, attitude, mental toughness / hardiness, and dedication to the team. Coxswains will be selected based on ability to follow instruction, comprehension of new material, leadership qualities, attitude, dedication to the team, and other factors.

Practice Schedule & Season Length

The Varsity Crew spring season begins Monday, January 10, and concludes in late May. Although national qualification may extend the season into June.

The Freshman Crew spring season begins at the end of January unless otherwise noted, and concludes in late May.

Easter Break practice is mandatory. Team members should NOT make vacation plans for Easter Break.

Absences and Tardiness

All team members are required to attend EVERY practice, including those held on holidays and practices that are scheduled during Easter Break. Easter Break is an essential period for rower, coxswain, and crew improvement.

The “Big Picture” about absences, excused or not: an essential aspect of this team sport is that every person in a boat must strive to work in perfect harmony with every other person in the boat. Every day missed is one less day of training and improvement (personal, and at the crew level), and a loss of crew lineup familiarity. Becoming fully in sync is a major goal of each crew, and that is not possible when members are missing from the lineup. Additionally, every day that someone is gone presents an opportunity for someone else to take that seat. Therefore, if someone wants to keep one’s position in a particular boat, one must begin school projects early and get homework done in a timely manner, must maintain solid to excellent grades, must get adequate sleep, must eat healthy food, must avoid any activity or habit that negatively impacts one’s mind and body, must schedule non-crew activities and appointments outside of practices times if at all possible (or arrange make-up workout sessions if not able to - this is not an adequate exchange, and must only be used as a last resort), and must acknowledge stress and do what one can to release that stress (mindfulness, meditation, counseling, avoiding unnecessary social drama, adequate sleep, etc...). All of these apply to maximizing boat speed, and crew performance, as well.

Early Dismissals

Depending on the sport, some athletes will need an early dismissal from class in order to travel to a tournament or game. The Athletic Department will decide the time of dismissal and post that time on the Weekly Athletic Schedule every Monday, and the coaches will alert the student-athletes during practice and/or via email. It is the responsibility of the student-athlete to ensure he/she has communicated with his/her teacher prior to the day of the early dismissal. The student-athlete is responsible for any material covered and any work assigned. A teacher has the option of denying the student-athlete an early dismissal based on performance and/or behavior in the classroom. Playing a sport at SI is a privilege, not a right, and therefore it is essential that student-athletes communicate with teachers about missed class time and material covered in the classroom on the day of an early dismissal. To note, early dismissals are rarely needed for SI Crew

Playing on Outside Teams

Choosing to do Spring Crew is choosing to commit fully to the team, to the sport, to your teammates, and to personal development. Behind academics, it is the primary and exclusive focus of a rower or coxswain during practice hours and competitions.

A rower or coxswain is allowed to play on an outside sport club team only with the varsity head coach’s approval, and, in the case of Freshman Boys Crew, also with the freshman head coach’s approval. Consider these instances rare, and permission given sparingly. Simultaneous participation in two spring sports, once Winter Sports have wrapped up, will effectively not occur. In all instances, SI activities and sports hold priority (in-season sports, fine arts, robotics, etc) over non-SI activities and sports (so-called travel teams, non-SI club teams, for-profit and non-profit club teams coached by SI coaches, etc). An in-season sport refers to an SI sport that is occurring in its primary season: for instance, Football in the fall, Soccer in the winter, Track and Field in the spring, and so on. Note that fall crew, focused on head racing, while an SI-activity, is not currently an SI in-season sport, and holds lower priority than in- season fall SI sports and equal priority to off-season / pre-season SI sports doing prep work via SI-operated programming. (Fall and spring crew is similar to the difference between cross country and track events.) SI off-season sports are off-limits during the spring rowing season, and non-SI sports are not recognized during the spring season. It is worth mentioning, however, that crew is a 10-month sport for all but the SI team in our 40+ program, five-state region. It is not to be confused with the sport model that includes club lacrosse, club soccer, club baseball, or any of the others, where club teams and scholastic teams do not compete with each other. Rowing clubs and school teams directly compete with each other, and in most cases do not share or exchange athletes during the months between September and June.

Unless otherwise noted, no competition of any kind during the spring is permitted outside of that which is related to the spring season of St. Ignatius Crew.

Any club activity will not conflict with any function of the SI sport team. Additionally, as mandated by the California Interscholastic Federation, when a student-athlete is in season playing a sport for St. Ignatius, that student-athlete may not play the same sport for a club or other outside team. Note that the coaches value the involvement of our athletes in multiple SI sports during the school year. Multi-sport athletes are a diminishing population at SI. Although improved technique comes from more time doing the same thing over and over (a majority of the top-finishers at Scholastic Nationals row year-round), participating in a varied set of activities is known to be healthier for student-athletes than specialization in one sport throughout a full year or over many years. Therefore, if a student-athlete has a favorite fall or winter sport, we encourage him to participate in that sport - especially during the freshman and sophomore years. For those students who wish to do SI Crew throughout the year, we use the fall season as a time to develop technique and aerobic fitness through a less stressful, more varied training approach. We also encourage the students to participate in other non-sport offerings during the fall and winter seasons, including performing arts. In those instances, we ask students to also attend fall crew practices on fine-art “off” days to help provide baseline fitness and development.

Friday Morning Liturgy

FML/Other Liturgies leading into Regatta Weekends - All members of Boys Crew will attend FML as a team on the Fridays leading into Regatta Weekends, and will similarly attend other such liturgies if the liturgy falls on the last day of the week prior to a regatta. See Team Attire section for dress code. Note: the coaches fully recognize that our team is comprised of an enriching array of different faith traditions and personal religious understandings, and those traditions make us stronger. However, we consider attending FML to be another way to exercise a sense of team unity and community.

Transportation

All rowers and coxswains are responsible for their own transportation to and from the boathouse for all practices and home races (a home race is one held at Lake Merced). Rowers and coxswains will use school transportation when traveling to and from “away” races, except in rare instances or if COVID precautions continue to limit such organized transportation. In addition, unless otherwise noted, on race days all rowers and coxswains are required to return to the St. Ignatius campus or Lake Merced Boathouse (whichever is designated by the coaching staff) to unload the trailer and wash/re-rig the boats. Rowers/coxswains who wish to return from a race with their parent(s) or guardian(s) need to supply the coaches with a note and receive permission from that coach to do so.

Per non-COVID school policy, a rower or coxswain may never leave an away race in a vehicle driven by another student. (Practical exceptions have been in place during COVID.)

FamilyID, Participation Fees, and Due Dates

All dates and instructions below will remain in effect unless otherwise noted by the coach.

A Note About the Participation Fee and Program Costs

Prior to 2016, this amount had not changed since before 2003, and is thousands less than the average spring dues of local Bay Area rowing clubs. It does not fully meet the needs of the program, which are further subsidized by the school, families, and alumni. We expect the fee to gradually increase over the next few years, per Athletic Department plans, although it will remain less than other comparable local teams.

We pride ourselves on being able to provide a top-notch rowing experience for the young men and women of SI, and we are extremely efficient in allocating dues and donations. With that said, the cost of new equipment, proper facilities, and skilled coaching is substantial. We are humbled by the generosity of parents, family members, alumni, and friends who are able to give money or time, who help ensure the scholar-athletes have the tools they need to succeed. Historically, all of our major equipment (racing shells, boat racks, etc) is acquired through a combination of donations and dues. A new eight is $42,000+. A four is $25,000+. A set of new oars is $4,000+. A new dynamic erg, $1,875. Each has an effective lifespan of multiple years, but eventually needs to be replaced. All of our equipment also has regular maintenance and repair costs. We usually move shells down to lower squads as new equipment arrives, if the weight class of said equipment meets the needs of the lower crews (for example, a “large” eight originally for a big boys 1V crew will not be ideal for a lighter, lower varsity crew or for an average freshman crew), and the sale of equipment that is being cycled out helps pay for new equipment. The Crew Dues provide a vital component of these efforts, along with annual fundraising that depends on the generosity of family members, alumni, and friends of the program.

A separate long-term effort is the development of a new rowing facility that properly supports our nationally-recognized scholastic program, that ensures the future success of the team, and that enables the development of ancillary programming within the team’s mission. Such a facility will also enable expanded community rowing during unused times of the day. Much of the current city-owned facility we rent is dilapidated, and provides inadequate indoor/protected storage space for rowing shells. A significant portion of our fleet is stored outside, which degrades the equipment. If you would like to be a part of the long-term effort to develop a new facility benefiting generations of student-athletes at SI, please contact Sam Nelsen.

Volunteering and Supporting the Team

As we mentioned earlier, the team would not be where it is today without the generosity of parents, family members, alumni, and friends. From helping organize or supply the Food Tent at regattas or cheering on the boys and girls, being a contact person for fellow parents and guardians, organizing parent or team social events, to giving funds for new equipment or even supporting an effort for a new rowing facility, there are myriad ways to support the team. We have a wonderful and involved parent/guardian group, the Parent Navy, and we hope you will join them.

Academic Policy

The provisions of AB2613, "C" average law, have been incorporated in the CIF Bylaws and are applicable to all CCS schools. The basics of this academic requirement are as follows:

1. The student must have passed 20 semester periods of work in the previous grading period.

2. The student must be currently enrolled in 20 semester periods of work.

3. The student must be meeting school "progress toward graduation" requirements.

4. The student must have attained a 2.0 GPA on a 4-point scale the previous grading period. Grading periods do include quarter grades.

Student Athlete Behavior

All St. Ignatius athletes are expected to hold themselves and their teams to the highest standards at practice, at competitions, and in general school and out-of-school life. At all times SI students represent the school and their teams, especially at races, during practices, and when wearing SI paraphernalia. Respectful treatment of others, and conscientious behavior and language befitting an Ignatian, are part of being an oarsman at St. Ignatius. Behavior and language not befitting a member of the team will not be tolerated. Coaches reserve the right to send students home from races, practices, or other team events, along with other repercussions as appropriate.

Injuries

If a doctor, or the SI trainers, have diagnosed an SI student-athlete with an injury, the student-athlete will need to do the following:

1. Take the rehab program seriously throughout the course of the recovery, whether short or long term.
2. Communicate to the head coach the full extent of the injury.
3. Work in conjunction with the coaching staff and the SI trainers to design and implement a rehabilitation program.
4. Receive medical clearance from the SI trainers and/or doctor prior to being allowed to participate in any practice or game.

Concussion Protocol for Athletes

Please review the concussion protocol for athletes via the Athletics Department, which addresses AB 25, recently passed by the California Legislature on January 1, 2012, and states the following: A student-athlete who is suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury in a practice or a game shall be removed from competition at that time for the remainder of the day and will not be allowed to return to play unless cleared by a licensed health care provider.

Media

When addressing the media, always put the team first. Speak humbly. Speak positively about our team, program, and its members, as well as our opponents. Keep all team information within the team. If you do not feel comfortable answering a question, say that you “respectfully decline to comment.” Do not feel pressured to answer all questions. Finally, “Think BEFORE you speak” (or post).

Social Media: All members of our program will handle themselves in a mature manner and use social media in a mature manner. It is important now more than ever that all involved in our program understand the ramifications of our social networking habits. We need to remember that we represent our families, the St. Ignatius community, and the program. We also need to understand the wide scope of social networking, and that once something is posted it is out there forever. Not only is it out there forever, it is out there worldwide. It is not just limited to the circle of friends for which it was intended. We must “think before we post.” Ask yourself, “is this something we want ANYBODY else to read or see?” Things can spiral out of control and take on lives of their own very quickly.

Communication with the Athletic Department