Fulfilling Your Volunteer Requirement
Please go to this link in order to sign up to fulfill your service requirement for the year. All families are required to volunteer 12 hours per semester. We are looking for regatta coordinators for upcoming races, and also someone to organize the end of the year picnic. Check the sign up sheet, add your name to these roles or to other existing committees. Contact your team parent coordinator (also listed on this sheet) if you have questions about these roles or fulfilling your service requirement.
Spring Racing Schedule
- February 17th: Pacific Novice Invitational, Lake Merced, SF (OT Novice Teams); Varsity Teams Scrimmage at JLAC
- March 11th: JLAC Cup, JLAC (All OTR Teams)
- March 24th: League Race, Port of Sacramento, All Teams
- April 7th: 510 Sprints, JLAC (All OTR Teams)
- April 21-22: West Coast Scholastic (Chula Vista, All OT Teams)
- May 4-6th: SW Regional Championships, Sacramento, Lake Natoma (select boats from OTR)
- Late May: Race Oakland Strokes Boathouse for all OTR Teams
New Handbook!
Parent volunteers have put together a guide to all things Oakland Tech Rowing called The Purple Book. This will be circulated soon, watch for it!
Coaches’ Corner: A Message About the Spring Rowing Season from Coach Brandon Caesar
Spring racing season is upon us. Here’s what that means:
- We will try to put all the dates on Teamsnap as soon as we know them. Sometimes we’ll have no choice but to change a day or put it up late. When the day is up please mark your (or your child’s) availability as soon as you know. That way the coaches know what line-ups they can enter.
- Entries for races are put in days, sometimes weeks ahead. Once they’re put in they can be very hard to change. Sometimes a rower or coxswain having to miss a race at the last minute can cause an entire entry to be scratched and four or eight other athletes not to race. Coaches will try to fix things where we can so boats still race, but sometimes there’s only so much we can do.
- Attendance for practices is necessary in order to practice line-ups for a race. For example, many rowers and coxswains on the Varsity Men’s Team said that they wanted to practice racing line-ups often, yet on a majority of practices in the fall there was at least one person missing from every single four racing line-up. To practice a four line-up all five people must attend. To practice an eight line-up all nine people must attend. Otherwise it’s impossible. Another basic truth of rowing (or any skill) is that one has to practice it in order to improve at it, and the same goes with improving physical fitness, so rowers and coxswains who frequently attend practice will almost always improve faster than those who don’t.
- A general rule of fitness and improving is that the more sleep you can get the better. Improvement happens after hard work followed by rest and recovery. Healthy food in large quantities is also essential, especially after you work-out. The quicker you can eat something following a work-out the better. If you’re showing up to all the practices you’re going to be burning at least twice as many calories as a normal person sitting on their couch, so make sure you’re eating appropriately.
- Water is also essential, but please bring your own water bottles. It’s a little worrying in the middle of flu season, when rowers are dropping from sickness left and right, to see every rower in a boat sharing the same water bottle. It is also important to have warm clothes you can wear on cold days.
- In 2017 we had the best fall season Tech has ever had. I see no reasons why we cannot build on that this spring. Watching you all improve has been a joy and I plan on sticking around for some time. I will do my best to help you all reach your goals for this year, so please figure them out and let me know what they are. Otherwise I’ll just assume everyone’s goal is to improve their fitness and technique every day, move the boats faster and faster, and win as many races as possible.
“Another basic truth of rowing (or any skill) is that one has to practice it in order to improve at it.”
Take care all!
