There are four more weeks left in the season for the Pocock Junior Novice Boys. This week we are doing final preparations for the Brentwood Championships, which are in Victoria, BC. We will travel by ferry early Friday morning, race that afternoon and through the weekend, ending late Sunday morning. Then we are back on the ferry and back home and then there will only be three weeks left. Three weeks is just thirteen more rows before the trailer is loaded for our last race of the year, Regional Championships in Vancouver, Washington.
Coaching novice boys is a trip. This is my second year coaching this team and I have tried to do things differently this year, starting with being more laid back and trying to have more fun. I think this has really paid off, but I have to constantly remind myself that there is a balance between pushing them to understand how to focus and work hard and remembering that this should primarily be a fun sport. I also have to remember that they are kids. But I still have high standards and even though they are young I still expect them to work hard each day and to learn something.
Tonight was no exception. I had to arrive late at practice due to a doctor’s appointment, and I joined the team on the water after they had launched. They were laying down in the eight when I pulled up. Before I even greeted them I said “guys is there a better way to use our time than laying down in the boat?” They all sat up immediately and then started working on some stationary drills; bobbing the blades together and catch placements. Then we started through the warm up sequence and I had them stop ten strokes in because they were not following each other. Again, I urged them to focus on the task at hand and not to waste any precious strokes. I have been reminding them a lot lately that we only have a handful of rows left before the season is over and that each practice is precious.
Once we finished the drills I had them do a long stretch of steady state from what is called the “bath tub” at the top of Portage Bay (a little nook of calm water just beneath the 520 ramp) down to Gas Works Park. The boys were rowing well and I encouraged them from the launch, yelling into my megaphone suggestions for how to make the boat feel better, and to focus on the things they could control. The conditions were not ideal; choppy and windy, but the sun was out and there was little boat traffic. The big focus was on sitting up and supporting the end of the drive together, to help create more stability and relaxation on the next recovery.
We turned at Gas Works and started the next stretch with a few minutes of steady state and then some thirty seconds on thirty seconds off working our way up from steady state to race pace. I love incrementally stepping up the intensity and rating this way to get warmed up and primed to do race pieces. This took us back into Portage Bay and the boys finished up the last of the thirty second builders back into the “bath tub.” During this time we worked on understanding how to keep the handles up into the catch, which created a big dynamic boat rhythm. The change in the boat was visible in the way they were taking and feeling the water together. Great discoveries and steps like this happen regularly with novice rowing. It’s part of what makes it so rewarding to do because their strides are way more discernible than more finely tuned athletes.
After that we worked on starts and did some shorter race pieces focusing on building the boat speed up and then shifting to an aggressive base pace. They were focused, thoughtful, and working hard to figure out their rhythm. They did some of the best rowing I’ve seen them do this year tonight. Each of them had “that look” on their face; focused, brow furrowed with intention, big and bold. They are learning to own their rowing and my hope is that their experiences this season will carry through to the rest of their lives.
Pretty soon the season will be over and I hope that I have taken the things I’ve been saying to them all year to heart. That I can’t waste practices, that every stroke is precious, to be in the moment. I will admit, I love these kids. I have learned so much from them this year. I have learned how to relax. I have learned how to laugh at myself. I have learned how to be a good coach without being a mean coach. I have learned how to communicate and reach them in a way that shows them I care about what I do but more importantly that I care about them.
I will be sad when this season is over. It is hard to stop working with novices when they either move up to varsity of stop rowing because it can feel like such a short amount of time. Have I made the mark I wanted to on them? Do they love rowing? Did I teach them something sustainable that will continue to give to them for the rest of their lives if they keep working at it? I sure hope so. Because the next thing I know it will be June and they will be off to their next adventure and this precious moment in the bigger picture of their lives will swirl away and fade like puddles off the stern.
