Crew is more than just a high school sport, it’s a lifestyle for everyone involved

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher “This is so much better than school.” Those were the words spoken by one young lady on the Ocean City High School crew team as the Red Raiders gathered to bring their boat to the loading dock in preparation for a race at the recent Stotesbury Cup on a picturesque day on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. Hard to fault that young lady for expressing her joy for the day. She got to spend that Friday with her best buddies, eat great food all day, mingle with thousands of high school kids from across the country, get a good workout in — oh, and not be stuck in a classroom on an 80-degree day. The Stotesbury Cup, if you’ve never been, is like one big rowing carnival and a visit to the oldest and biggest high school regatta in the country shows why this sport has become so popular. Teams are made up of dozens of male and female student-athletes, and their parents are hugely involved, in everything from pasta parties to fundraising to travel arrangements to hosting mini-parties at their respective team tents at major rowing events. Not only do the athletes have to have a certain level of dedication to become proficient at the sport, but the parents also harbor a lot of responsibility for keeping these teams afloat and running in an orderly fashion. You don’t just row crew — you live crew. It’s a lifestyle, and according to many immersed in it, rowing season takes over entire households. The sport becomes the epicenter of daily activity among these crew families, and, by all accounts, they wouldn’t have it any other way. Pack your bags The highlights of the crew season come on May weekends at such events as the Garden State Cup, the Stotesbury Cup and nationals, which mean road trips to either the Cooper River in Camden or the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. The Stotesbury, for instance, is a two-day event, which means a lot of preparation. For teams such as Egg Harbor Township and Mainland Regional, which have nearly (if not more than) 100 rowers in their boys and girls programs combined, this means a caravan of vehicles just to transport all the food and equipment. And, make no mistake, at an event that features more than 6,000 rowers from across the country, getting prime real estate for your team tent is not to be taken lightly. Joanna Teague, who is sort of the head of operations for the Mainland team tent, said the Mustangs’ parent organization sent up scouts in advance of the Friday racing to stake out the best location to set up shop. Mainland fans cheer on their Mustangs with cowbells and track the progress of boats with stopwatches during Stotesbury Cup time trials earlier this month. “I think they are overwhelmed a lot,” Millar said of parents who are new to the sport. “It’s a different language, a different kind of sport. We row in all kinds of weather. I’ve had parents who are overwhelmed at first, but then they fall in love with it themselves and they start to row. It’s just a very involved sport and it can’t be any other way.” Warrell said that once the initial shock wears off, parents tend to throw themselves into the mix with vigor and gusto. “I knew about crew, but I didn’t know how involved it was with all the rules and regulations,” Warrell said of when he first got into crew 10 years ago. “I can honestly tell you, within the first month or two I fell in love with this sport. I love this sport more than any other athletics. It’s tremendous. “I’ve coached different sports for about 10 years, football, baseball, lacrosse, hockey. We always said there were about 10 percent of the people doing about 90 percent of the work. But in crew you seem to have a lot more participation. I think it’s because of the family atmosphere that it brings, and our children who are rowing together almost become like brothers and sisters because they are with each other all the time. They are seeing their teammates longer than you see them as a parent,” Warrell added. “Toward the end of the season you’re tired, but then after a few months you can’t wait for the crew season to start again. It’s something tremendous.” Setting an example By working so hard on the preparation, the food and travel arrangements, parents are setting a great example for their student-athletes, whether they realize it or not. And, in turn, their kids inspire them to make the commitment because not only are the high school kids committing to a demanding sport, but they also are keeping their grades up and many of them earn athletic and academic scholarships. “The parents are just as involved as we are,” McDermott said. “The only kind of break they get is when (students) start driving, because then you can drive yourself to places and that takes a big load off of them, but they do just as much as we do.” “I live in Wildwood Crest, so every day I wake up at 5 a.m. to get to school at 7, so it’s a lot of commitment there,” said Ocean City senior Mike Daddi, McDermott’s teammate on the varsity eight boat. “When I first came here, I didn’t really know anybody so I joined crew. I lost a lot of weight, made a lot of new friends and now I’m part of the family. I really didn’t think that my mom (Grazia Didonato) was backing me up that much, but then I see her running the food tent sometimes and I realize she cares about me a lot.” Teague said that all the rowers are very appreciative of the efforts the parents make, even parents from opposing schools. “I like the discipline for the kids and the fact that they learn to manage their time. The commitment level is so intense that they have to. These are true student-athletes who do very well in school and support each other. As big as it seems, it’s actually a very tight-knit community and everybody is always looking out for your child on some level,” Teague said. “This sport has a lot of integrity and it builds that sportsmanship among the athletes. The kids in my car pool are always saying ‘thank you.’ They are always so appreciative. I think you see that with the kids. They are all so polite and I think they are aware of how much time it takes. They could have just had the worst race, but when they pull up (to shore) they say ‘thank you.’ No one comes off with a bad attitude, and that’s nice to see.” “It’s really a gentleman’s sport. You don’t see a lot of attitudes or selfishness. Even when you win the states, when the kids wear their gold medals they actually tuck them into (their shirts) because they don’t want to rub it in the other school’s faces. That’s the type of thing that this sport is all about,” Warrell said. “Not to cut on any other sport because I think every sport is good for kids and helps keep them out of trouble, but this sport is the most demanding sport there is in high school. Yet we have the most kids who get scholarships and go to college. You say to yourself, how can these kids row until 8:30 at night and still be on the honor roll? It’s because they have learned how to manage their time and they’ve learned work ethic. They know what hard work is. They go into college so prepared. I really feel like this sport prepared all three of my kids to be successful in college.” Party time In the end, whether their child goes on to row in college or not, or gets a scholarship or not, the most appealing things for those involved in crew is the party atmosphere at these big weekend events. The Stotesbury Cup drew thousands of fans, high school kids made their way up and down the concrete sidewalk riding scooters, local businesses were on hand selling their wares. It was almost like a summer campground and backyard BBQ all rolled into one. With thousands of your closest friends. “This becomes our family dinner. It’s one of the few sports where parents can really be actively involved with our children. When they
come off the water they get to come back (to the tent) and we are here and everybody is hanging out,” Teague said. “It’s almost like a big family barbecue every weekend,” Warrell said. “Even the local ones, when we do the events at Lake Lenape, there’s a contest for who is the best chef. It’s kind of like a little camaraderie type of thing. It’s a friendly rivalry. Some people come in with crazy types of food you would never think of. We’re pretty known for our cooking. We do a pretty good job.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]