Rowing in the South

 People start rowing for many reasons. In places like New England, rowing is a tradition. No one asks you why you join. No one questions your sanity when you wake up at 4:30 am and have to break through the ice to safely launch your boats. No one pesters you with annoying questions like: "How big are your canoes?" Sporting traditions are engrained deeply in society. For most of the world, this is soccer, cricket, etc. In America, we have our own traditions: baseball, America's pastime, and now football. Although rowing may not rank among baseball and football on the national scale, rowing is arguably the oldest sport in America and unique in the fact that it is also deeply ingrained in Western Europe. Why do sports matter? Why is it that sports play such a large role in defining our society? Perhaps sports carry such weight because they are communal events. People play sports together; people watch sports together. What do people talk about at dinner? Sports. What do businessmen make small talk about before signing deals? Sports. Even more importantly, ask most people where they learned about ethics, teamwork, or perseverance, and they will reply, "Sports." 

 Crew is not yet a tradition in the South, but the sport has been growing. This is essentially the founding time of rowing in the South. The reason why junior high and high school aged athletes start rowing are much different than those of the new rowers in the Northeast. Many of my friends began rowing in high school because the team did not have try-outs. Others started rowing because they wanted acceptance on a team that had a reputation for being inclusive. Some began rowing because they wanted the chance to compete on a national level. I began rowing because I hated golf and needed a new spring sport. I did not begin rowing because I thought that it would be a great physical challenge. I did not have aspirations to row in college. I had no concept of what rowing would become for me. I could not foresee the depths to which this sport would change me. 

 Recently, after receiving the news that my high school has decided to terminate all funding for the team, I have been reflecting a lot lately on why my friends and I started rowing. After five years of rowing, it is hard to remember. And, in many ways, it does not matter. I have become a better and more complete person because of rowing. It is the end result that matters. During these times, rowing must be preserved. Administrators and athletic directors unfamiliar with the sport cut rowing first in times of funding shortages. They do not realize that their actions will have a lasting effect on the status of the sport in the South. While it may not seems like it carries a significant influence, the decision of my high school to cut funding to the only high school rowing team in Georgia will have a lasting influence. It sends a message to the whole southeastern region where high school and collegiate teams, club and varsity alike are struggling for existence. It is in these times when the perseverance of the athletes to race competitively on a national level is most necessary, and that perseverance can be found in every member and coach of Vanderbilt Crew. 

--Erica Curtis