Welcome to a great team!

Rowing is the ultimate team sport. Rowers work together in long, sleek racing shells and push the boundaries of their physical limits to make the crew successful. Unlike traditional sports such as baseball, football, tennis, or soccer, virtually all GR Crew rowers have no prior rowing experience. In this respect, crew can be a fresh start in a sport that is increasing in popularity across the country.

If you truly enjoy new challenges and have the drive to work hard, the rewards of rowing with Grand Rapids Crew can be great.

GR Crew rowers develop high levels of physical strength and learn new skills while having fun, making friends, and testing their rowing prowess against teams from across the Midwest.

Be ready to race!

You won’t ride the bench in crew. Known as regattas, rowing competitions have events divided by skill, weight, gender, and boat type. This affords every team member the chance to compete for both medals and team trophy points. We typically compete in 3-4 regattas during the fall season, 2-3 indoor regattas in the winter, and 5-6 regattas in the spring. First year rowers are considered “novices”.  JV or Junior races are restricted to 9th – 11th grades, but any qualified rower can be in a Varsity or Senior race. A number of GR Crew rowers have placed in national competitions, and many have gone on to earn seats in collegiate crews.

GR Crew offers rowing opportunities throughout the year (including an indoor winter conditioning program). Practices in the fall and spring are usually Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings, and Saturday mornings, with most regattas scheduled for Saturdays. If weather conditions are adverse, rowers will be contacted regarding practice cancellation.

Equipment and Facilities

Our boathouse and dock is located on the Grand River at 291 North Park Street NW, behind Greenleaf Landscaping. We are lucky to have a fantastic stretch of the Grand for practice, and also have nearly 100 feet of docking for launching. The team’s fleet of boats consists of shells designed for 1, 2, 4, or 8 rowers. Most of our racing is known as “sweep” rowing in boats of four and eight rowers. Sweep rowers each use one 12 foot long oar, as opposed to “sculling” where the rower has two smaller ~10 foot oars, and is usually done in doubles or singles. Recently we have been rowing a quad, which is a four-person sculling shell, and also a pair, which is a two-person sweep shell. There are plenty of opportunities for everyone to row.

The biggest and fastest boats are the eights, which are nearly sixty feet in length and weigh approximately 210 – 240 pounds. They have eight rowers and a coxswain (pronounced COX-in). While the coxswain does not row, she or he is extremely important. Besides steering the shell, the coxswain serves as an onboard coach to lead and coordinate the crew with a series of commands.

In addition to boats and oars, the GRC has a trailer for hauling our boats to regattas, four motorized coaching/safety launches that are on the water during practice, and eighteen rowing machines for indoor conditioning. Additionally, we have several tents, tables, stoves, and other equipment used to provide meals, shelter, and a place to rest for our rowers during the day-long regattas.

Organization

Grand Rapids Crew is the high school program of the Grand Rapids Rowing Association. The organization is primarily self-funded, and operation relies heavily on memberships, program fees, and donations for support. The Grand Rapids Rowing Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization, and all donations are fully tax-deductible.

The Grand Rapids Crew Boosters is the committee of volunteers that makes rowing possible. Comprised of parents of rowers, the crew boosters provide many services such as team organization, scheduling, financing, fundraising, rowing shell and equipment purchases, team travel arrangements, regatta support, launch site operations and management, and boat and equipment maintenance which enable our rowers to perform at the highest levels. Everyone is welcome to become a Grand Rapids Crew Booster!

Grand Rapids Crew has been growing in numbers every year. In recent years we have carried a roster of anywhere from 40 to 80 athletes; both girls and boys. Tom Postma has been coaching Grand Rapids Crew since the team’s inception in 1999. Eric Kazmierski signed on in the fall of 2009, and Lauren Holben and Neil Pettit began coaching with the team in fall 2011.

Cost of Rowing

The basic cost of rowing is determined before each season. In addition to the usual expenses of equipment, coaching, and team operations, the fee typically includes regatta entry fees and sometimes can help to defray some expenses associated with out-of-town regattas. Rowers may purchase sweatshirts, hats and rowing jackets from the team at reasonable prices. Rowers will need running shoes for conditioning and “weather appropriate” athletic clothing. Varsity rowers purchase a team unisuit, a uniform in GR colors that is specifically designed for top rowing performance. Parents are responsible for ensuring that their athletes have transportation to and from practices, regattas, and other team events, as well as nutritious food, and usually travel with the team to out-of-town regattas.

Rowing is unfortunately not the most inexpensive sport. Generous donations from organizations and individuals have helped us keep costs to the athletes and their families much lower than would otherwise be possible. We do have a limited amount of scholarship money available for rowers in need, and are working with several area organizations to expand sponsorship and scholarship opportunities for athletes.

Fall season dues are typically $200 - $250, and spring season usually costs ~$300 - $400. However, when one considers the athletic opportunities, the travel, the competition, the teamwork, the personal and physical development, the skills learned, and the adventures and the fun, the cost to participate in Grand Rapids Crew is an exceptional value.

How to join

Our website has recently become our most important method of communication and your best source of information. Please continue to check out www.grcrew.org for program information, as well as contact information for coaches and other helpful individuals. You can register to join the team online on this site. If you cannot afford to join the team, we can confidentially arrange for a payment plan (click here for a worksheet), and have very limited funds available for scholarships.

There is also a great "novice info" page at Pioneer Crew's web page: http://pioneercrew.org/noviceinfo. We recommend you read this too, for a good perspective on the life of a high school rower.