Hello Westdale Rowers & Parents,

It was great seeing everyone again this morning 🙂 After meeting with Mike to discuss the practice schedule & coaching arrangements, we have finalized a few things for both the men AND the women that I outline below. This schedule will also address opportunities for secondary-boat outings. Most importantly, we have finished determining which athletes still need to pay their outdoor fees, and I have provided a list (also below) with the names & amounts owing for simplicity. All chequest should be made a payable to “Westdale Secondary School” with a memo line that reads “[Athlete’s Full Name – Rowing Fees]”.

1) Coaching Arrangements ***NEW***:

The following coaches have been assigned to these crews & practice times:

Mike Roche (Head Coach):
AM COACHING FOR:
-Jr. Women’s MWT 8+ (Tristan (cox), Maddy, Claire, Sadie, Astara, Sophia, Stephanie, Louise, Katie M.)
-Jr. Women’s 8+ (coxswain*, Lauren, Victoria, Taylor, Rachel, Kyra (SPARE: Samantha Z.), Kate S., Sophie, Katie Y.)

*The coxswain of the Jr. Women’s 8+ will officially be Will for competitions, but Will is only going to be coxing the 8+ during the Sat/Sun weekend workouts. From Tuesday-Friday, the boat will be coxed using a rotation of coxswains that will be updated to this post by tomorrow afternoon. It may ocassionally receive coxing from Mary Rao, an assistant coach & experienced coxswain.

Alessandra Gage (Team Coach):
AM (5:15-7:30am) COACHING FOR:
-Sr. HWT Men’s 1x (Luke Gadsdon)
-Sr. HWT Men’s 4x (Hudson, Max, Erik, Carmichael)
-Sr. LWT Men’s 4+ (Kiri (cox), JJ, Lucas, Nimeash, Philippe)
-Sr. Women’s 4x (Kiija, Brenna, Breanne, Haley)

PM COACHING (4-5:30pm) FOR:
-Sr. HWT Men’s 4x (David, Bogdan, Toby, Evan)
-Jr. FWT Men’s 4+/4x (coxswain**, Tanner, Jake, Will, Talal)
-Sr. LWT Women’s 2x (Samantha Z. & COACH***)
-SECONDARY BOATS UPON REQUEST/RECOMMENDATION

**The coxswain of the Jr. FWT 4+ is officially Tristan W. for competitions, but will vary at afternoon practices depending on who’s available. Mary Rao (assistant coach & experienced coxswain) may ocassionally cox, but we will typically avoid the issue by ensuring that all the flyweights train in a quad. This removes the problem of finding a coxswain for the FWT boat in afternoon practices.

***The Sr. LWT Women’s 2x will not be a racing crew, but will provide a development & training opportunity with a coach or sub in the bow-seat (this will either by Mary Rao OR another athlete – from a different highschool or from McMaster University). If a current Westdale Women’s athlete is interested in taking this second spot for the purposes of training, please speak with me directly.

Peter DeNew (Assistant Coach & LBC Coachboat Lead):
AM (5:15-7:30am) COACHING FOR:
-Sr. LWT Women’s 1x (Jocelyn)
-Sr. Women’s 1x (Madison V.)
-LBC Club Singles (from other highschools, as required)

PM COACHING (4-5:30pm) FOR:
-Same crews as Alessandra Gage (this will be a co-coached session with the help of Peter, Alessandra, and Mary Rao).

Assistant Coaches (Mary Rao, Lexi Ross, Anise Truman, Eben Prevec, Rob Gage): Assistant coaches will help at various practices both AM and PM as required in order to provide the best coaching coverage possible. They will occassionally be coaching in-boat as coxswains or rowers.

2) Practice Schedule ***NEW***:

–All morning crews of Alessandra, Mike, and Peter will be training Tuesday-Friday from (5:15-7:30am) and on Sat/Sun from 6-8am. Monday will be OFF (no practice).
-The Jr. Men’s FWT 4+ will train in the PM from Tuesday-Friday (4pm-5:30pm). Sat/Sun/Monday will be OFF (no practice) because Will is needed for coxing the Jr. Women’s 8+ on weekends.
-The Sr. Men’s HWT 4x will train in the PM from Monday-Friday (4pm-5:30pm). Sat/Sun will be OFF (no practice).
-All secondary crews will train in the PM only if requested by athletes OR if recommended by a coach.

3) Rowing Fees:

The following list of people owe their outdoor rowing fees as of Friday, April 25th. They are due tomorrow (Saturday, April 26th). The amount owing is indicated next to each name & the fees correspond to the position (cox/fwt; rower):

Women with Fees Owing:
*Sophie – $225
Sadie – $225
Rachel – $225
Madison V. – $225
*Kiri – $110

Men with Fees Owing:
David – $225
Philippe – $225

If your name has been highlighted in RED it means that you still need to register with RCA (list provided below). If your name has an asterisk (*) beside it, it means that we are missing your emergency contact information (along with any additional athletes listed below) and require the white & pink sheets to be signed and returned asap:
White athletics form only – Lucas, Haley, Sophie
Both white & pink athletics form/contact info sheet – Kiri, David L.
RCA registration required for: Jake, Toby, Kiri, Sadie, Taylor B.

Hopefully the wind settles down so that we’ll be out on-water this afternoon & tomorrow morning.

See you at practice,
Alessandra