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Space Coast Crew
Courtesy: Kara Turey

Space Coast Crew

SATELLITE BEACH, Fla. — Over their heads very cautiously, the rowers carry the shell (boat) and are ready to put it in the water. Carefully, they lower it down in the river. All the oars are brought over and the rowers are ready to go. “In two, shove off from the dock!” yells the coxswain as the boat backs out of the marina and moves to the open water. The rowers start with the long strokes to get the boat moving. A dolphin comes up out of the water as it travels through the river, looking for its next meal. Most people would stop to watch the marine life but this doesn’t faze the rowers as they are focused on practice for an upcoming regatta.

Courtesy: Kara Turey

Rowing (also known as Crew) is growing in popularity on the Space Coast with its location near various waterways and the warm temperatures most days of the year. Space Coast Crew (SCC) was established in 1996 when multiple high school rowing teams in Brevard County came together to share resources and equipment. What started as a collection of multiple teams quickly grew to become one club team. From there, the club grew to add more student-athletes, competitive programs, and divisions. Today, the club has both Middle and High school students in Grades 6-12 from all over Brevard County including public, private, and home school students. The 2019-2020 SCC team saw over 129 athletes, which was one of the largest teams in the history of the program!

Rowing is a great sport as the kids don’t need prior experience to join and no one is cut from a team. The program teaches the kids how to row, gets them in shape, learn life lessons, and continue to train them even when it is not competition season. An athlete doesn’t need much equipment except for a hat, sneakers, a water bottle, tight-fitting exercise shorts (so they don’t get caught in the slide of the seat), and a positive attitude. Also, everyone gets to compete in races! Rowing is a true team sport–all rowers in a boat must work together to improve and be successful.

As with all sports, rowing is governed by a national association. US Rowing was founded in 1872 as the National Association for Amateur Oarsmen. In 1982, the name was changed to the United States Rowing Association. US Rowing also manages teams representing the United States in international competitions including the Olympics. The governing body at the state level is the Florida Scholastic Rowing Association, which Space Coast Crew is a member of. This organization oversees the majority of rowing programs in Florida and hosts a rowing championship in April for all Florida teams to compete against one another.

Practice in any sport is important as it helps the student-athletes perfect their skills. Rowing practice is held after school and on Saturday mornings for most age groups. The coaches mix up the practice with a combination of water training and land training, as both are critical to the success of the team. Water training is primarily done with 8 rowers and a coxswain who steers the boat. The coxswain is also responsible for giving the rowers instructions and motivation. Water training is also done in smaller shells that can accommodate four, two, or single rowers. Land practice is a combination of workouts on rowing machines that they call “ergs” and weight training. Rowing is one of the few sports that work all of the body’s major muscle groups. While it looks like an upper-body sport, the power of the rowing stroke comes mainly from the legs. It is a great aerobic workout while being low impact on the joints and very low risk for a head injury.

Courtesy: Kara Turey

Space Coast Crew competes in competitions called regattas and they are held in various locations in the U.S. The majority of the regattas SCC competes in are in Florida and are single-day events. State, Regional, and National Championships are multi-day events. Last year, SCC competed in regattas in Jacksonville, Tampa, Sarasota, and Orlando. In the fall, SCC traveled to Augusta, GA to row in the Head of the South regatta. They have also started to travel farther away to regattas in northern states with the summer competitive camp team. Last summer they traveled to Philadelphia where athletes were able to compete on a national level as well as take in sights of the city and grow closer as a team.

SCC is lucky to have great coaches for the teams. Coach Little is the Director of Rowing and Head Coach of Space Coast Crew. Heading into his third year with the team, he is a motivated coach and has helped the team focus on the family aspect of the sport and what it means to row. In addition, he sets high expectations for his athletes and the other coaches. He loves his athletes and the effort that they put in every day. He has dedicated time to recruiting new athletes and as a result, the team has grown a lot in the last two years. He has also been working hard to improve and upgrade the equipment. Coach Little comes from Dayton, Ohio, and is a veteran of the United States Navy.

Coach Katie Cronk is an alumnus of the team and graduated in 2012. She is heading into her third year as the women’s varsity coach and has been providing consistency and direction for the team over the last two years. The girls love working with her and she pushes them to improve everyday.

Coach Jocelyn Little is another amazing coach. She was on the women’s varsity rowing team at Michigan State University 2008-2012 and competed at the NCAA Championship in 2010 – 2012. A recent graduate from MSU with her master’s degree in Sport Coaching and Leadership, she is heading into her third year as the men’s assistant coach. She loves working with the beginning rowers as well as the freshman boys and is very good at teaching and developing new rowers.

Courtesy: Kara Turey

The young program has enjoyed a lot of success over the last 5 years including East Districts Champions/ Brevard Cup Champions 7 years running: 2013-2019. They have qualified and sent several boats to US Rowing Youth Nationals for: 2019 Men’s Pair, 2018 Men’s Quad, 2017 Men’s Quad (Came in 3rd overall in the nation), 2016 Men’s Quad, 2016 Women’s Lightweight Four, 2015 Men’s Singles, and 2015 Women’s Lightweight 8+. Unfortunately, the 2020 championships were canceled due to COVID-19.

Rowing is a sport in all 50 states and there are quite a few college teams in the U.S that have programs. Rowers who go through SCC learn time management skills and do well in school, which prepares them for their future. SCC athletes are represented at all the state universities in Florida as well as colleges outside of the state. Many rowers have gone on to college on scholarship or earned a spot to compete on the team at schools such as Stetson University, Hobart, FIT, University of Florida, University of Central Florida, Syracuse University, and Oregon State University. The following Class of 2020 student- athletes will be continuing their rowing careers in college: Ben Aronson, Dartmouth College; Cat Domey, Rollins College; Aidan Nettik, FIT; and Noah Ogburn, United States Merchant Marine Academy.

Located at Oars and Paddles Park in Indian Harbour Beach, SCC trains on the Banana River. Rowers will get to know students from all over Brevard County and make lifelong friends and learn a great sport. Come out and give rowing a try! For more information, check out: https://www.spacecoastcrew.org or contact Bryan Little, [email protected]

Hope to see you out on the water soon!

This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.