If you walk into any random boathouse in America there are plenty of things you can be sure of seeing.
First, you will see boats, oars, and other odds and ends to keep these in top form. You’ll also probably see a guy clad in all neon gear and a pair of Oakley sunglasses. Most teams have one, and somehow they are always the top rower.
What you most likely won’t see and what most teams don’t have is diversity. Much like hockey, there is an issue of diversity in rowing. The problem is bringing minority rowers into the sport
“They don’t row in college, they don’t come back and coach, they don’t become referees,” Isake Smith, the head coach of Harlem River Community Rowing, told Rowsource. “After almost 10 years in rowing, I don’t see much of an increase in people of color – adults or children.”
The conversation of diversity wasn’t even opened up until the mid-90s. A controversy surrounding Boathouse Row in Philadelphia was what finally brought about discussion of change.
Richard Gibson, the Fairmount Park Commissioner at the time accused clubs on Boathouse Row for being discriminatory in their membership policies. He also criticized the Dad Vail Regatta, an annual race which takes place on the same river on which Boathouse Row is located, suggesting that the event was segregated.
Others agreed with the accusations. It was time “for the Dad Vail, and for Boathouse Row clubs, to change their ways or leave town.” said John F. Street, the City Council President at the time.
The mayor of Philadelphia, who reportedly loved the Dad Vail Regatta, gave it and Boathouse Row a $100,000 grant to promote diversity in the event. The grant was given “with a commitment to develop rowing outreach programs for city youths, a commitment to recruit black colleges to the event, and a newly named weekend festival,” as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The controversy resulted in a period of reflection that brought up many questions. People wondered how to recruit and retain minority rowers, and how much diversity would be enough to make a change. No one knew who was responsible for bringing minority rowers into the sport.
Now, over 20 years later, within the rowing community, there are plenty of initiatives trying to bring people of color into the sport. However, despite the various efforts, many crews still have yet to find their answers. There are no shortage of teams that are having a hard time recruiting and retaining people of color for their teams.
“While we have a lot of programs that recruit youth of color, the youth disappear into the ‘real world’ and never come back to rowing,” said Smith.
There are multiple reasons why people of color don’t normally come into the sport. These include cost, low confidence on the water, and feeling like an outsider in the sport.
The cost of rowing, for just one, eight-person boat alone, can begin in the tens of thousands of dollars to obtain all the necessary parts and oars. Then there is the cost of transportation. Most high schools generally don’t have a boathouse right there on the property or even sit next to a body of water large enough to row on.
Since this is a sport that generally doesn’t bring in revenue to its teams, these costs usually show up in rowers dues or fundraising that will need to paid out of pocket if not raised. Dues and fundraising can usually run up to over $500 a semester for most teams. It is a high price to pay for some when the alternative is grabbing a ball and using your imagination.
One big thing that rowers need is the ability to feel comfortable on the water. Of course, most won’t start out in a boat feeling stable and competent. All rowers need to be able to swim in case something goes wrong.
Minority children are 40 percent more likely to drown than a non-minority child. This becomes a barrier to entry for many because rowing is a water based sport. If you can’t swim then you won’t be able to be comfortable on a boat and won’t be able to participate in the sport.
One woman in upstate New York, named Juliana Lobiondo, acquired a grant to teach people in her town how to both swim and row. There were people in the town who wanted to row. However, those who wanted to participate were limited by their swimming ability.
Once her club, named Newburgh Rowing Club, was established, that started to change. The club taught those in the community both how to row and how to swim. Free water confidence clinics were held by the club.
“People in this town no longer view rowing as an elite sport, something that their kids can’t do,” Lobiondo told USRowing. She was awarded the Anita Defrantz award in 2016 for her work in spreading diversity in the sport.
Once minority rowers are on a team, it can be harder to retain them from season to season or from high school to college. Many rowers of color often mention feeling out of place in the sport. Despite the sense of community that being on a crew can provide, feeling different than the rest of the team can lead to a rower feeling like an outsider, whether that feeling is real or only perceived.
Smith believes that code switching, the practice of switching either languages or the way you express yourself, is a reason that she is able to keep her minority rowers on the team.
“I think it’s more about the effort I make to integrate everyone into the culture of rowing and the culture of the team I coach,” Smith explained to Rowsource.
There are plenty of things that you can see in the rowing community, but sadly, for now, until more changes are made, one of the things you most likely won’t see is diversity.
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