Good morning Justice Rowing Family,
Today we officially start our Spring season! I am excited to begin. More than excited though, I am unbelievably thankful. Through your efforts and those of VASRA, FCPS, Justice Athletics, our own booster board, the community, alumni, and our coaches, we are starting a season that many did not think would happen at all. We have worked hard to be as safe and prepared as we can be and will continue to do so.
I wanted to reach out to get in some last minute reminders before we head down to the Occoquan for our first official practice.
Reminders:
- Communicate with your captains and coaches.
- If you’ll be missing practice for whatever reason, we need to know in order to effectively plan line-ups and workouts.
- Complete your paperwork.
- While it’s my least favorite activity, it’s vitally important to make sure your registration is complete with both our boosters AND the school’s athletic program.
- Attendance, Line-ups, and 2k times can all be viewed in Google Classroom (“Attendance and Times 20/21 Season”), along with the USRowing Safety video and quiz, and other helpful technique information.
- Arrive prepared for practices.
- Please make sure you are dressed appropriately, have a change of clothes, and your reusable water bottle with you when you arrive at school to get on the bus. If you do not have water, you will not practice. There is no water available at the park due to COVID mitigation procedures.
- The bus will leave at 3:15 and arrive back at school around 7:30pm.
- As of now, we have a 4:15-4:45pm launch window and a 6:30-7pm exit window at the park. This means we cannot be on-land at Sandy Run outside of these windows due to COVID mitigation procedures. These windows can be tight if we are running late, so all rowers must be prepared and working efficiently.
- Rowers who have not completed a swim test will not practice until those tests are completed.
- We are currently working with several parties to schedule and rent space to test. This delay also allows our newer coaches to acclimate to Sandy Run practice procedures with experienced rowers first. More updates to follow soon.
- We are student-athletes.
- Members of the team are expected to maintain their academic work in balance with their athletic work. We do not practice on Wednesdays in order to offer students time to take care of other appointments, homework, projects, etc. Please reach out to a coach or captain if you want academic support.
Phew. Let’s get excited, and prepare for the season. Coach Maggie and I will meet you at the bus this afternoon. Be safe, be well, and row strong.
Thank you,
Rob Walker (he/him)
Special Ed. and English Teacher
Justice High School Rowing Team Head Coach
www.justicerowing.org
riwalker@fcps.edu
Twitter: @CoachWalker91
