Regatta Tips for New Parents/Athletes
Regatta Central:You will really want to utilize regatta central.This will be your new friend. the top, there are links labeled “home”, “regattas”, “results”, etc…For our first official regatta, Riverside (22nd Annual GR High School Invitational), up at the top of the home page, click on "regattas" and then scroll down until you see 22nd Annual GR High School Rowing Invitational and click on that. From there, you can find various information on the side bar on the left. For example, if you click on the "event list" you will see all of the events for the day. This can give you an idea of your timeline for the day, including the last event. (This is not set in stone though--times can change and there can be delays or they can run ahead of schedule).
After the regatta, they need to all work together to load the boats onto the trailer before they can leave. This can take awhile--an hour or more. It's a learning process for all of our new rowers/coxswains. Local regattas, such as the Riverside Park regatta, are drop off only events, meaning all athletes ride the bus as a team to the event but a bus will not be provided for a ride back.
When the race gets closer, you will be able to click onheat sheet to see when your athlete will be racing. They often don't get their boat placements until a day or two beforethe regatta. The heat sheet can change--there's a regatta central app that is handy to use while at the race site.
There's also a link on that side bar for lodging and another for directions and parking.For those regattas that are away/overnight regattas, the team will stay together and lodging is already taken care of for them.
Food: Not all regattas have food for sale. It is always a good idea to either pack a cooler of food and drinks for yourselves or plan on leaving the regatta site to eat. Your athlete will be fed from the food tent.Food that will fuel and work with the rowers/coxswains while racing is the focus at the food tent! Drinks will be available for your athletes as well.
Clothes:Come prepared for all weather! Both for your athlete and yourself. Grass is often very wet that early in the morning so you may want some type of waterproof shoe or shoes to change into. Bring layers and a change of dry clothes for your rower/coxswain to change into after the regatta if needed.Rowers/Coxswains walk around a lot in their socks--Lots of changes of socks are good! You will want chairs for yourself to sit in for the day. Athletes stay very busy. If they are not rowing/coxing, they are offering dock support to their fellow athletes. Binoculars if you have them are nice as well. More information on this can be found on our website under the "new or interested in rowing tab".
Finally, Don’t ever hesitate to e-mail to ask questions. We have all been new to this sport at one time. It is a fun and addicting sport and we hope you will enjoy the season!