LARA CREW NEWS, JANUARY 2018

WINTER TRAINING/SPRING SEASON

Spring season will commence with Winter Training at the boathouse Monday January 8th for Varsity. All Novice and new rower call out will be Wednesday January 10th after school in room 111. Bus service from LA to the Boathouse for Novice will begin Thursday January 11th. All Rowers must be registered by a parent or guardian in order to participate in practice and/or ride the bus to practice on January 11th. The Winter Training schedule is posted in the calendar on the LARA website.

SPRING REGISTRATION

If you have not already registered your rower for the 2018 Winter/Spring Season, please do so. The registration deadline for returning rowers is Sunday, January 7, and for new rowers it is Wednesday, January 10. Rowers must be registered in order to attend practice. The fee for both Varsity and Novice rowers is $1850. A $50 deposit will be collected at the time of registration. There are three payment plans for the remaining balance with one option spreading the payments over the first three months of the year. Please follow this link to complete your registration.

PARENT MEETING

The parent meeting will be at Loyola Academy Wednesday January 24th at 7:00 pm in the Theater. This mandatory meeting is very informational and will give you the opportunity to learn important details about the upcoming season, meet the coaches and ask questions at the completion of the meeting.

Highly popular Spirit Wear, including hats, blankets, yard signs and umbrellas will be available and can be purchased with cash or check.

UNIFORM FITTING

Uniform fitting will be scheduled in the last two weeks of January. Date and time to be determined.

COACHES CORNER

Schedule: First 2 weeks of Practice
Varsity: Monday through Saturday, except Varsity Girls - Tuesdays off, Varsity Boys - Wednesdays off. Saturday Practice 8-10 am for all Varsity.
MLK Day: VGirls – 8-10 am, VBoys – Normal practice time.

Novice: Practice 1/11, 1/12 after school. Saturdays (including 1/13), 10-12am,
All Novice to practice Monday through Saturday, except Novice Girls - Mondays off, Novice Boys - Thursdays off.
MLK Day: All Novice 10-12 am.

Coaches:

Varsity Girls – Matthew Baldino, Mike Kelley Varsity Boys – Brian Martin, Carrie Lofgren Novice Girls – Egan Berne
Novice Boys – Dave Smith

Novice Assistant – George Hildebrandt

ERGATHON

The Ergathon, which will be held in February or March, is LARA’s primary fundraiser. All rowers participate in this critical fundraiser that has allowed the club to make capital purchases such as new boats and offer financial aid to rowerswhodemonstrateneed. Moreinformationtofollow.

SPRING BREAK

Spring Break is a fun teambuilding experience for the team and will be from Monday April 2nd through Saturday April 7th. Novice rowers spend the week training at the boathouse, usually each day from 8 am until 4 pm. Varsity rowers will bus to Oak Ridge, Tennessee for a week of intense rowing. It is really amazing how much improvement is made during this week and Spring Break training is essential preparation for our most important races at the end of the season.

Volunteers Needed Spring Break - All volunteers must be Virtus trained and certified

Varsity Spring Break – We are in need of 10 more volunteers to accompany the team to Oak Ridge, TN. Although it is a working trip as we prepare 2 meals a day for the rowers and coaches among other things, it is also a great opportunity to get to know other parents and to get an up-close look at how hard the athletes train.

Novice Spring Break Lead – We are in need of 1 or 2 Novice parents to organize and coordinate Novice Spring Training at the boathouse. No experience necessary. We will connect you with people who have organized this in the past.

If you are interested in helping out, please contact Gretchen Funck, gofuncky@gmail.com

PARENT TRIVIA NIGHT

Save the date – LARA is planning a Trivia Night (parents only) Saturday February 10th, 2018 in the Student Center at LoyolaAcademytohelpbeatthewinterbluesandraisecashfortheclub! Helpsupporttheclub,meetotherparentsand show off your trivia skills at the same time! B.Y.O. food and drink. More details to follow.

SPRING REGATTA SCHEDULE

More regattas likely will be added to the spring schedule, but listed below are the bigger regattas for the Spring Season.

• Lake Dillon Sprints in Zanesville, Ohio– April 21, 2018 (Select Varsity and Novice)

• Washington DC Regatta, April 20th – 21st, 2018 (Select Varsity)

• Midwest Scholastic Rowing Championship in Zanesville – May 12-13, 2018 (All Varsity and Novice)

• Scholastic Rowing Association National Championships in Camden NJ – May 25-26, 2018 (Varsity and Novice

  crews must qualify for this event at Midwest)

  SPRING PARENT MIXER

  This annual event is a fun evening out for our biggest supporters of our program, You! It is always well attended and a wonderfuleveningtomeetotherparentsandminglewiththecoaches. Thedateandlocationaretobedeterminedbut plan on attending!

  SPRING BANQUET

  The Spring banquet will be held Sunday May 20th following the Midwest Scholastic Rowing Championship weekend. It is an evening for parents and rowers to celebrate all the athletes’ hard work and accomplishments throughout the season. Location and time forthcoming, but save the date!

  GENERAL INFORMATION

  The Loyola Academy Rowing Association website is at www.loyolaacademycrew.org. In addition to registering your rower on this site, you will also find information about the organization, governance, regattas, photos, contact information and other rowing links to familiarize yourself with the sport. Please take a look!

  VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

  LARA is a parent run organization and we depend on the parents to make this club possible for our student athletes. While we are always looking for volunteers at regattas, there are some leadership roles that are currently available or will be open during the spring season. LARA has been very fortunate to have had such dedicated parents and given the large number of senior parents rolling off the board or in key positions, we are seeking parents who would like to be involved with the club.

  LARA OPEN POSITIONS

• Travel and Regatta Support (contact Susan Locke at locke_susan@yahoo.com)

• Nurse – The nurse travels to the various regattas including Spring Break and assists rowers who have minor injuries or are ill at regattas.

• Travel Regatta Assistant – Schedule and manage chaperones and rowers on travel arrangements. Site Manager – Arrange Transportation of chuck wagon and manage setup/take down

• Financial (contact Lisa Flanagan at laratreasurer1@gmail.com)

• Summer Service Lead (contact Christine Schultz at Christine.schultz@fticonsulting.com)

• Lead summer service project with team of volunteers (1 day commitment)

• Banquet Lead (contact Melissa Harlan at melissaharlan72@gmail.com) Schedule spring banquet and work with a committee to organize and host.

• Newsletter Publisher (contact Brian Donovan at Larasecretary@gmail.com) Organize, edit and send weekly LARA updates.

• Media Liaison (contact Andy Schumacher at andy.schumacher1@gmail.com)

• Manage Social Media sites such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. Also communicate all press releases with Loyola Academy regarding regatta results.

• Uniforms/Spirit Wear (contact Suzette Bernstein at suzettebernstein@comcast.net)

• Assist with ordering team uniforms and gear. Ordering and selling Sprit wear.