New Announcements

Hello All,

I have a few announcements to make. First of all, this fall season we are trying out a new system that should help to save the crew program both money and effort on the part of the parents. We will be driving vans to the river, rather than paying for a bus. Not only will this save the program a significant amount of money, but it will also negate the necessity to have parent chaperones. Due to the relatively low number of rowers in comparison to the spring season, it just didn't make sense to pay the high price of a bus to the river when we weren't even using half of the space on the bus. However, this would normally put a huge strain on the two crew coaches who are normally responsible for coaching in the fall. Thanks to Mark Duncan and Steve Piltch, we have been able to hire two additional coaches for the fall, who will not only be able to share the responsibilities of driving the kids to and from the river, it will also double the amount of coaching attention that the rowers will receive during the season. I hope that everyone will appreciate the effort that the school has made to not only save the team money, but also to help the amount of individual attention that the rowers will receive. However, this will not change the need for a bus in the spring, nor the need for chaperones at that time.

As such, I will be staying on as the coach of the varsity girls through the spring season. I have hired J.D. Bridges as the varsity boys' coach and Devin Ohman will be returning as the novice boys' coach, which I believe he has done an incredible job at. We have yet to see who will be filling the position as the novice girls' coach. Theresa Shields, who did an amazing job with the novice girls last year, is currently enrolled in a graduate program at the University of Pennsylvania to obtain her Masters in Education. Her availability this spring season will depend on her class schedule, but if she is unavailable to coach this spring, we will do our best to fill the large shoes that she has left behind. I know that she would like to return next year if she is unable to coach this spring, but we will have to wait to see how that plays out. Some of you know J.D. Bridges, as he coached at Shipley several years ago as the novice boys's coach, but since his stay at Shipley, he has been the head coach at several rowing programs in the interim. I know that between J.D. and Devin, the boys' program will be in very capable and skilled hands. Kristen Giacchino, who is a coach at The Baldwin School, will be assisting me with the girls' team this fall.

Unfortunately, the girls' program has gone through the turmoil of having a new coach almost every season over the past several years, and I felt that it was time for them to have some sense of continuity and support. As such, I am really looking forward to taking on the new challenge of coaching them, and making them as successful as I know they can be. This is certainly not meant as any kind of derogatory comment to any of the coaches that they have had over the past seasons. The time commitment that is involved in coaching crew is not an easy one to deal with, especially during the formative years of one's career. I am looking forward to the upcoming year and am looking forward to seeing everyone at the river soon!

All the best.

-Tom