What a week!

We had a solid week of practice that included some rowing in eights, fours, and quads with some intense post-row activities. We've had three weeks of preparation and I'm happy with the way that the team is beginning to come together and how our walk-on athletes are progressing. Now, as we prepare for the Head of the Riverfront, we have the chance to go "live" with our competition.

Our men's and women's soccer teams, field hockey squad, and football team all went at it with Bates this Saturday and emerged victorious...Great stuff to see success in the entire department over a good league rival. Expectations are high and we'll train as close to our capacity as possible.

NCAA declaration

I'm sure that many of you have read about the changes to the NCAA Division I championships that were posted on Row2k today. The addition of automatic qualifiers and the elimination of individual awards for the top finishers in the each category were the main changes. It's obvious that rowing is trying to become comparable to other "team" sports in the NCAA and yet almost everybody connected with rowing that is not the case.

I am hoping that the language that our sport's leaders are using to make changes to our championship format reverts to an ATHLETE-CENTERED discussion and not about an NCAA-centered discussion. If there are three separate "events" in the Division I championship, varsity eight, second varsity eight, and varsity four then the winners of those events should be recognized. Winning a race at the NCAAs should be rewarded the same way that our junior, masters, and national team athletes are across the board.

Automatic qualifiers...that's another story.

Do It Day Video

Fantastic first Saturday as a team together working in Pope Park - one of the major parks in Hartford located a few blocks from Trinity's campus. Pope Park has undergone a tremendous renaissance in the past four years and is now a well-used and busy recreational area for many Hartford-area residences. It has a community recreational center, swimming pool, baseball diamond, soccer field, and playground and is used by families, groups, and others. The park has been reclaimed from grass land and is important for the continued improvement in the area.

Convocation 2009 Video...

A quick video of the beginning of Convocation 2009. Freshmen begin moving in and registering between 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM and move into their dorms. We, like many programs across the nation, bring a rowing shell on campus and encourage as many people to try a new sport as possible. Convocation marks the opening of the academic year and is a chance for the new class to be addressed by the President of the College, the Dean of Faculty, and the student body President. It's easily one of the top three gatherings of the year for the faculty and students.

Convocation Video

I thought I would take a little video of convocation just to give our prospective students an image of what it's like to meet as a freshman class underneath the Elm trees of the Long Walk. Once I get it processed and downloaded I'll put it up online.

Blogging from Freshmen Move-In Day

One of the best days of the year! Freshmen move on to Trinity's campus for the first time and begin their collegiate careers. There are people looking to make their mark, experience new things, follow their dreams, and spread their wings.

The best part for me is meeting the families of our recruits again and seeing how proud they are of their daughters and the hope that they'll continue to grow and develop as people throughout college.

And yes, even freshmen can be embarrassed by their parents as we've heard a few of those comments already! I'll write a little more after convocation...