“Try Rowing” clinics introduce young people in Snohomish County to the sport

Over the course of the pandemic, teens’ sports participation declined substantially. In fact, according to the latest studies, roughly 1 million U.S. high school athletes were no longer able to participate in sports after the first year of Covid-19, due to facility and program closures. 

Not only did this leave few options for physical activity, but it also deteriorated the ever-important connection with peers, coaches, and mentors.

As the pandemic ended and sports programs resumed, the cost to participate had increased substantially - at least for those that were able to re-open. Many were not. 

The youth sports industry is now estimated to be a $30 billion industry. This creates significant barriers to participation across the entire nation. 

In an annual survey by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) in 2021, data collected found that in the United States, 24% of kids ages 6 to 12 from homes with $25,000 or less played sports on a regular basis, compared to 40% of kids from $100,000+ homes. And in 2021, more than four out of ten families said their community-based sports provider either closed, merged or returned with limited capacity after the pandemic, nationwide.

And yet and we know that sports provide participants with more positive self-perceptions of their academic achievement and goals, higher levels of self-esteem, self‑efficacy, and social support, and lower levels of loneliness, self-derogation, fatalism, and depression.

At the George Pocock Rowing Foundation, we believe that sports, like rowing, matter for young people. Being involved in a sport promotes a healthy lifestyle and teaches kids valuable and transferable social skills that they use far into adult life.  

The YMCA of Snohomish County, Washington offers youth sports programs that are positive, and fun, and help kids and teens learn the true value of teamwork. Their sports programs encourage youth to develop their physical and social skills. Teamwork, sportsmanship, and leadership are among the skills emphasized in the program. The programs offered are either free or discounted for youth who live in the county - 80% of the kids participating meet free/reduced lunch criteria.

Darlene Salo, the Board Secretary and Membership Manager for North Cascades Crew wants to create more opportunities for youth from the county to row, and she is making an effort to do so, one participant at a time, because in her words; ”kids need it.” 

In collaboration with another North Cascades Crew board member Mary Neary, the two applied for funds from the George Pocock Rowing Foundation to provide scholarship support to their athletes. In order to award the funds, however, first they needed the athletes who qualified for support. The two approached the program director for the YMCA of Snohomish County’s Big Brothers Big Sisters program - a program that matches youth facing adversity with a caring mentor - and pitched an opportunity for teens to experience rowing through a one-day “Try Rowing” clinic.  

Despite the number of residents that the YMCA of Snohomish County serves, which includes all of Snohomish County, participants in these Y programs don’t have a lot of connection to Lake Stevens, which is where North Cascades Crew rows. This is mostly due to a lack of awareness of its presence, but also without programs with which to partner. Connecting with Cascades Rowing was a win for everyone.

The initial Try Rowing clinic took place in September of 2022 and a second one this April. Each clinic served five ‘Littles’ - the participants, who were paired up with five ‘Bigs’ - the mentors. Together the Bigs and Littles learned how to row. When asked about the idea of pairing the Bigs and Littles together, Alyne Van Winkle, former YMCA of Snohomish County’s Program Director, shared how they’ve found that “learning something new can be empowering with a mentor by your side – it helps build trust in the relationship. Doing something new together, especially something that is new to both of them, can be very impactful for their relationship.” Alyne further explained that some of the Littles in the program come from broken homes and have a goal of doing things that connect with Bigs, whether that be a parent, a guardian, or a role model. Because the program supports the families too, this creates stronger ties within those relationships.

Rick* is one of the YMCA of Snohomish County program participants who comes to small group mentoring. Upon arrival at the Y, Rick often sits at a table and immediately rests his head on his crossed arms. Though he is slowly opening up, he is frequently timid. Rick doesn’t have a mentor right now, so being paired with an adult for this new Try Rowing experience was beneficial for him to feel more included in the program. While slightly hesitant on the Try Rowing first day, afterward his father emailed the program staff to say;

“I would like to start by saying thank you for the opportunity for my son to trying rowing with your crew and the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Like most teenagers, it is hard for me to tell when he is interested in something. With the weather not being great on Saturday, and his overall mood I didn't think he was very interested in rowing. As soon as we got home the first thing he said was "I enjoyed that a lot. When do I get to do it again?"

And that is a very good question. How does this program continue so kids who are interested in rowing again can do so? With limited transportation to and from the boathouse and challenges contacting families for participant registration, the barriers to accessibility aren’t minimal. However, the George Pocock Rowing Foundation’s Athlete Support & Retention Program is available to any youth rower in the Pacific Northwest who would like to continue rowing at a boathouse in the region. The Athlete Support & Retention program provides scholarships to cover registration fees, transportation, and uniform costs, as well as logistics and management of the scholarship process. This program will serve an estimated 80 athletes in 2023. We hope Rick is one of those athletes.

When asked about their future plans for this program, Darlene told us;

“We feel strongly that rowing, like many sports, takes parent commitment which many of these kids don’t have and why we love the one-day clinics schedule from April – Sept, we can reach more teens.  Our goal is to convert the one day event rowers into full session rowers and working on mitigating the transportation issue most low-income teens face.”

The George Pocock Rowing Foundation is incredibly proud of the innovation and vision displayed by North Cascades Crew and its leaders. The alignment with our mission to increase access to rowing for young people reaffirms our commitment to funding programs like this. 

*Name changed