Dear TRRA Community,
I need to start off with a huge thank you to everyone who supported and joined us last weekend at the TRRA Summer Splash 2021! The event was a great success and it was incredible to have so much of our TRRA community together again. A big shout out to our Events Team and all of the volunteers who planned, prepped, and presented this great event for us. The Summer Splash was a great way to close out our season and we look forward to seeing everyone back again this fall for our next great community event….the Head of the Ohio!
We are less than 30 days from HOTO and preparations are well underway for another great race here on the Allegheny. Over the next two weeks, we will be putting a call out to you and your networks to help us fill one of the most crucial roles at HOTO: Volunteers! Volunteers are the backbone of any successful regatta as they ensure the safe and efficient running of both land and water operations. Volunteers allow coaches to coach, athletes to race, and the regatta to remain fully staffed and supported throughout each day of racing.
Beginning next week, we will send out a Volunteer Sign-up form for the 2021 Head of the Ohio Regatta. This year, we will be hosting two volunteer onboarding days the weekend before the regatta so that everyone is clear on their role, can ask any questions, and can come to the race ready to rock their role. No experience is necessary to volunteer. These onboarding sessions will provide you with all the information and skills you need on race weekend. We hope that you will consider lending a hand on HOTO weekend to help ensure the regatta is a success!
See you all on the water soon!
Matt Logue
Executive Director
HEAD OF THE OHIO REGATTA:
The Head of the Ohio Regatta will be returning to The Allegheny this fall! Taking place on October 2nd & 3rd, HOTO will once again be a two-day in-person event featuring some of the fastest racing in the MidWest.
We are excited to announce that the weekend will also feature the first-ever HOTO College Fair, during which students from across the region can speak with college coaches and staff about their programs and learn the necessary requirements for NCAA athletic eligibility.
Registration is NOW OPEN!
THREE RIVERS YOUTH ROWING:
The TRYR mission is to build a program that values each individual participant while sustaining one of the most competitive junior rowing programs in the region and nation. Our athletes are expected to sweep and scull, and to become comfortable in all boat classes. Coxswains receive direct coaching, seasonal evaluations, and have the opportunity to row.
Registration is NOW Open for the 8th - 12th grade, 6th/7th grade, and 4th/5th grade programs.
HOLIDAY CLOSING:
September 6th: Sculling bay and boathouse open from 5:30am - 10am, all programming canceled unless otherwise indicated by your team coach.
SRL is canceled on September 6th with makeup sessions being scheduled by the captains and coaches.
MEMBERSHIP HOUSEKEEPING:
Over this summer TRRA has been working to streamline and align membership records to reflect USRowing requirements. Please take a moment to update your membership profile in both iCrew and USRowing.
iCrew Fields - Please fill in “USRowing #”, “USRowing Membership Expiration Date”
USRowing - Make sure your email address is correct. Consider the membership auto-renew option to avoid pesky reminders.
Your legal name should be on both platforms and should match.
Please remember to complete your SafeSport Training by Oct. 1st to maintain uninterrupted access to TRRA activities.
CAMPUS CORNER:
Erg Inventory & Return - If you borrowed ergs during the lockdown, and have not returned it already, please bring them to the Washington’s Landing Campus as soon as possible. There will be an erg return form on the table by the front door. Contact DJ CIviletti with any questions. Goose Line - Please remember to restring the goose line if you are the last person out on the water. If programming is done for the day, but you think log-book scullers are out, Please re-string the downstream dock, and leave the sculling dock open.
Interested in helping out around the Boathouse? Join the Campus Crew
WHY I COACH: MATT GRAU
I grew up in a “rowing-adjacent” family, despite also growing up in a military family and spending most of my time in locations where rowing wasn’t possible. My uncle and cousin both rowed in college, and my mom is fond of telling people that I ended her rowing career while she was pregnant with me and became unable to row with her double’s partner on Boathouse Row.
When I started attending the University of Pittsburgh, I immediately knew that rowing was going to be the sport for me in college. Rowing imparted a significant amount of life lessons on me, specifically regarding work ethic and tenacity. I met my wife while carrying a launch from the Pitt bay and a significant number of my closest friends are those I have spent time with in a boat or launch. I still recall my excitement to wake up at 4:45 AM for morning practices in college, knowing that I was going to do something challenging each day that required teamwork and a constant desire to learn.
While I moved around after college, both in terms of clubs and city of residence, I always knew that Three Rivers was a special place. I spent time coaching at Allderdice High School, Steel City Rowing Club, Wilson High School (Washington, DC), and with the USRowing Junior National Team system. On my first day on staff at Three Rivers, I told the athletes that I truly believed that I had been given the best job in Pittsburgh - and I still feel that way today.
I am currently the Head Coach of Youth Rowing for Three Rivers Rowing Association. In this role, I direct our competitive 8th - 12th Grade Three Rivers Youth Rowing program while also managing the 4th - 7th grade recreational program and all of our youth summer camps. I am also currently the Director of USRowing’s U19 Olympic Development Program.
I chose to coach and teach rowing because of the exceptional ability this sport has to inform and guide young people. My absolute favorite thing about this sport is seeing the growth of an athlete over a number of years. As coaches, we are given awesome responsibility and can be rewarded with being witnesses to exceptional change and progress in athletes.
I chose to coach and teach rowing at Three Rivers due to the community-oriented nature of the club, the exceptional amount of resources we have at our disposal, and the energy and passion of each member of the club. I have been fortunate to be around a lot of boathouses during my time in this sport and I am confident that Three Rivers is a special place.
One of the best parts about coaching is that there is no such thing as a “favorite memory” in this sport. I do know my “least favorite memory” of each season comes about 30 minutes after the last athlete leaves the boathouse following the final race when I have to finally come to terms with the fact that that particular season is over and that the unique community and culture that has been built over the preceding months is now a piece of rowing history.
While individual race results are fun, the true beauty of the sport comes from the small moments that sneak up on you. Sometimes that is finding a beautiful sunrise during a challenging practice, other times it is witnessing athletes realize that there are stronger than they believe they are, but most often it is just getting to spend time with a group of people who have also agreed that spending lots of time in an unending search of perfection is a perfectly reasonable use of free time.
-Matt Grau, TRYR Head Coach
