HRRA recognizes that rowing is a life long sport that takes many years to master and we believe that access to experienced and competent coaching will ensure that athletes in our all of our programs will continually learn and progress. HRRA was founded by the local coaches and we continue to attract experienced coaches from regional scholastic and collegiate crew teams to help our athletes meet their goals.
In order to hire coaches, acquire appropriate equipment, attend numerous races and support our community activities HRRA has to charge program and membership fees. We try to keep these fees as low as possible, applying for grants and holding fundraisers to acquire equipment. Our program fees work out to less than $5 per hour yet our programs provide the most extensive access to training, coaching, equipment and racing in the Hudson Valley region, making our programs a great value for the money and an invaluable resource for any regional rower.
JUNIORS
Our Junior programs are designed to address three philosophies. The first is that by creating composite teams we can match the best athletes from varied programs and put together top rated teams that represent the best the Hudson Valley has to offer. The second is that by melding traditional rivals during the scholastic seasons into composite boats we break down the parochial nature of the individual teams and create a sense of regional rowing pride. And the third aspect of our overall philosophy is that providing scholastic athletes with extensive access to alternative coaching ideas and experiences will make our regional scholastic teams stronger and more experienced when they enter the scholastic racing season.
We address each of these philosophies by providing Learn-to-Row and Novice teams for juniors, skill building and water time for intermediate athletes and intensive training and technique work for advanced rowers. Each HRRA athlete shares their experiences with teammates and coaches of other teams and creates new experiences to take back to their scholastic teams, tightening that connection and helping to create our rowing community.
ADULTS
Though our adult teams have the same basic philosophies, creating strong composite teams, creating pride in our community and expanding rowing experiences, our adult athletes require a slightly different approach than our Junior teams since many of the adults that find us stay with us for many years. In some cases members of our teams have been rowing together for 9 years or more! To keep our adult athletes engaged and progressing we provide a variety of programs to accommodate varied skill levels and goals. Our coaching staff approaches potential line ups with a different eye - often putting together line ups that emphasise the continued and overall health and longevity of the team rather than the limited scope of squeeezing potential out of scholastic athletes within just four seasons.
In addition to providing the most extensive and thorough Novice curriculum for adults within the region, we provide a Recreational/Intermediate team that remains flexible to life's demands while still providing skill building and fitness opportunities. Our advanced teams are more focused on racing and becoming competitive on a wider scale, but coaches and team mates also retain the flexibility needed to help each other maintain their personal lives along with the rigors of training. Social activities and common practice sessions help maintain a connection between the adult teams, creating a friendly and welcoming environment for all levels of adult rowers.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
The strength of our rowing philosophies and the community we have created enables HRRA to go beyond providing rowing programs for our members and to use our wonderful rowing resources to give back to our community. We have been able to provide rowing programs for physically handicapped athletes and for women recovering from cancer, we are able to introduce the sport and the benefits of physical activity to elementary and middle school kids, we are able to foster an appreciation of our natural resources by providing the man power to clean up 3/4 tons of garbage from the Hudson River and we are able to build a Community Boathouse for everyone!
In the end, working together we can achieve more than any of us can by working alone and the results of providing programs and events to support these program philosophies benefits everyone - creating a tightly woven, reciprocal rowing community that produces well rounded, talented and generous athletes within all of the local rowing programs!
Please join us in creating a growing legacy of Community Rowing on the Hudson!
Further details for each program can be found by visiting the following webpages: