S3E17 - East Bay Rowing Club Gains Speed in Oakland

This is a wide-ranging, roundtable chat with East Bay Rowing Club President Denise Martini, DEI Committee co-chair Carla Jourdan, and Erin Cafaro, two-time Olympic gold medalist and new Head Coach of Oakland Tech Men’s Varsity program.

Founded as a women's team, EBRC is growing to meet the needs of its Oakland, California community. Through recruitment, scholastic programming, and intentional DEI outreach, the boathouse looks different than even just a year ago. And EBRC is proud of that change.

Just some of what you'll hear:

• When landmarks go missing!

• Growing a rowing club to meet the needs of – and look like – the community

• Beyond standard certs for coaching education

• Boycotting USRowing Masters Nationals and hosting Boats Without Barriers regatta as an alternative

 

TIME STAMPS
[00:00] Episode lead-in

[02:37] Intro and welcome EBRC 

[08:20] Rowing Week - Carla, Denise 20k Tour of the Estuary; Erin back on the water (in a launch!)

[11:45] Six degrees of Coach Sarah Nevin 

[12:30] Rapid Fire Q&A

[22:49] About EBRC: founding mothers, added Jrs team, working on adding men, LTR, novice, mixed masters, comp. The “home of community rowing” - DEI initiative

[29:13] Recipe for success … providing an opportunity, barriers to entry

[32:35] Creating a welcoming and inclusive boathouse is an ongoing work in progress

[37:35] DEI committee, STEM to Stern, Arshay Cooper

[40:51] Additional outreach to the community, getting in front of Oakland Unified Schools ADs to introduce kids to rowing

[42:51] Coaches can meet people where they’re at, Positive Coaching Alliance as a resource for athletes, coaches, and parents

[47:55] Masters Nationals boycott and EBRC’s decision to host Boats Without Barriers regatta

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To see photos of East Bay of Rowing Club, and get links to the people, clubs, end events mentioned in this episode, visit www.steadystatepodcast.com