Youth rowing club kicks off summer season

Summer weather means plenty of people will be participating in water recreation.

The Upper Peninsula Community Rowing Club held an informational meeting tonight for kids who want to start rowing and get out on the water.

The meeting gave eager participants basic information on the rowing club, such as equipment needed, when the club practices, and what it takes to be a youth rower.

“It’s just to give them a good background to the safety and the lessons that we’ll be presenting, and just to get them informed so they can start the season right,” Terry Dehring said, who is one of the UPCRC youth rowing coaches.

“At this age, we’re learning a lot of the fundamentals so that when they get to college and want to continue, they’ll have a very good strong background that they can launch into college rowing with.”

Around one dozen kids participate in youth rowing each year.

Rowing is sometimes described at the most team oriented sport there is, because everyone in the boat has to row at the same pace.

“(In rowing) you can’t have a star player that will carry the boat because otherwise the boat will go in circles. So everybody has to row as a team and function as a team. It’s a very team oriented sport,” Dehring said.

Youth rowers meet three days a week: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10-11:30 a.m. at Founders Landing in Marquette. Rowing starts on June 25.

To join the club, kids must be at least 13 years old or have completed 8th grade. Annual fees of $100 include Learn to Row classes, weekly supervised rows and a club T-shirt. There will be a swim test and dry-land training at Marquette Senior High School on June 3 at 6 p.m.

For more information, you can visit sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/UPCRC. You can also call Terry Dehring at (906) 228-8329, Ann Piereson at (906) 485-6160, or visit the group’s Facebook page.