New Member Information Fall 2015

New to GMU Crew? Here is everything you need to know to get started! 

Feel free to contact us at georgemasoncrewclub@gmail.com or via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MasonCrew

Who are we? 

GMU 2015 Quad with their
ACRA 1st place medals!

So some background, we usually have 30-40 active members, and 2 coaches. Bob Spousta (Varsity) and Jesse Clark (Novice). We compete at many of the biggest collegiate regattas including the Head of the Charles, Aberdeen Dad Vail regatta and American Collegiate Rowing Association Championships and regularly place well. (Shout of to the 2015 quad for winning their event at ACRA!). Our shells are in great shape - we own 4 eights and 5 fours, including a Hudson 4 purchased last year. Within our club, men can either row or cox, women can only be coxswains. 

Tell me about practices!

We practice Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2-4pm and Saturday morning 9-11am at Sandy Run Regional Park in Lorton, VA. We carpool to and from practice (takes about 20 minutes). We meet at the Shenandoah Parking Deck at 1:20 and return to campus in time for 4:30 classes. That means if your class finishes before 1:25, you will be able to make practice, just let someone know if you are cutting it close so we know to wait. 

What do I need to know as a frosh/novice?

A novice rower is someone who has not completed a year of rowing. Most college novice races are technically freshmen/novice, so we tend to group all the freshmen together whether you had high school experience or not. Every year, our novices come in with a wide range of experience and athletic ability- some rowed for 4 yrs of high school, others have never played an organized sport. No matter where you fall on the spectrum, we highly encourage you to come to practice for a day and try it out. Typically, novices are grouped in an 8 together for the first few weeks of the fall but more experienced novices may be pulled into "varsity" (non-freshmen) boats. 

When do we start!?

Our first practice will be Wednesday September 2nd from 2-4 pm in the erg room of the Field House. Wear gym shoes, shorts/spandex and bring a water bottle. Bring friends or people from your floor! We will go over erg basics, have a workout for experienced rowers, talk about how to get to practice on Friday and answer any questions you have. 

Anything else?

If you are planning on joining any Mason Club Sport, you will need a physical and proof of insurance. Be sure to bring the GMU physical form with you to your doctor. You can find that form here - https://recreation.gmu.edu/club-sports/download-waiver-forms/. You don't need this done for the first practice, but it will be required to practice after September 22nd. I recommend you go ahead and get this done now, especially if you aren't local. 

Other forms will be completed on www.imleagues.com. You can create an account (use your mason email) and request to join the crew team now, but these forms don't take very long so make the physical your priority!