Programs vs Membership

The most organized membership-based adaptive program I’ve seen so far in my trip was at Y Quad City in Moline IL. Their rowing program is connected with the local YMCA, so all participants have to be members of the YMCA. Then they pay an additional yearly fee for the rowing program. This gives them access to the facility and to the gym at any time it is open. Because it’s a Y program, they have a staff person at the boathouse at all times. The staff are trained in the adaptive equipment, so they can assist athletes if/when needed. They also have two rowing machines permanently set up with a fixed seat. The team and athletes fundraises so that each athlete has their own fixed seat and oars – so that it can be set to their specifications. They limit involvement/participation of new members depending on the year in order to make sure they are offering proper development to the athletes involved.  As far as setting up practices, the athletes are responsible for setting up volunteers to go out with them. It seems that one athlete gets chosen each year to be in charge of this duty. The team trains together at least three times a week – more than most adaptive programs. They are now looking at how to offer more options to athletes who are interested. It’s a very well organized program with five incredibly dedicated athletes. As far as support, this program has a coach (Jess Ricke), a rigger (the engineer mind - Paul Harrington) and an OT aka champion (Tanya Braet) working WITH the athletes to make things happen (all volunteers) – and boy is it a great team! Watch these guys, I think they are going to be some serious movers and shakers on and off the race-course for Para-Rowing  in the US.

Picture of Y Quad City Team below.

Seeing this really got me thinking about how clubs structure teams. Clubs tend to offer two options for people who want to get involved: Programs or Memberships. Most club teams fall under memberships.

Programs tend to be short term, and it’s more of a provided service. Learn to row! Sweep or Sculling camp! Indoor training program! Private lessons! 6-week sports league! When someone gets involved with a program there are a couple of things that effect how they approach their participation.

·      They know it’s for a set period of time.

·      They might ask if there is a “deal” for the program to get a discount (and many times there is through Groupon or something).

·      They also expect everything to be ready for them. The coaches/staff should have everything in order for practice, it should be fairly organized, and the folks who show up expect that they get to do the practice as scheduled.

·      If there is bad weather, most times program practices are not rescheduled or made up – it just sucks and people gripe about it.

Membership on the other hand requires involvement from the athletes. A membership means that you are a member of this community. You get something out of it, but you also get to give back. The reward you take away partially relies on your contribution of time, money, effort, skill…etc.

From traveling around the country seeing different clubs, it s pretty rare to find clubs that actually have full-time staff – even a paid Executive Director isn’t the norm. Most clubs rely on member contributions to have programs, file taxes, keep their boathouse in existence, stay on track with their strategic plan. The main benefit for coaches tends to be free membership and boat storage – sometimes they get paid.

This is both awesome and terrible. It is great that so many people love rowing so much that they contribute their time and money to ensure clubs exist. It would be great if clubs paid staff a realistic/live-able salary and/or had staff to help with some of the day-to-day stuff and manage programs. But whatever happens in the future, things are working all over, people are stepping up and they enjoy doing it!  The point is that members contribute – in different degrees based on their location/club design.

Who are members? Mostly adults since youth tend to be involved in the juniors program – since they aren’t over 18 most can’t reap any kind of benefit to having a full on membership. The club members might have boats stored at the club, come down to row with teams and friends or alone. They are members because of the freedom being a member gives them. They contribute by doing the gardening, taking care of the facility, going to meetings, and maybe being on the board because that’s what helps it exist for them to hang out with their friends, row, stay fit and enjoy life in their city.

So what are adaptive teams? Are they program? Are they memberships? Let’s look at some key differences:

1. Is it a team where athletes expect everything to be ready for them on the dock (program), or do athletes help get things ready (member)? This can be a slippery slope. It may be easier to do everything for your athletes, but if you do that you are setting up an expectation that it will always be the case. They may need some help with equipment, but what about carrying oars, or an oar, or a pontoon, or putting the oars in and closing the oarlock, what about adjusting their foot stretcher or putting in their seat? Surely athletes can do something to contribute to their experience. This helps foster a community, and gives them more independence and helps them understand how practices are supposed to work.
2. Do athletes have the freedom to enjoy any actual membership benefits if they become members? Is it worth them joining as members? What are the membership benefits to AB athletes? Are these benefits accessible? Can an adaptive athlete come down and use an erg on an off day? Is there one with a fixed seat? Are there any accessible weights in your weight room? Can they come down an row with a friend or by themselves when they want to? Are there volunteer and leadership roles they can get involved in? These are things to consider to make sure that membership is truly possible for everyone at the club.
3. Are the athletes involved in making sure the team is successful and sustainable? If I show up for a movie, I pay and then sit to watch. I don’t have to do anything like set up the film projector, clean the floors, or turn off the lights when I leave. Is this how practices work? There’s no buy-in if that is how it works with everything done for me – I’m just benefiting from a service I paid for. With adaptive rowing there are a lot of logistics in terms of equipment and volunteers that happens. Do the member volunteers or staff running your program do all of this for the team? I know I did at Three Rivers Rowing Association, and it can be a lot depending on the number of athletes in a program. However, does that foster a feeling of membership amongst the athletes? What if the athletes set up their own volunteers, or help fund-raise for their own equipment? How would this change the team dynamic? Would this make offering people with disabilities a place to row a little more possible for your club?
4. Does your adaptive team have an advisory committee or board working directly to keep it on track ? One thing that happens with so many adaptive programs is that there tends to be one person, one champion, making it happen and advocating for it. That is hard and can be a hard battle to fight alone sometimes. Getting athletes, volunteers, family members…etc involved in some level can only help. More perspective, more ideas, more people to do some of the leg-work and paperwork. I know I don’t know everything – if I could pick a perfect advisory committee for a growing/large adaptive team I would try to get an Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist or Doctor (medical classifier if possible), Technical Classifier, Someone with an engineer’s mind for equipment, someone with grant writing experience, someone on the club’s Board, an athlete or two, and a family member or two. Get all the perspective to help run the program! This way everyone knows what’s going on and can work to support the team and progress it in a strategic way.
5. Do you ask your adaptive athletes to volunteer, or might you assume they wouldn't want to, wouldn't be able to, or wouldn't enjoy it? If you ask them, they'll either say yes or no - those are the options. Not just ABs can volunteer and contribute. 
6. Program implies having a set number or a goal number of participants. How many do you think of for a program attendance? 5? 10? 20? 40? What about membership? What number does that bring to mind? For me, it brings to mind a collective whole– the breakdown by team doesn’t necessarily matter. For example, I couldn’t tell you how many participants were in all the teams at TRRA, I just know that the club has over 500 members and that about 2000 people walk in/out the doors each year. 1500 program participants, and 500 members of various involvements. When you start talking membership instead of program you could start thinking about having 1 adaptive athlete involved. 

So much of the “risk” or “trouble” with starting an adaptive program is that the amount of work seems daunting to the folks in charge. “I don’t want to overwhelm our membership,” “Our volunteers are already spread so thin,” “We just don’t have any time in the evenings to run another program.” However, if you get the athlete involved with the process instead of just trying to serve them a cookie cutter program, then this helps eliminate some of these concerns. Surely there would be one member interested in helping someone try rowing. That’s all it takes to start something – one person, one athlete, one boat for one hour – VOILA! Maybe the interested adaptive athlete has a friend  or family member who could learn to row and then they would love to go out together! Who knows what the possibilities could be in thinking this way. Success isn’t about resources – it’s about resourcefulness. And if you know people with disabilities, you know they are incredibly resourceful and creative because let's face it - society requires them to be. Use that to their and your advantage!

Every club is different. There is no “right” or “wrong” way of doing things when it comes to running rowing organizations. There is also no perfect way to approach starting an adaptive program – because there are too many variables in every location. The key thing is to look at all the angles and figure out how to get people not just rowing, but involved. Membership is more sustainable than programs. Not all athletes will want memberships, but it might be something to think about for the dedicated athletes, for a way to help further develop athletes beyond a once a week program, or as a way to open the doors for the first time to people with disabilities who are seeking out rowing – something that is happening more and more every year. Clubs recruit, but athletes are coming knocking too! Is your club ready?

*NOTE: If you want to talk about opening your club’s door for adaptive in some way or ideas about developing your current program, make sure to get in touch with Deb Arenberg  Adaptive Programs Development Specialist at USRowing at deb@usrowing.org

Baby Talk

You get out what you put in. Coaches say it all the time. You don’t get something from nothing. Getting fit, wining, learning new technique takes a lot of work – a million miles of rowing strokes even. You can't wish or dream it into being. There are no short cuts to get results.

Just like athletes have to put in work to get results, so do coaches. 

Coaching rowing and other sports has many facets to it. It requires being a: parent, mentor, friend, advisor, consultant, physiologist, psychologist, engineer, teacher, matchmaker…etc. The goal is always the same though – help athletes reach their full potential.

I heard once that it’s not healthy for parents to talk to their babies in baby talk. That instead it’s best for them to talk to them in normal speech so that they can learn to understand language more readily. Now the trend is to speak in sign language to children even before they can speak so that communication starts even earlier! I’m not a breeder, so don’t have any kids, but this makes logical sense to me.

This parenting tip can definitely be applied to coaching. How we approach and speak to our athletes is directly related to how quickly and thoroughly they develop? 

In talking with Montana Butsch at his youth practice in Chicago and in my experience working with First Row in Pittsburgh we both have come to the same conclusion. Youth, and in our case inner city youth, respond very well to being talked to and treated like adults. The respect that we give them leads to them respecting us and listening to us. Yes, the parents are still involved, but we communicate directly and openly with the athletes. Some examples might include: 

•        -There are consequences for no call, no shows – you have to communicate with us. 
•       - It’s your responsibility to get to the race, how are you getting there on Saturday? 
•      -  Let’s discuss your goals and how I can help you reach them.
•        -What are you taking away from practice today? What did you learn?
•       - Someone needs to be in charge of <insert role> or it won't happen, who wants to take this on?  

There is an idea that youth need to be sheltered. They are still kids, they need to enjoy the life of not having responsibilities. This is all very nice and all, but how are kids going to learn to be contributing adults if they are constantly being sheltered and having everything done for them all the time? Sport is great because it teaches these life skills inherently to a certain degree. Coaches have the ability to enhance the learning process by putting them in charge of things, holding them accountable to their responsibilities, and showing them appropriate consequences. If you only go to the adult(s) in their life, the kid never learns and appreciates the process. And for some inner city youth this isn't even an option, so the kids especially appreciate the respect that they are managing their own lives. 

Also, some coaches try to limit the information shared in a practice session thinking that kids can only handle learning so many things at one time. My theory of coaching is more a trial by fire. I’m going to throw more out there than anyone can handle to see what sticks. If they hold 10% of the information from a practice, that’s great. But if I limit what I share, or only talk surface level stuff, then I’m limiting what they can take away. All kids are different – give them a chance to surprise you and advance faster than you thought possible.

And that’s only the serious side of it.

It is also important to have a playful side. I have never bonded so much with my First Row girls than when I make fun of myself, or poke fun at them in a fun-loving way. They have shown me dance moves, taught me the new lingo that’s out there, and tried to explain what dub step music is (with not much success). I am glad to be friendly with all the athletes I’ve coached. I learn from them, they learn from me – just like adult relationships. I am not buddy-buddy with them, there is a line of respect, and that goes both ways. 

You get out what you put in. You give respect; you get respect. You give responsibility to the athletes; you get responsible athletes. You share, they learn. You play, they have fun!

What about adaptive athletes then? How about working with athletes with: hearing impairment, visually impairment, physical disability, autism spectrum disorder, or traumatic brain injury?

Do you talk slowly, louder, use 6^th grade vocabulary words, assume they have an intellectual disability, dumb down proper technique to make it easier for them, maybe have the volunteer do all the maneuvering so the athlete "can just enjoy rowing?" This would be the “baby talk” that people with disabilities sometimes unfortunately have to deal with.

Look at how classification works for the sport. With adaptive rowing there are thee classification categories athletes compete in: AS (arms/shoulder), TA (trunk/arms) and LTA (legs/trunk/arms). Athletes have to be classified by a national technical classifier who knows rowing and a national medical classifier who is a PT/MD. Many athletes row for many years before they get classified or race. The rule of thumb for coaches is to always go with the classification with higher ability for borderline cases if you’re not sure about where they will fall when officially evaluated. Imagine training using a fixed seat for a year or two, then going to your first race only to be classified as LTA and now you have to row on a sliding seat in your race tomorrow! That would be rough, and I've seen it happen. That’s why it’s better to assume MORE ability until you know otherwise.

What a great rule of thumb! Let's apply it to working with athletes. Assume that people can receive coaching, and can understand at the level of any other athlete you have coached. If you find out otherwise, then adapt. But don’t treat people or talk to people differently just because you think they can’t handle it. 

One pet peeve I have is adaptive programs that are satisfied with just getting people on the water and that's it. Folks might say, “oh, look at the disabled people rowing. Isn’t this great?” Managers of the program and/or volunteers might say to an athlete, “Susie – you are doing great! You’re rowing really well.” When sure enough Susie has never been coached and is rowing like shit, but she doesn't know any better. She might be getting a workout in, but sure isn’t rowing.

My friend, sculling coach and mentor Bill Tytus always says this. If you’re not rowing properly, he says “well you’re getting a great workout.” It's a great double entendre, so be cautious of coaches who say this or "It looks like you're working hard out there." The question is, do you want the people you coach to just get a workout – maybe even one that risks their physical health from poor technique, or do you want them to row well AND get a workout?

The art of negotiation is all about asking for a little more than you expect to get. It’s easy to get something if your standards are really low. If all you want is to have 20 people with disabilities who are getting on the water at some point in a season – then you can sure enough do that without too much effort. If you want 3 of your 20 athletes to make it to the next Paralympics, well that will be a little lofty of a goal. However, if you set your expectations high enough but not so extreme that it’s beyond possible, you will sure enough get more than you had bargained for! Don't short change your athletes. Let them rise to the challenge or at least see the full challenge they have to face and comprehend what will be required to master the sport. That way the athletes can choose how far they go in the sport for themselves. 

You get out what you put in. If you don’t coach, your athletes won’t learn. If you dumb things down, their technique will be dumbed down. If you give them all relevant information and coach them – they will learn, be fast and be successful!

No baby talk on the dock!

Perfection

If you put a go pro camera on the stern of my single you would see that when I am rowing I talk to myself and sometimes shake my head. This is me coaching myself and reacting to the stroke I just took. I can get pretty frustrated with myself and have to make sure I'm paying attention to every detail to get it just right.

This is me in any situation. When working I talk to myself calling out the errors I'm making. Or even at karaoke, sometimes I blush so much if I mess up. Other times I don't want to sing out of fear of not doing it perfectly.

Of course, this is all absolutely ridiculous. A phrase I use a lot is, "You can't be perfect all the time." I remind myself of this constantly to get over my perfectionist streak.  I also use the phrase to encourage others to remove the stress that comes with being perfect. Sometimes when you try to be perfect all the time things are pretty boring. I like encouraging PLAY!

"Play" is kind of a kids term. "Dad will you play with me?" "Joy do you want to come over and play?" "Mom, can we go play in my room?" Growing up, my friends and I especially loved playing Indiana Jones and MacGyver. Did we follow the plots we had seen exactly? No way. Did we invent new situations and stories? You bet! We invented things, tried things and had fun. Some of the plots didn't make sense and some of them were brilliant - I mean really the writers should have seen us. This is what play is all about - doing things that end up with a mix of great and terrible, all in the name of fun!

In my dancing days, I used to say that awesome and terrible dance moves come from the same stuff. Some amazing moves came from trying a move but making a mistake. Other intentionally new moves sometimes worked, and sometimes failed. If you were being creative with the music or with your partner sometimes things worked beautifully and sometimes they were pretty bad and downright hilarious - but it was all fun! Dancers learn to just incorporate mistakes or turn it into a goofy move. People who watch many times can't tell there was an error, and if they do all they really walk away with was how much fun those two were having.

With karaoke, there really is no reason to try for perfection. It's truly a play activity. I don't make money, I don't need a good karaoke reputation, and it really doesn't matter to anything in life if I sing a note wrong. It is just pure fun - and you never know what you're capable of until you try it! I love hanging out with my friend Rob (ex-karaoke dj) because he is great at encouraging creativity when out. I found a new song I can sing pretty well on Friday night and I'm very excited about going out to sing it again (Weezer -Say It Ain't So). I wouldn't have discovered that unless I had the nerve to do it and not care how it turned out. I've also sung some doosies that were awful just to try something new.

With rowing there is always another stroke to take. It's one of the things I love about it. The same movement - with all the details - over and over again. So many chances to be right! And when you do something wrong you get to shake it off and move on. Any mistakes just move you closer to getting it right.

It goes back to Frank's lesson with me of making me flip creatively. If you don't push the envelope of where you're safe, or where you know you're doing things well - you won't progress. You'll get stunted. You have to get to the next level by doing something different! And different goes in both directions before you figure out which way makes you faster.

So accept that it's not healthy to be perfect all the time. Take the mistakes and move on while having an awesome time doing it. Play!

The Puddles We Row On

Ah rowing - the sport where you're surrounded by nature, gliding across gorgeous water, where birds fly by and fish are caught splashing about sometimes. It's so beautiful. When racing, athletes travel to new areas of beauty - many times to parks or water surrounded by protected green space. A chance to see sunrises and sunsets reflected in the the water and where there are fewer trees and buildings obscuring the view because of being on the water. 

Yes, that is what we tell people. That is what it sometimes feels like and what we remind ourselves, and if you're lucky, what it actually is like. However, many waterways are just plain disgusting. It's best to just not think about it, but this post is all about thinking about it...

They are really just large gutter puddles. Like this one:

(Pic from here)

They are filled of water run off from everywhere. Rain washes away gross stuff from the streets and grass and puts it in the river/lake/pond. Rivers that run through the heart of cities are the worst. Litter from land inevitably gets washed down to the river. Then if it rains too much, most places have sewage overflow into nearby waters. Thank God for groups like Allegheny CleanWays and programs like their Tireless Project and similar organizations around the country that are constantly working to clean up the rivers. 

Coxswains and bows I've been in boats with or coached have had to dodge things like tires, refrigerators, dead animals (only occasionally humans). Just a couple of weeks ago a dead body was found on the Allegheny just about 1k from the boathouse. Rowers have a preference if there are dead birds, dead fish or dead snakes around - I personally think dead snakes are the worst in terms of stink. 

Those lovely birds that are by the water poop on our docks, and nip at our oars. The joys of stepping on frozen poop in the spring and even worse, non-frozen. It gets everywhere. Not to mention that some birds are evil - swans are the worst. I used to have nightmares in college of oversized swans breaking my legs and arms with their bills. We would try to chase them away with oars and always ended up running in the opposite direction. This is why I really don't mind that my dog eats goslings when she gets the chance. 

The bridges that birds and bats live in sometimes poop on us as we row underneath. And under those bridges is really our only chance for shade in the hot summer sun. Most recently I was rowing in Hamilton OH and got pooped on. Just lovely. The fish bring fisherman who leave fishing line all over the place that can get caught on oars,  skegs and launch motors.  In New Orleans there are alligators they have to deal with on the canal where they have been rowing. I heard about a dog that was sitting on the dock that got eaten whole by a gator. Talk about a place where the 60 seconds on the dock rule would really apply!

If a crew flips and you know there is a CSO (Combined Sewage Overflow alert), it's not always a good idea to tell them - it just makes the situation worse. Just encourage them to bath and check in with them later in the week. The biggest issue is with open wounds, namely hand blisters and cuts. DON'T TOUCH THE WATER! Gotta make sure everyone washes those thoroughly and keep an eye on them. Even if no one flips, there is usually some splashing from rowing, or dripping from carrying the boat that happens. This is also why when people have small surgeries and doctors say "don't let it get wet" this doesn't just mean no swimming - it means no rowing.

I've been on some great, amazing and pretty clean waters and some amazingly bad ones. And one that was infested with jelly fish - everywhere! This trip has been so fun to explore different waters. The reservoir and lagoons are pretty nice usually, although can be kinda short in terms of getting a workout. I rowed on a pond in Lincoln that was great water with tons of algae. My white boat looked a little seasick/green after the row. Then there are some waters that have seaweed issues that make it feel like you're rowing with a bungee around the bow - so heavy, and sometimes an oar gets stuck.

Then there was the "bubbly creek" in Chicago where the Chicago Training Center and a few other programs practice. This was probably the grossest water I've ever been on. Absolutely revolting. This creek is an arm off of the Chicago River. Apparently, there were slaughterhouses all around it about 80 years ago and they would throw the animal carcasses in the water. They threw so many of them in the river that they just piled up in various states of decomposition. So many of them that they couldn't decompose properly. Over the last 80 years they have been slowly decomposing as noticed by the continuous bubbling of methane that happens all over the creek. The river level goes up and down also and there's a water treatment facility nearby. When I was there the water level was a little lower and you could see toilet paper and litter in all the brown tree leaves and limbs that were by the water's edge. The smell was also not particularly appetizing. 

There is some pride that happens with all of this though. No matter how gross the water is, that won't stop rowers!! We row in wind, rain, sleet, snow and on whatever water is available! We are intense, we row anytime, anywhere. It only gives us more street cred rowing on gross water. Imagine being a high school kid and getting to say they row on bubbly creek every day! That would be awesome :) 

The body of water doesn't really matter. What matters is that rowing exists, and that there is water to row on. After all, the goal of rowing is to stay in the boat! I am definitely enjoying experiencing various water, and the boat and I are pretty washable, so can handle a little dirt. It's good for our immune systems, right? 

Strong Women Stick Together

This year I've been doing a leadership development program through CORO Pittsburgh called "Women In Leadership." It has been very encouraging and I have learned a lot. The program looks at issues that women leaders deal with and then try to address them to some degree.

Initially, it was somewhat of a survey course giving an overview of the status of women leaders in Southwestern Pennsylvania. We then did some focused sessions on specific issues. We are currently working on a Catalytic Project that will impact women in the area in a positive way having taken our findings into consideration. It's a great program and I am so glad I got involved. I've learned so much about myself and about being an effective leader in different situations.

In studying the status of women we, of course, learned about the pay inequality that women, on average, are paid 75 cents to each dollar that men get paid. We also learned how low the percentage is of women who are in are Executive Director or C-suite (Chief <fill in blank> Officer) positions. This is all pretty sad and disheartening.

I have to say that on my trip I have only been encouraged by the number of women I have interacted with who are in high level roles with rowing organizations. Working with Deb Arenberg at USRowing discussing program development, talking to Executive Directors Betsy Trevarthen with Chicago Rowing Foundation and Francis Mennone at Great Miami Rowing Club about what they are doing and the countless strong and motivated women making programming happen at their clubs. I don't know what the stats are, but my trip has shown me that women in rowing are stepping up!

One issue that happens sometimes, that I think all women can agree with, is that sometimes women leaders can be threatened by other women. I don't know if this might have to do with the low percentage of women in upper leadership. I mean if only 5% of upper management are women, then all the women are competing for those spots? That might be some kind of reasoning for it. Instead of seeing each other as threats, we should be encouraging each other, sharing with each other and helping push each other forward to better ourselves and our society. Not accepting the 5%, but pushing for a higher percentage that includes all of us strong women - 50%!

I had a great conversation with Carie Graves, my college coach, when I stayed with her up near Madison WI about this. There are still far fewer female head coaches around, but this is changing slowly but surely. It was great hearing about some of her experiences as head coach at the University of Texas for the last 16 years.

A friend of mine and a great singles competitor, Meghan Brundage who now rows out of Riverside in Boston, came up with a great idea to help female rowers link up with each other and spur each other on to greatness. She developed a Facebook group titled: Women Rowers Professional Network.  I encourage you (if you're a female rower) to join the group and help encourage other women in what they are doing while you receive the same support.

From working with the other 28 women in my cohort of Women In Leadership I have learned so much and been challenged in great ways that I wouldn't have imagined. Getting involved with a  community of diverse people is an excellent way to grow! And why not start by linking up with other strong women rowers! Iron sharpens iron!

PEOPLE with disabilities

A question that comes up some is how I got interested and involved with adaptive rowing. It's an honest question as I don't personally have a disability and I've only gotten involved in the last 5-years. Here is the long version...

My first exposure to adaptive sports was watching the MTV movie "Murderball." I forget exactly how I found out about it, but I'm a sucker for sports movies. I rented it and watched it. I think I watched it three times in a row that first sitting. Then promptly went out and bought the movie. I watched it every day for a little over three months. I made every member of my family watch it, I made every friend watch it, anyone who knew me saw it or heard about it.

It just blew me away how the sport harnessed these guys' ability. I also loved hearing their stories and how they approached life and sport. They were getting the physical benefit of sport, but also the camaraderie and teamwork went way beyond practices and tournaments. Competitive sports are all about people breaking boundaries and expectations, pushing yourself past what you thought possible, discovering yourself and gaining confidence that transfers to everything else about life. It is also about learning from others, having other people push you to do new things.

People with disabilities can't necessarily just go out and put on running shoes to get a workout in. The act of working out may require specialized equipment (expensive equipment), it may require assistance from others for setting up, getting equipment ready or more. Having a gym membership doesn't even guarantee access to machines or weights that are set up for people with disabilities. A doctor can't just write a prescription for activity and assume that will be enough. Getting the health benefit from activity can be an issue.

Then there is the transformational aspect of sport. In order to experience this you have to be involved. And getting involved can be difficult as mentioned before. There is a difference between working out alone and working out with others. The teamwork and camaraderie teach you just as much as the sport itself. Learning how others do things, tips and tricks about life and the sport, a place to share what you're learning and an environment that challenges you mentally, physically and technically.

After watching Murderball a million times, I read a book by Mark Zupan, one of the main character's, titled  "Gimp."  This book really helped take people with disabilities off of a pedestal that society likes to put them on. People with disabilities are people - there is a range of personality, some of them are awesome and some of them aren't people I would really hang out with or even like. Mark Zupan is an amazing athlete and kind of an asshole - he even says this about himself. The book did a great job of showing that he was just living his live - when able bodied and after his spinal cord injury. He didn't become an angel because he was injured. He didn't have some new motivation in life or become a different person because of his accident. It was great to read about his story because it broke down the ice that I had put up between me and people with disabilities. "What do I say?" "What do we talk about?" "I need to listen and learn from this person because they have added wisdom because of their disability"...etc. These are some things I had thought in the past. But now - people are PEOPLE. I just talk to folks with disabilities the same way I talk to ABs (able body). Why would a physical disability effect your communication with someone?

Then, on my favorite holiday - St Patrick's Day in 2007 right after I finished reading the book I met him! At my favorite Irish Pub in Austin TX (Mother Egans). I was so nervous to talk to him. Not because he had a disability, but because he awesome and I'd kinda been obsessed with quad rugby and his story. I finally got up the nerve and said hello.  It was super fantastic because I knew his book backwards and forwards including the names of his family and friends. They were all there too and I called them by name before they even introduced themselves. I was kinda hilariously scary. It was a great night. He even wrote his phone number on my arm!

I ended up seeing some of the other quad rugby guys at Mother Egans after that and enjoyed visiting with them some. Then I started going to karaoke. A lot. As in, I'd go after work to sing a few songs to relax, then go home. I'd do that most every day :) It was definitely my main night time hang out activity. One of the DJ's at Common Interest where I would go in Austin had a congenital disability and had no arms/legs, or more accurately no hands or feet.

I went up to him the first time I saw him when he was DJing and asked, "Can I ask you a personal question?" His response was, "Yes, I can have sex." I promptly responded "NO! That's not what I was going to ask. I wanted to ask if you play quad rugby?" Sure enough he had, but didn't anymore. We kinda became insta-friends. I'm so glad I'm staying with him and his family in Colorado Springs right now. It's great catching up after not seeing him in 4yrs.

Rob was my first true friend with a disability, not just someone I talked to a couple of times, or an acquaintance. He showed me that it's not AB's job to take care of people with disabilities. That they know their bodies and have systems to get things done and live their life. If/when they need help, they'll ask, just like when my hands are full and I ask someone to please get the door for me. Just like that - just like how people interact in every other way in life. Again, the emphasis is on PEOPLE in the sentence people with disabilities. People living their life in community with other people.

Fast-forward to Pittsburgh. I knew they had an adaptive program and I had my eye on it before I moved up there. At first, I had to get settled, figure out the club, and get the program I was in charge of for youth up and running. Then I was given the opportunity to take over the team. I was so excited - but was trying to keep my cool about it. I was also nervous. I mean, I had no formal training on adaptive rowing. *NOTE: this is something I have heard a lot on my trip from people who are nervous to start programs, and this type of training doesn't really exist.

Running the adaptive program was a mix of terrifying and awesome. I was always nervous we wouldn't have enough volunteers, or that the equipment wouldn't work for an athlete or something else. It always worked out. One thing about working with people with disabilities is that they don't necessarily expect everything to be perfect or work exactly how it should the very first time. They are mostly used to having to adapt things, do things with some trial and error, and for things to take some time to get them right. Most are also incredibly appreciative of someone's time and energy that they throw into making things work for them. This approach just made me work harder. I mean don't you want to do more when people are so nice, helpful and appreciative?

When I first took over the program the club only had recreational equipment for people who needed fixed seats. So when my first athlete who required a fixed seat, Jacob Brown, showed up I was again a little terrified, but also excited. His involvement helped me get an education on equipment and develop a 5-year equipment plan to ensure that we had all the equipment we might need to get people in boats. Every year he progressed and we adapted the equipment differently and I learned something new.

Every week working with adaptive I learned something new. It's impossible to teach this stuff, because it doesn't become relevant until you're dealing with it. Not just learning about equipment and working with the athletes, family members and volunteers, but just getting a heightened awareness of things to consider from the vantage point of people with various disabilities.

Another piece of my education came from the Bayada Regatta in Philadelphia. This regatta is an intensive conference of sorts for coaches. It not only is a great time for athletes to meet other athletes and compete, but it is a time for coaches and managers to meet other coaches and managers. A chance to see how other programs work with athletes with different disabilities and classifications, how they adapt equipment differently and get ideas to take back to develop their programs. A place of encouragement and where coaches can see how the sport has progressed and how their efforts are making a difference. Sandy Brown, the race director, has always been so patient with my questions. The first year I must have called or emailed her at least a few times a week at least over the summer as I really didn't know what I was doing. She has been a great professor of mine for adaptive racing. I definitely wouldn't know what I know without having been to this race the last few years.

Working with adaptive rowing has been a constant challenge and is always exciting. I love working with youth, adults...etc, but I have to say my passion is really working with people in the disability community. Helping harness ability, helping give people access to the health benefits from exercise, and connect with team-mates and learn from sport is the best. I'm hooked.