This is Joe McMullin’s take on what coaches should and shouldn’t do at Stotesbury

I’ve personally raced at Stotesbury 4 times and coached crews for nearly a decade. Here are my do’s and don’ts at Stotesbuy.

Do: Create a schedule ahead of time for your crew(s) so they know when and where to be for the Time Trial, Semi-Final, and Final. This should be planned out a week in advance and reviewed Thursday night and Friday night with the rowers, parents, chaperones, and bus drivers.

Don’t: let your rowers walk around the tent area or the shops till after they are knocked out of racing. It can be tempting to keep the kids busy or for the ease of parents, let the kids walk from the trailer to the food tent, but they should limit as much walking as possible to stay fresh

Do: go over your shell with the fine toothed comb. Check all the nuts and bolts to make sure the shell is secure well before the crew launches. Spend time whipping the shell down. The athletes will appreciate the hard work and care you put into the boat and the boat will look much nicer. The rowers will be proud to row in a clean shell. Also, clean out the insides/guts of the shell. Clean the tracks and whip down all surfaces. Try to remove all water spots. Take off the oarlocks and clean the pins. This is the best time of year to clean pins when you have a lot of down time.

Don’t: let the rowers row in a dirty and neglected shell.

Do: clean the oars and handles to the best of your abilities. Retape the oars if the tape needs to replaced. The rowers will feel more confident using clean equipment and be proud of their equipment

Don’t: let the kids spend all day at the course. They should be rested and feel fresh for every race they have. Your team put a lot of time and effort into going to this regatta, make the most of it.

Do: bring ergs for the kids to warm up on. I don’t understand why coaches let their athletes go for a warm up jog. We’re not a track nor cross country team. The rowers should warm up on the closest thing to actual rowing, the erg. Ideally they spend about 10 minutes warming up on the erg before the athletes get hands on.

Don’t: let the parents dictate the schedule. This sport is about the athletes. You need to create the schedule well in advance and communicate that to the parents on what the schedule is. If the parents create the schedule, they dictate what the schedule is. The schedule should be reviewed Thursday night and Friday night before the regatta.

Do: bring a bike. Bike along to follow your crews and cheer them on. The rowers will appreciate you for seeing their whole race.

Don’t: launch late. Make sure your crews are getting in line to launch when their event is called and they have plenty of time for their warm-up on the water and row to the top of the river

Do: bring a bag or shoe basket. It makes getting off the dock faster and easier for the kids to get their shoes when they return from the race.

Don’t: let your kids stay in the elements for too long. Kids should be getting back to their hotel or in shade or out of the rain as soon as possible. You want to keep the athletes as fresh as possible

Do: bring extra toilet paper. The Porto johns always seem to run out.

Don’t: get too excited about a time trial result. Plenty of fast crews have won their time trail and not won the whole thing. The #1 rule for all crews is survive and advance