Most sports are inclusive and have shed, or are shedding, their exclusionary roots and barriers to entry to embrace, respect and protect diversity and groups traditionally unwelcomed.
We’re witnessing it in sports like gymnastics, ice hockey, soccer and swimming, where mats, rinks, the pitch and pools are browning as more Black athletes and fans participate in the sports at all levels.
Unfortunately, some sports continue to face challenges in trying to change their reputation and appearance.
Rowing is one of those sports.
Rowing, or crew, is known as a rich white sport largely devoid of Black and Brown faces. It presents many barriers to entry for Black and Brown communities including access to resources, equipment costs, location, lack of diversity and inclusion and a general apathy by these communities for the sport.
But now US Rowing is trying to change this scenario.
Under new CEO Amanda Kraus, US Rowing recognizes the need for honest change and is enacting measures to change both perceptions and participation.
“I’m looking forward to helping the sport better reflect the rich diversity of this country,” Kraus said when she was hired in 2020. “For too long, our idea of a ‘rower’ has been limited, and it’s time to bust open that door, to welcome all who want to row, to celebrate diversity and to redefine what and who a rower can be. I truly believe that only good can come from this effort.”
After speaking with Kraus, who spent 18 years as the Founder and CEO of Row New York showing that rowing was for everyone, I knew she was sincere.
Recruiting participants who don’t look like traditional rowers is a difficult challenge, particularly when most Black and Brown communities are focused on sports like basketball and football.
But bobsledding is doing it thanks to athletes like Elana Myers Taylor and Jamaican sprinters and the film, “Cool Runnings.”
Swimming is doing it through companies like Soul Cap, athletes such as Alice Dearing and Simone Manuel and the success of the Howard swimming and diving team.
Even hockey will soon have its first HBCU team at Tennessee St.
But Black people rowing? The jokes tell themselves.
Yet to US rowing and the inner-city groups and athletes it works with, it’s not a joke. It’s a mission it takes very seriously. So much so that inclusion is one of the three pillars of the organization’s strategic plan.
“We pledge to devote time and resources to make a lasting impact and be an agent of positive change in our rowing community and broader society,” US Rowing states on its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Resources page.
But how do you convince a young Black boy or girl, and their parents, that they should try rowing, especially when they might not even swim?
You do it by investing the time, resources and honest efforts into working with people and organizations that these potential athletes can identify with. That’s why US Rowing began working with organizations and individuals based in cities like Philadelphia, LA, Chicago, Seattle, New York and Newark.
“At the national governing body level, we’re trying to lift the image of the sport,” Kraus told me during our interview. “But clubs, programs and leaders do the heavy lifting.”
Some of those doing the heavy lifting include the aforementioned Row New York, Brick City Rowing in Newark, NJ and Philadelphia native, Maurice Scott, Jr.
(Photo credit: Maurice Scott, Jr.)
Scott discovered his inner Aquaman early on. He attended middle school at Maritime Academy where he joined the swim team, tried sailing and took part in a two-week rowing program.
In high school, he played sports like football, soccer and baseball, but the water kept calling. So after joining Philly City Rowing in the 11th grade, he dropped everything to pursue his passion for rowing. That journey took him to the US Naval Academy and countries across the globe including Australia, New Zealand, England and the Bahamas.
But Maurice never forgot where he came from, and while he continues to train, he also sits on the boards of the Unity Boat Club and the Potomac Boat Club, where he pushes for diversity and inclusion daily.
The understanding of belonging was instilled in him by his father who told him just because he didn’t see anyone who looked like him rowing, “doesn’t mean that you can’t do it.”
Maurice echoes the narrative of “belonging” that US Rowing and its partners are pushing to increase participation by diverse groups in the sport. Based on statistics, it’s a much-needed effort.
Barriers to Entry, but a Place to Heal
According to responses from a survey US Rowing conducted as part of its strategic plan, while 95% of BIPOC rowers enjoy rowing, 25% do not feel they “belong” on their team and 35% do not feel valued by their coach. An alarming 66% of these rowers have “experienced race-based challenges and/or do not openly show up with their full identity and culture.”
In a sport where financial barriers to entry are as prevalent as the lack of Black participants, this isn’t that surprising.
But to US Rowing, it’s a reality that must be addressed and fixed.
So the organization has put its time, resources and, most importantly, money into taking concrete steps to address the issues faced by Black and Brown rowers.
Not only is it working with local organizations and athletes like Maurice, but it is also rolling out a grant program in 2024 that will support organizations and individuals to help teams, athletes and coaches. The program, United We Row, will dedicate $1 million in total over the next four years to help launch teams, fund existing programs, support athletes in training and event participation and provide tools to succeed through online learning programs.
Most interesting is the emphasis on trauma-informed and healing-centered coaching, which focuses on issues such as bullying, implicit bias and conflict resolution. This helps athletes by not having them bear the full burden of dealing with these issues by themselves and shifts some of the responsibility of fostering change to coaches.
Dealing with trauma is an ongoing challenge in the Black community, but rowing could be an outlet that assists in the healing process.
(Photo credit: US Rowing)
According to Jennie Trayes, US Rowing’s Chief Community Engagement Officer, working with coaches on recognizing and resolving issues can enable the focus to be placed on the whole athlete so that “individuals can be their fullest self.”
Rowing itself can be very peaceful and healing, as it allows participants to leave their problems at the dock. But if problems continue after leaving the dock, then the trauma persists.
That’s why US Rowing is so adamant about helping the entire sport at all levels. It’s a daunting task that will take time, but through authentic relationships with schools, gyms, churches and leaders, rowing is being introduced to more diverse audiences.
In 2022, Saint Augustine’s University launched the first HBCU women’s rowing team in the country, joining Howard University, which has had a rowing team since the 1960s.
In December, US Rowing screened the new George Clooney film “The Boys In The Boat,” for young people of color in cities such as Philadelphia. The goal was to demonstrate the power of rowing and to showcase what the sport has done to help others overcome challenges to inspire these young people to get more involved in rowing.
While the film, which opened nationwide on Christmas Day, is about the University of Washington rowing team that won the gold medal at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, which is also where Jesse Owens famously won four gold medals in the face of Hitler’s racist Nazi Germany, it also teaches the lessons of how teamwork can overcome obstacles despite backgrounds or social status.
And in this case, rowing was what brought everyone together to overcome and succeed.
Kraus, Trayes and the team at US Rowing not only want to open the doors to rowers of different colors and backgrounds, but they want them to succeed and stay.
“We want to create a pathway, not a pipeline, for a pipeline involves filtration,” said Trayes. “We want people to come in and stay.”
Through the efforts of US Rowing, its partners and athletes, rowing can be a place for Black and Brown communities to visit and a place for them to heal.
And as change occurs, rowing can become a place for Black and Brown people to find a place where they belong and a home they want to stay in.
