This week’s newsletter is going out a little early due to the Thanksgiving Holiday! This Thanksgiving we are thankful for the community of athletes and parents that make up Woodson Rowing. We hope you have a wonderful holiday off from school.
1. *NEW* NO WINTER CONDITIONING WED – FRI (11/22 – 11/24)
2. REGISTER FOR THE SEASON
3. *NEW* HOLIDAY SHOPPING IDEAS
4. *NEW* WED 11/29, PAISANO’S BURKE FUNDRAISER
5. DON’T MISS OUT ON TEAM UPDATES
6. SCHOOL NAME CHANGE AND HOW IT AFFECTS US
7. FUNDRAISING CONTINUES
8. LOOKING AHEAD: AT-A-GLANCE
9. ALL THE REGULAR STUFF
ACTION ITEMS FOR THIS WEEK
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
1. *NEW* NO WINTER CONDITIONING WED – FRI (11/22 – 11/24): Due to the Thanksgiving holiday and schools being closed, there will be no winter conditioning Wed – Fri (11/22 – 11/24). Get some movement in to keep yourselves loose and ready to get back to it on Monday!
Here is the general schedule for winter conditioning. Participation is highly encouraged for all athletes.Before you can participate, all athletes must: (1) have a VHSL physical dated after May 1, 2023 turned into the Woodson Athletic Trainer (hard copies delivered to Rm. C158, soft copies emailed to the athletic trainer, [email protected]) and (2) be registered with the Woodson Athletic System.
2. REGISTER FOR THE SEASON: Commit to rowing this spring! Click here to get started. Still have questions? Reach out to our membership team at [email protected].¶
3. *NEW* HOLIDAY SHOPPING IDEAS: If you didn’t finish your holiday shopping at the Woodson Craft Show, there are lots of ways to get your shopping done and benefit the team at the same time!
- Woodson Spirit Wear. Grandparents can show their support from afar while athletes can participate in passive recruiting just by wearing their favorite sweatshirt! A portion of the proceeds does benefit the team.
- Oakley eyewear and MORE. Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale (runs thru Nov 27). Woodson has partnered with TCA Team to bring you preferred pricing on sunglasses or other sports equipment. To get the discount:
- 1) Visit the TCA Store at tcateamstore.com
- 2) Add items to your cart
- 3) At checkout enter WOODSON or BFCM23 in the discount code box and the discount will be applied to the price.
Check out tcateamstore.com today!
- USRowing Black Friday Sale. These purchases do not benefit our team directly, but each purchase at the USRowing Marketplace directly supports the US National Team, adaptive and STEM to Stern community programs, and USRowing educational programming.
- Don’t forget about our new croc charms this year! Cost is $6 for 1 charm and $10 for 2 charms. Contact Ana at [email protected] or on Slack to arrange payment and delivery.
4. *NEW* WED 11/29, PAISANO’S BURKE FUNDRAISER
When the Thanksgiving rush is over, you’re out of left overs AND you still don’t feel like cooking … eat at Paisano’s in Burke all day (Dine in and Carry out ONLY) on Wednesday, 11/29 (11a – 10p). Make sure to mention the Woodson Crew Boosters (or WTW Crew Boosters) to benefit our team with your purchase. 20% of sales will be donated back to the team. RSVP isn’t required, but it does let the restaurant get a better idea of the potential turnout!
5. DON’T MISS OUT ON TEAM UPDATES: Join our Slack communities to stay up-to-date on all the comings and goings of the team. Slack is a communications tool combining the best elements of text messaging and email. We use Slack for more immediate communications than this newsletter. There are 2 separate Slack spaces: one for coach and athlete communications and a separate space for parent/guardian communications.
Parent / Guardian Slack: In addition to push notifications for team related information such as weather or other cancellations, Slack creates a space for parents to be able to coordinate carpools, and other team related logistics. If you are a parent or guardian and are not yet on Slack, please send an email to [email protected] with the following information: (1) your name, (2) your email address, and (3) the full name of your athlete. Once your request is processed, you will receive a separate invite link from Slack to join. There is an app you may download on your mobile devices to access Slack or you may log-in using any browser.
Coach / Athlete Slack: Coaches will ensure that all athletes are added to this Slack space. Athletes not currently on Slack should let coaches know at winter conditioning. Please note that you must have a NON-FCPS email to join this space. Parents and guardians do not have direct access to this space. This is your athlete’s responsibility and an opportunity for them to learn to communicate more readily and effectively with their teammates and coaches.
6. SCHOOL NAME CHANGE AND HOW IT AFFECTS US: You might have noticed some branding changes (or not!) on social media and a transition from “W.T. Woodson Crew” to “Woodson Rowing.” Why the switch? Well – the answer is two-fold. With the recent school board vote to change the school name from W.T. Woodson High School to Carter G. Woodson High School, as a team we must represent the school effectively by removing the W.T. from our brand.
As for the switch from “Crew” to “Rowing” – read this article in the Washington Post for a quote from Head Coach Bryan Tylander on this pet peeve. (tldr; a crew is a group of people who row, rowing is the actual sport and what our athletes “do”).
You’ll likely see a slow roll of changes in this rebranding effort. Please be patient with us as we work through rebranding over the course of this year!!
How can you help? By referring to our team as “Woodson Rowing” you’re giving potential recruits and their families a much more descriptive picture of this sport. Is it semantics? Perhaps – but anything that exposes more folks to the joys (and pains – wait until the hand blisters start), the better. Also, don’t throw out your W.T. Woodson Spirit Wear! Continue to wear it until other options are available. Everything in the team store is compliant with the school’s name change. Plus, maybe the old stuff will be worth some money some day. 😏
7. FUNDRAISING CONTINUES: Although our major fundraising efforts have passed, fundraising never really ends. We didn’t quite meet our goals through Tag Day efforts – so now what? Well, donations are a mainstay of our funding efforts. Please continue to spread the word. If you, or anyone you know, might be interested in becoming a sponsor of our team, our Donors page on the website is a great resource. In addition, please check with your employers to see if they have any matching programs! Some employers will match charitable donations made by their employees. Please contact our fundraising team at [email protected] with any questions, to arrange sponsorships or set up employer matching!
8. LOOKING AHEAD: AT-A-GLANCE
NOVEMBER:
- Registration available.
- Wed. 11/29: Paisano’s in Burke restaurant fundraiser. 11a-10p.
DECEMBER:
- Wed. 12/13: Kokee Team restaurant fundraiser
- Fri. 12/15: Deadline for early bird registration discount
- 12/18-12/29: Winter break
- 12/18 – 12/22: Optional winter conditioning. Tentative. More info to follow.
JANUARY 2024
- Thu. 1/18: Noodles & Co. restaurant fundraiser
FEBRUARY
- Fri. 2/16: Last day of winter conditioning
- Mon. 2/19: Deadline for returning athlete refunds
- Mon. 2/19: Practice begins. Baseline erg testing at school. Time TBD.
- Tue. 2/20: On-the-water practice begins. Pull for Woodson!
(Mon-Fri: 4-6:30p; Sat: 8:30-10:30a) - Thu. 2/22: Mamma Lucia restaurant fundraiser
MARCH
- Thu. 3/7: Deadline for novice athlete refunds
- Racing season begins! 2024 Racing Schedule.
- Sat. 3/16: Polar Bear Regatta, Sandy Run
- Sat. 3/23: Regional Park Regatta, Sandy Run
- Sat. 3/30: Invitational at St. Andrews, Middletown, DE
APRIL
- Sat. 4/6: Tri-Meet, Anacostia River, Washington, DC
- Sat. 4/13: Bye Week. No racing.
- Sat. 4/20: Ryz Obuchowicz Regatta, Sandy Run
- Sat. 4/27: Al Urquia Regatta, Sandy Run
MAY
- Sat. 5/4: Virginia State Championship (Day 1), Sandy Run
- Sat. 5/11: Virginia State Championship (Day 2), Sandy Run
- Fri-Sat. 5/17-18: Stotesbury Cup Regatta, Philadelphia, PA
- Fri-Sat. 5/24-25: SRAA National Championships Regatta, Camden, NJ
(Only qualifying boats attend.)
9. ALL THE REGULAR STUFF