Innovative Rowing Program Gives Teen Mothers Strength and Confidence

Teen moms take to the river in the Rowing Strong, Rowing Together program cosponsored by the College and Holyoke's Care Center. Learning to row under the direction of Assistant Crew Coach Tessa Spillane (not shown) and crew member Kristy Thompson '00 (second from left) are, left to right behind Thompson, Marilyn Cruz, Amy Bray, Sonia Castro, Mayra Ortiz, Heydee Rodriguez, Cary Perez, and Jeneisy Mojica. In front is coxswain Jenny Simon '02.

Marilyn Cruz pulls hard on her oar. Cruz decided that she was "a rower in a previous life" after she had been out on the Connectucut River several times.

Crew, a sport typically associated with college students and Olympians, has become a means of inspiring at-risk teenage mothers through a program launched by MHC and the Holyoke-based Care Center. Sixteen young mothers are participating in the initiative--called Rowing Strong, Rowing Together--on a twice-a-week basis during June.

The program is helping these young women, who range in age from sixteen to twenty-two, have left school, and are on public assistance, gain confidence through the team building and physical rigor that are a fundamental part of crew. It is hoped that their experiences on the water will translate into other areas of their lives, stimulating the young mothers to achieve such goals as earning a GED (General Education Development credential). Rowing Strong, Rowing Together is modeled on a successful rowing program, developed and led by crew Olympian Holly Metcalf '81, for at-risk junior and senior high school girls in the Boston area.

MHC Crew Coach Jeanne Friedman, who is executive director of the rowing program, and Anne Teschner, director of the Care Center, began developing the new rowing program last fall. Tessa Spillane '95, MHC assistant crew coach and director of Rowing Strong, Rowing Together, started recruiting the teens in early May.

Before any oars touched water, a good deal of preparation was required. Participants learned to row on machines, watched crew videos, worked out at MHC, and practiced oar strokes. The College is donating the use of all equipment for the program. The teen mothers finally hit the water in early June.

The teens in the new program, most of whom are bilingual Puerto Ricans, now spend three hours each week rowing in an eight-oared shell on the Connecticut River. Twenty-year-old Marilyn Cruz decided that she was "a rower in a previous life" after she had been out on the river several times. Cruz not only loved rowing, but also took on the role of impromptu translator, rendering into Spanish instructions from coxswain Jenny Simon '02 for the non-English-speaking rowers in her shell. Nineteen-year-old Mayra Ortiz would one day like to participate in a crew race. Cary Perez, also nineteen, is happy to have time away from the housework and child care that are the mainstays of her life.

The young women spend their mornings at the Care Center, the state's oldest pregnant- and parenting-teen program, working on academics in preparation for the GED examination. In the afternoon, the teens participate in a variety of activities, including the rowing program. Afternoon time at the center is also devoted to such required topics as parenting and nutrition.

The sponsoring organizations hope that physical exertion, teamwork, exposure to the river, and interaction with a prestigious women's college will jumpstart the young women's enthusiasm for learning. "Rowing, like the arts and other activities found on college campuses, sparks young women to be more focused and energetic about their studies and lives," says Teschner. "By connecting the young women to the water, each other, and the capacity of their bodies, these teen moms are getting the chance to see themselves in a whole new light."

The sponsors would like to expand the rowing program to include teenage mothers up and down the Connecticut River, from Connecticut to New Hampshire. Two grant proposals, one for expansion to other sites and one for a second session this summer, are currently under review by two foundations. The group has already received one grant, from the local United Way.

Photographs by Nancy Palmieri