Rowing

For immediate release
June 1, 1999
Call Sarah Grolnic-McClurg at 538-2030.

TEENAGE, WELFARE MOMS EXPERIENCE THE POWER
OF WOMEN'S ROWING THIS JUNE

Unique Rowing Program, Rowing Strong, Rowing Together, Unites a Preeminent Women's College with Massachusetts's Oldest Pregnant and Parenting Teen Program

South Hadley, MA—Crew, usually a sport associated with elite college students, is a weekly activity this June for a group of teenage mothers in Holyoke, Mass. who receive public assistance and have dropped out of school.

Sponsored by The Care Center, a non-profit in Holyoke, and Mount Holyoke College, one of the oldest women's colleges in the country, the recently launched program is named Rowing Strong, Rowing Together. It is hoped that the teen moms, by conquering the physically demanding sport, will feel able to achieve other goals—such as earning their GED—they previously thought unattainable.

Modeled on a successful, ongoing rowing program for at-risk junior and senior high school girls in the Boston area, the new rowing initiative for 16 teen moms in Holyoke, Mass. brings the thrill and empowerment of women's team rowing to a new population of women. Rowing is an especially powerful sport because of its unique combination of individual and teamwork. Each rower is dependent on the actions of the other rowers in the boat, yet each has the ability to focus on her own progress and technique. It also highlights the connections among hard work, discipline, and progress, because the more you row, the stronger you get.

Ranging in age from 15 to 22, the mothers in the new program will hit the region's majestic Connecticut River as rowers in an 8-oared hull for three hours each week during June. For the beginner rowers, most of whom are bilingual Puerto Ricans, the opportunity offers a dramatic change in pace and scenery, and it's the aim of the sponsoring organizations that the physical exertion, teamwork, exposure to the river, and interaction with a prestigious women's college will jump start the teen moms' enthusiasm for learning.

According to Anne Teschner, executive director of The Care Center, "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. By connecting the young women to the water, each other, and their bodies, this unusual program enlivens its participants. It's an opportunity for these teenagers, who face many challenges, to experience joy and playfulness as well."

The young mothers and expectant mothers involved in Rowing Strong, Rowing Together spend their mornings at The Care Center preparing for their General Education Development (GED) credential; obtaining a GED is a welfare requirement and the time for passing the GED examination was recently shortened by welfare reform.

At The Care Center, the state's oldest pregnant and parenting teen program, a series of school subjects are taught each morning in preparation for the GED. In the afternoon, the Center's clients can sign up for a rotating schedule of activities that now includes rowing. Afternoon time at the Center is also devoted to required topics such as parenting and nutrition.

The idea for Rowing Strong, Rowing Together started last fall when Mount Holyoke's Athletic Director and Chair of Physical Education, Laurie Priest, a noted authority on issues concerning women and sports, sat down with Anne Teschner to develop a rowing program for the Center.

The sponsors also have their sights set on expanding the rowing program to teenage mothers up and down the Connecticut River, from New Haven, Connecticut to Dartmouth College in 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.

Says Teschner, who worked with youth prevention programs for a decade before running the Care Center, about the expansion possibilities, "No other program like this exists in New England–combining rowing and teen moms. We're seeking national funding, because we're confident that this will work. I'm fairly certain, too, that the power of rowing is being tapped into by teen moms for the first time in this effort."

The current program started with a pitch to the teen moms by Mount Holyoke Assistant Crew Coach Tessa Spillane in early May. Spillane says that the group wanted to get out on the water right away.

Preparing to row on a large river though in an 8-oared hull takes time, however. The rowing participants have worked since May 18 learning how to row on machines, watching crew videos, working out at Mount Holyoke's gym, and practicing oar strokes. They also spent an afternoon learning how to take the boats in and out of the water and took swim tests on their first day. The teen moms are expected to hit the water early this month. The beginners will spend Tuesday and Thursdays in June from 12:30 to 2:00 each afternoon at the Mount Holyoke College crew team's boathouse in South Hadley, Mass., launching from there onto the river.

Though physically close to most of residents of Holyoke, the Connecticut River separates gritty Holyoke from South Hadley, part of the culturally rich Pioneer Valley area of Western Massachusetts. Most of the women participating in the rowing program have experienced neither the beauty of this old New England river nor crossed over the bridge to neighboring South Hadley. So, although none of the newest crew members at the College's boathouse may take rowing to its next level, which is racing, it's already certain that the effort by The Care Center and Mount Holyoke College is expanding these 16 teenagers' horizons.

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