High School Rowing Team

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do crew teams compete?

  By entering regattas which feature many races, each with boats from participating teams. Some only have 2 or 3 teams and are done in a couple hours, others are large all-day events with 20 teams or more. An individual rower may be in 2 or 3 races on a given day. Rowers race for medals (or sometimes shirts) in each event, and championship regattas have team trophies to award.

• When is Crew season?

  There are two competitive seasons in Crew. The Fall Season is about training for long distance competitions called Head Races. Boats navigate a course up to 5000 meters in length and race for the best time against the clock. The Spring Season is about racing in sprints of 1500 or 2000 meters in length. Boats line up side by side and take off down straight lanes; the first to cross the finish line wins.

• What is Edgewater Crew?

  Edgewater Crew is a rowing team made up exclusively of Edgewater High School students, both boys and girls. It was formed in the 1963-64 school year and has not missed a year since.

• Are there tryouts for Edgewater Crew?

  There are no tryouts. We start team practice at the beginning of the school year and there are no roster cuts. When you come to practice and commit to join, you are on the team.

• Can I join if I am not an Edgewater High School student?

  We can only have current Edgewater High School students on the team, the only exception being home-schooled students who live in the EHS school zone. Bottom line, if you are eligible to be on any EHS sports team, then you are eligible to row with us. If the high school you attend doesn’t have a rowing team, there are a number of multi-school club teams in this area that would love to have you.

• When and where are regattas held?

  Regattas are always on weekends, usually just on Saturdays.  Locally, we race at home on Lake Fairview and Turkey Lake. We also will row at places around Florida like Jacksonville, Tampa and Sarasota.

  When economically feasible, we have taken overnight trips to Tennessee and Georgia in the Fall and Spring seasons, but our priority is to keep participation affordable so these trips depend on the size of the team and expenses of travel and lodging.

  If a boat does well enough at the State Championships, we can send it to a National-level championship regatta in the Northeastern US at the end of the Spring season.

• Which rowers get to compete?

  Everybody races. We schedule races at regattas so everyone who has been training and is able to compete gets in at least one race. There are a few regattas which have scheduling rules which prevent us from getting everyone in a boat if we have an odd number of rowers, but we make every effort to minimize those occurrences.

• How does one join the rowing team?

  Come to practice. You are welcome to train with the team for 2 weeks at no charge or obligation. If after that time you decide to stay, we’ll put the joining process in motion.

• What are the requirements to join Edgewater Crew?
  1. An OCPS physical exam form signed by a doctor stating that you are in proper health to train
  2. You must be an Edgewater High School student who is eligible to compete in athletics which includes maintaining a minimum 2.0 GPA with each semester report card.
  3. A parent will need to fill out some forms and pay a registration fee to get everything set for the year.
  4. You need to be able to swim.
• What expectations come with joining Crew?

  We expect our athletes to adhere to the same code of conduct that athletes on other EHS teams must follow. While we are not directly supervised by OCPS or the EHS administration, we place the same rules and regulations on ourselves. These policies are listed in the Rowers Handbook which is given to each rower when he/she joins.

• How much does being on the Edgewater Crew team cost?

  The fee for a single competitive season is $1,250. We do however offer an assistance program for qualifying athletes. Additionally, rowers have the opportunity to fund raise through equity-account events coordinated by Edgewater Crew. These proceeds can be applied as credits to your season fees.

• Are rowing season fees paid all at once?

  No. The Registration Fee is due when a rower joins. That helps get us started for each season and shows that you are serious about being on the team. After that fee, payments are billed monthly in equal payments. If you are working equity-account activities, the credits you earn can cover charges to your account, and you can carry a surplus over to the following year. Details and caveats are listed in the Rowers Handbook.