I was appalled to read in the Oct. 17th Telegram that the Regatta Committee is denying the use of winter training facilities for the St. John’s Rowing Club Canada Games junior rowing team, “for security reasons.”
I would have thought that the Regatta Committee would have stepped over backwards to help the province’s rowers — it’s the same sport, for the love of Mike. Young rowers need encouragement, not stuffy bureaucracy.
Rowing is fun, excellent exercise, teaches athletic expertise, crew spirit, working together, better sportsmanship than most sports, and social interaction for years afterwards. These rowers train hard and are a credit to the province.
In fact, The Telegram seems to have the same mental block. The paper reports on the Regatta in August and that’s about it. The St. John’s Rowing Club has some very good rowers, and I enjoy watching them on the lake. I would like to know who they are, where they compete and how they do. I hear sometimes afterwards that they had competed in some national or provincial regatta somewhere, and performed credibly. Not a peep from our local paper. Instead, more likely would be a report on tiddlywinks in Moscow.
In several cities where I have lived, and there has been a rowing club, it
has always been reported as a major sport.
Similarly, the paper reports about the city needing better recreational facilities, mentioning several sports facilities. Rowing should have been included. At present the St. John’s Rowing Club has a small and inadequate crowded space at the Boathouse, without even a changing room.
John Gibson
St. John’s
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