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Head Coaches Remarks to Boosters, Supporters and Athletes – 2009 End of Year Banquet
6/19/2009
Welcome to our 6th annual awards banquet. My thanks go to everyone who has made this event a possibility. In particular Jane and Dan Charrier and Jennifer McSweeney. This is a very nice venue and it is decorated wonderfully. There is much to celebrate this year and we have one of our best to date.
On that note, I want to take the time to thank our captains Aaron Charrier and Anna Royce. Both have done a terrific job of leading us this year. Following a tradition that we started two years ago, I have invited the captains to say a few words to us all.
Vince Lombardi, NFL coach and Hall of famer - once wrote:
“Mental Toughness is many things and rather difficult to explain. Its qualities are sacrifice and self-denial. Also, most importantly, it is combined with a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in. It’s a state of mind – you could call it character in action.”
Our athletes have experienced good times and some bad times this year. We always strive to be the best that we can be. I enjoy coaching rowing because it tells you all the good things about you and the things that you are lacking. Working on a crew team is certainly not the “path of least resistance”. We all learn more from mistakes and failures than from successes. What must not be taken lightly is the emotional investment that each athlete and coach has made this year. We have educational organization such as schools and universities that teach you to be academically inclined. However, the most valuable life lesson that I think a young person can learn is that when something does not go to plan, how to pick himself or herself up and shake the dust off. It is important to get back on the horse, or back in the boat for that matter. Any athlete who has flipped his or her boat in the course of the year understands this principle all too well. A true master knows that ultimately every effort can always be rebuilt and improved; you just have to have the courage to do so.
We’ve come a long way. When I started as head coach, and the only coach, we had 8-10 athletes, no boosters organization, practiced three days per week and did not have any equipment to our name.
At this current time, the program has 47 athletes, 5 coaches, and owns $100,000 equipment. The team practices six days a week and competes in six to seven events in each season. In addition, during the last few years the program has represented Tulsa in events such as the Head of the Charles, the largest rowing event in the US rowing calendar and also the US Rowing Youth Nationals. We have won regional championships, run fundraisers and have a wonderful feeling of community with much experience to pass along to the next generation.
We keep improving and making this program run better and with more product than ever before. It has been fun to have a full compliment of coaches that run each division of the program. This season we have accomplished two wins at the SWEAT ergometer competition with other athletes medaling in many categories, six medals at the Central Districts, ropes course in the fall and spring, and most successful Row-A-Thon in the history of the program and the list goes on and on.
I also want to celebrate and acknowledge the fact that the Route 66 regatta was a resounding success. I’ve never seen so many crews rowing on our river and so special thanks to Claudia Brierre and her committee for organizing such a great event for our club and a vast improvement in attendance from other teams than ever before.
We have also taken athletes to Oak Ridge, TN for spring break training for the first time. This signifies another milestone for our program. I will say this; we are much better rowers than we are at ten-pin bowling. We rowed seventy miles during spring break, but not many of us could break seventy in a game of bowling. But seriously, the boys and girls involved in the trip did a fantastic of representing our program. They came together as a team and were terrific ambassadors for all of us. When our athletes want to give up their vacation time and strive to be the best that they can be, I know we are headed in the right direction.
I want to take the time to thank the University of Tulsa, namely Coach Kevin Harris and his coaching staff who transported our boats out to Oak Ridge and made this trip possible for us. In addition, there have also been countless times where the University of Tulsa has stepped up to help our program in addition to our Oak Ridge trip. As some of you may be aware that TU rowing has lent us an eight to use as we training for nationals. So, a heartfelt thank you goes to them for helping us to go fast!
It is also necessary to thank Allison Griffith and Roy Ames who both stepped up at a time of great need. We would not have been able to do this trip without their generous gift of time and effort. There was a time that it looked doubtful that we could even take this trip. However, thanks to these parents we managed to make this trip a resounding success. Both of these parents were tremendously supportive of our athletes and coaches. They cooked for us and even washed our clothes.
I asked the coaches to recount their favorite memories from the past year. The highlights that they mention include the game of mud football and rowing above the 11th street bridge. Coach Younger’s goal at the beginning of the season was to medal at every regatta that we attended and her crew’s accomplished that this year. Coach Y, remember to heed your mother’s advice and never let your athletes see you cry. Coaches Simmons remembers the girls varsity fours winning their heats and going on to win the regional championship in the eight.
Like last year we graduate many seniors again. I’d like to take the opportunity to thank all of following for their time, commitment, effort and sacrifice over the last year and in some cases up to five years.
Please step forward to receive your gift as I read your name.
Stephanie Ames (O.S.U)
*Sam Berntson (Wichita State)
*Emily Carstens (S.M.U.)
*Tamara Clayton (OU)
*Aaron Charrier (Nebraska)
Jeffrey Moseley (O.U.)
Alysha Ledbetter (Auburn University, Alabama)
Griffin Schulz (O.R.U.)
*denotes plans to row at this school
As far as the rest of the team is concerned; we have awards for your participation in the program this year. Please step forward when I call your name.
Thanks For Your Support!
We would not be able to do all that we have accomplished without the support of the Tulsa Rowing Club. Therefore, I would like to thank Ned Beattie, Sam Stone and Mike Kneafsey and Tulsa Rowing Club for their support of our program. These gentlemen continually support our program and recognize the benefit to the community. I’m always appreciative of their contributions in terms of time, money and advice.
I want to thank all of our boosters who helped chaperone this season. It is nice to be able to go to your room and get refreshed for the day of coaching. Thank you for allowing me to do my job and enabling us to go on the road. Your support is much appreciated.
I also appreciate the help that parents have offered with the dock duty. I realize that it is an extra chore but it is a necessary one. Thanks for your support for this continuing effort.
I need to thank Peter Gehres for helping us maintain the website this past year. Peter is always on hand to work and make changes to our web presence. Peter is currently hard at work developing a new look website which will launch us into a more professional and established club. My thanks go to Peter for his wonderful contribution this year.
Valerie Norton has helped us with our uniform this year. Valerie has been terrific and our kids look better than ever and represent us very well. Special thanks go to Valerie for all of her support this year in this regard.
Kim Schale has done an outstanding job for us helping us feed the troops. I continue to be amazed at all of the hard work done by her and her crew of able helpers. Thanks to Kim for all of her support this year.
I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of Dan and Jane Charrier, who have been excellent contributors to our success on the road. I got the feeling that there was no stone left unturned and that’s an excellent place to be if you are a head coach traveling with four assistant coaches and 40 or so athletes. Thanks to you for your help.
I also want to thank Kim Taylor for taking on the role of public relations officer. Kim is second to none in terms of skill and general “go get em”. She has made quantum leaps in terms of our community awareness. We have been featured in publications that we have never appeared in before such as Urban Tulsa and Tulsa People. Special thanks to Kim for bringing her skill to our program.
I also want to mention Julie Harris who has been working hard with Kim Taylor to get our sport recognized by the OSSAA. Currently, these ladies have collected nine signatures from member schools that will form a petition that will go to the OSSAA and hopefully they will allow the sport to be recognized. This work should provide an interscholastic quantum leap for the sport of rowing in the state of Oklahoma. Special thanks go to both of those ladies.
Liz Berntson continues to be a terrific contributor to our program. I’m always appreciative of Liz’s perspective and her thorough notes of our boosters meetings. Sam, her son, will graduate this year and so it is a loss to us all that Liz ends this year as part of the boosters. Liz has also organized other items and events such as the dock duty schedule and our trip to nationals two years ago. We wish her and family the best of luck in the future. Great job!
Our past treasurer and future president to be Stephanie Royce has completed another wonderful year of service for us. Stephanie not only manages the club’s finances, but also helps plan trips and keeps everything running smoothly. Our thanks go to her for all of her efforts keeping us, no pun intended, afloat.
Our vice president this year has been Lynne Smith. Lynne was the mastermind behind the Row-A-Thon this year. Lynne helped us step up this event in terms of organization and how it should run. As a result, we had the most successful event that we have ever had. We raised over $15,000 and each athlete rowed over 35km each. Our thanks go to Lynne for her time, commitment and passion to make our program more successful than ever in this event.
This year our president has been Jennifer McSweeny. Jennifer has done a terrific job as president. She has supported the team both in town and away at regattas. I am amazed at her leadership capabilities and organizational skills. As you know, Jennifer’s interclub emails are very thorough and informative and no stone is left unturned. Heartfelt thanks go to Jennifer for all of her hard work and support over the past year.
The program is growing and changing all the term. We’ve not had four divisions of the program, novice and varsity boys and girls, before like we had this year.
Our new coaches Sara Younger and Zach Kilburn have done a terrific job of welcoming novices to the program and making rowing fun yet challenging at the same time. Both coaches bring a personal touch to their athletes and their teams have met with much success over the year. My heartfelt thanks go to our novice coaches for their time, energy, consistency and their willingness to bring our program to the next level.
Our varsity coaches James Simmons and Kyle Peters have labored to create a varsity team that our club can be proud off. Both teams have medaled and achieved a great deal over the past 12 months. A varsity team should set the tone for the program and give novice rowers something to work toward and aspire to be. Both varsity coaches have worked hard to achieve this in our program.
Coach Simmons works hard to ensure that everything is in working order. There is no way that we could run this program without his hard work and technical expertise. This is especially true with a mechanically challenged head coach. James is an excellent role model for our athletes and is as solid as a rock when it comes to consistency and making himself available for our kids.
Coach Peters has been with the program for three years. It seems like only yesterday when he arrived at the boathouse and offered his help to the juniors. I have very much appreciated his no nonsense approach to coaching. As some of you may be aware, he and his wife Samara, are expecting their first child next month. In addition, his wife will be starting her medical career in the military and they will be stationed in Fort Hood, Texas starting in August. I am sad to see Coach Peters depart the program but will be ever appreciative of his contribution and commitment during these past recent years.
In conclusion, our varsity has been in good hands this year and I want to thank Coach Simmons and Coach Peters for their tireless efforts at helping us achieve our goals and setting the pace for the program. I want to thank them for their contributions this year and look forward to more successful seasons. Thank you coaches.
I have come to the end of thanking all of the adults who have impacted the program in such meaningful and significant way.
I would also like to acknowledge our athlete leadership council this year. The leadership council has met with the coaching staff this year on many different occasions. The council should ideally be composed of athletes who represent the many different types of athletes that we have on the team – both experienced and new. I always appreciate the honest dialog that occurs at our leadership council meetings. The athletes that serve on the leadership council care very deeply about the success of our program and how the program might run better. This year’s council was composed of captains Anna Royce and Aaron Charrier, Eric Klammer, Sam Berntson, Abby Jones, Emily Carstens and Tamara Clayton.
Now, I turn to our athletes once more as we award those who have made significant accomplishments both in a humorous way and in a more serious manner.
The U-boat commander award can be given to an athlete that flips the most during the course of the season, or it can be given to an athlete that has one or two quality flips. One year we awarded it to a pair of athletes who were winning their doubles race and then proceeded to flip their shell five strokes before the finish line. This year recipient falls more into the quality category than the quantity category. Back in the fall, upon flipping their shell this rower decided to sit on top of the brand new Pocock racing shell.
"U-Boat Commander" Award (Emily Carstens)
Awarded to the athlete who flips the most during the course of the season. Athletes may only win this award if they capsize unintentionally during the course of practice. (Awarded by coaching staff)
This year’s tough as nails rowers has taken the boys team into new territory with a win in the novice heavyweight category with a time that was better than the varsity category at the SWEAT competition back in February. This athlete is hardworking and has made a fantastic commitment to the team often going above and beyond what is asked of him. This summer he plans to do a 24 hour row-a-thon to break the world record for the most meters rowed on the ergometer in that time.
"Tuff as Nails" Award (Brock Turner)
Awarded to the athlete who has proved himself or herself to be mentally tough and resilient above all else. (Awarded by coaching staff)
Both of these young gentlemen are kind and have wonderful character. They continually make the boathouse a better place to be. They are always on hand to offer a hand when help is needed. They have made huge improvements in their rowing from a physiological and technical perspective. Both are deserving of the most improved male rowers for this year team.
Most Improved Male Rower (Hayden Mears) Novice (Jeffrey Moseley) Varsity
Awarded to the male athlete, who by his contribution, commitment and performance has improved his rowing over the course of the season. (Awarded by coaching staff)
Our female recipients for this years most improved awards are also athletes worthy of the title. The novice award goes to an 8th grader who has contributed a great deal to the success of the novice girls team this year. She has a great sense of humor and we have all enjoyed watching her grow as an athlete and a human being this year. The varsity award goes to a young lady who has “consistency” as her middle name. She has been a fantastic contributor to our program and is always present at practice. At the beginning of the season she was not a member of the varsity girls eight and now she sits stroke seat of the regional championship eight. Congratulations goes to Emma Carter and Molly Schale for most improved female rowers for this season.
Most Improved Female Rower (Emma Carter) Novice (Molly Schale) Varsity
Awarded to the female athlete, who by her contribution, commitment and performance has improved her rowing over the course of the season. (Awarded by coaching staff)
This year’s most hardworking award goes to an athlete that works hard both on the water and one the land. I am often watching which athletes are there to help their teammates when they are getting ready to race or coming back from a hard row. This athlete is also always ready to help me with the coaching launches at the beginning and end of practice. My thanks go to Logan Gilstrap for his hard work and diligence.
Most Hardworking Award (Logan Gilstrap)
Awarded to the athlete either male or female who has proved in the estimation of the coaching staff to have sustained a high degree of work ethic both on and off the water. (Awarded by coaching staff)
A good coxswain always knows how to the best out of his or her crew. This year’s recipient understands how to manage a crew both on and off the water. She is a fantastic motivator of others often applying the “human touch” to her teammates and getting the most out of her crew. The athletes have spoken and have voted Tamara Clayton as “Golden Coxswain” for this season. Congratulations!
“Golden Coxswain” Award (Tamara Clayton)
Awarded to the coxswain, who has demonstrated leadership, organization and commitment to the program. (Voted and Awarded by athletes)
In our second “athlete awarded” prize this evening the athletes have once again voted for their Queen Oar Award. The recipient of this year’s award goes to a rower that has had the longest tenure of any junior rower in the history of the program. This athlete has been there for the program in all seasons. This is a young lady who understands sacrifice and the meaning of being a team player by putting the good of the program before any personal gain. It gives me great pleasure to award this year’s Queen Oar to Tamara Clayton.
Queen Oar Award (Tamara Clayton)
Awarded to the female rower or coxswain who has demonstrated her commitment and leadership over the course of the season and therefore has contributed to the success of the program. Athletes must have competed in both fall and spring seasons to be eligible for this award at the end of the year. (Voted and awarded by athletes)
It seems very fitting that the recipient of the King Oar Award goes to another rower that has been with the program almost as long as the Queen Oar recipient. This rower has given a good deal of time and effort to the program. My most favorite moment this season for this rower was a race that I wasn’t even present for. At the end of the Heart of Texas regatta when all rowers had finished racing and were ready to roll out of the bus there was one rower who had qualified for the boys junior single sculls. We had previously had a brief conversation at the beginning of the afternoon about how it would be possible for him to medal in this event. When I heard about the race I knew that it was a major point of improvement for this rower. At the halfway point in the race this rower was in last place. However, over the next five hundred meters this rower kept at it and sprinted into bronze medal position. It takes a good deal of character to be down and keep going at it and then get into a medal winning position. I have never been more proud of this young man than I was when I heard that he had done this. It gives me great pleasure to award this year’s King Oar to Sam Berntson.
King Oar Award (Sam Berntson)
Awarded to the male rower or coxswain who has demonstrated his commitment and leadership over the course of the season and therefore has contributed to the success of the program. Athletes must have competed in both fall and spring seasons to be eligible for this award at the end of the year. (Voted and awarded by athletes)
Congratulations to all of these student-athletes.
Captains and Leadership Council
The athletes voted a couple of weeks ago to elect captains and the leadership council. I am pleased to announce that Anna Royce and Eric Klammer will serve as girls and boys captains for the 2009-10 calendar. Supplementing their leadership will a leadership council comprised of Abby Jones, Andrew Smith, Brock Turner, Andrea Joyce and Lauren Griffith. Congratulations to these athletes and I look forward to working with them as we take the next step.
In conclusion, my desire, deep down, is to serve as a rowing coach to recreate the experiences that I had as a schoolboy student athlete in the United Kingdom. I want to thank each of you for the opportunity in Tulsa to relive the best of my high school experiences and through the team’s labor a chance at re-writing those experiences. I want to thank you for the opportunity to pass along and achieve enthusiasm for a life-changing set of experiences.
My thanks go to everyone for a wonderful season. It has been a pleasure to serve you all.
Thank You.
Coach Neil Bergenroth.
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