SRA Friends and Family,
We sincerely hope this email finds you well and in a deeper understanding of community and the need for strong community than ever before. SRA, like everyone, is in a waiting period as we figure out how we will navigate the remainder of our spring season. At this point, we must extend the suspension of onsite training through at least April 1st. While we are not a “gym” we do have part of our organization that functions in that manner, and we do congregate in groups larger than 10. We feel socially responsible at this time to maintain the intent of the current protocols while it appears to be on the upswing rather than the downswing.
At this point, we have decided, (or been forced) to cancel the Saratoga Invitational, the NY Collegiate States, and the Liberty League Championships. We are holding out hope that the NY Scholastic State Championships can be held but we are making the necessary business decisions in the event that that regatta is also canceled. This, unfortunately, is not only a heartbreaking outcome for the rowers and coaches but also challenging for the finances of the organization.
The loss of the regattas represents a major hit to the organization, and when you net out the expenses related to those regattas/camps/conferences, our organization is about 70% payroll and 30% operations. Our coaches are working very hard to maintain some semblance of training in these times, and we are working very hard to keep them on staff at whatever level that has to be.
While normally we strive to give you definite plans moving forward, the rate of change is such that the best we can hope to do is keep you updated and be as transparent in our thinking as we can.
In 2014 and 2015 the ice didn’t leave the lake until April 12th and we know we will not be able to get a mass gathering permit to run our Saratoga Invitational but we are hopeful that we will be permitted to begin training on the water in small groups before the state championships and while we may be frustrated by a month of unused open water, it doesn’t affect our training any more than 2014 and 2015.
Finally, I want to say that in these trying times, I am so encouraged and proud of the work the kids are doing. We have some online submission of training up and running (and are working to get more up and running) and the response has been amazing. We also have a live@5 workout on our Instagram account which has been very popular in its first few days. Visit the Virtual Training Center
I also want to thank Katherine for helping remind me that as bad as things are currently, we, in this case more than ever before, are in this as a planet and not against each other. It is planet earth vs. COVID-19. I hate that it has come to this but some little part of us all should be excited by that prospect…
