Bump up your boat club
2019 marks the golden anniversary of the St Edmund's College Boat Club and in this fiftieth year we are looking for help to take the College's rowing to the next level.
With the growth of the College, so too has grown the boat club - to over 50 active members, many of whom had never rowed before coming to St Edmund's. In 2018, 75 people signed up during Freshers' week, including returning seniors, compared to 53 the previous year - so almost a 50% increase in one year.
The humble days of patching up 'El Vita' with G-clamps and glue seem far away with a boat club dispatching multiple teams of men and women onto the river each year - though repairs are still very much a feature!
In order to support this rapid growth and leverage it in to climbing further up the Bumps tables, the club needs additional resource and support to enable its members to train and row to the best of their ability. At present there are sufficient numbers to consistently field four crews: M1, M2, W1 and W2, with an appetite and enthusiasm for an M3 crew too!
Bearing this in mind, the Boat Club is appealing to you to support its campaign to fundraise in order to have sufficient funds to put towards a new boat and all that that entails (oars, cox-box, fins, storage space), and for a dedicated space in College for erg practice, with four new ergs to go in it.
These two initiatives taken together constitute an ambitious but meaningful step towards bridging the shortfall between St Edmund's and other Colleges. We have always punched above our weight, especially when it comes to rowing. A better resourced boat club at St Edmund's could be a real game changer.
A dedicated space for erg practice will not only benefit all our rowers, regardless of gender or level, but the wider College as pressure is relieved on our currently over-stretched gym facilities. And an additional boat, at present there are two shared between the 4/5 crews, would enable more members to get out on the river and competing.
As Paul Luzio says: "though we may not achieve it by 2020, one day we shall indeed be Head of the River". Your help in equipping our rowers of today, may help our rowers of tomorrow to finally get there.
A note on naming opportunities:
Funds raised from this appeal go directly into supporting the Boat Club and will be put towards the objectives outlined above. Any funds raised surplus to this appeal will remain for the Boat Club to use in pursuit of its quest to dominate the river.
There are a number of naming opportunities associated with a new boat for donations which make significant progress towards the overall target. These include the naming of the boat, as well as each of the oars and the cox-box.
Please do not hesitate to approach the Development Office if you would like to discuss this further (development@st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk).
