Formation of new coaches' association seen to benefit Men's Crew

US Rowing will hold its annual convention in Palm Springs, CA in December and of significance to the Trojan Navy is a proposal to organize a national rowing coaches association for men’s collegiate programs.

Formation of the association is long overdue according to Trojan Navy Head Coach Gene Kininmonth, who says it will provide a forum for the needs of various interests in the sport to be voiced.
Coach Kininmonth says there are a number of possible directions that collegiate men’s rowing can take in the future and it is imperative that the repercussions of all possible changes in the sport be considered fully.

“There was some talk in the spring that Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) officials had approached the NCAA about having an NCAA Men’s Rowing championship,” said Coach Kininmonth. “This sounds nice in theory but has anyone considered that this would probably be a championship for just a half dozen universities and would automatically exclude all club teams?”

Kininmonth also takes issue with ECAC rules governing the IRA National Championships. “If we are going to call it a national championship shouldn’t conferences on the West Coast be involved in establishing rules as well?” he asks.

Of significance to Coach Kininmonth are ECAC rules requiring that only freshmen row in novice crews and these same oarsmen be barred from rowing in varsity events. “These rules lead to the need for bigger squads,” said Coach Kininmonth. “Given the ramifications of Title IX, men’s rowing coaches across the country are being given quotas by their athletic directors limiting the number of oarsmen permitted on their rosters. These antiquated ECAC rules concerning freshmen make it more difficult for coaches to maintain smaller competitive programs.”

In 1994, USC Men’s Crew was cut because of the gender equity ramifications of Title IX. Kininmonth said ECAC freshman eligibility rules especially hurt any program trying to gain or regain varsity status because the rules lead to larger rosters of male athletes, which must be balanced by athletic directors with female athletes in another sport.

“Added to this, who is compensating the West Coast programs for the extra cost of having to send larger teams back east for IRAs? Certainly not the ECAC” said Kininmonth. “That’s part of the reason why other sports got rid of the idea of freshman teams years ago. On the West Coast, oarsmen are classified as novice or varsity. A student’s class year is irrelevant.”

ECAC officials and IRA stewards first floated the idea of the coaches association at a meeting of head coaches at the IRA National Championships in June in Cherry Hill, NJ.