Greg LevinskyOn most winter evenings, a group of rowers from Belmont and Arlington High Schools work out on ergometers at a facility on Pleasant Street in Belmont.
The Arlington-Belmont Crew Club members are preparing for what they hope is a successful spring season ahead. A-B Crew, as it’s known, is a nonprofit organization open to students from Arlington and Belmont high schools, including those who attend Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School. The club is trying to add to its membership base of approximately 100 athletes. Eighth-graders may join as coxswains. No experience is necessary.
“There is a big mix of people, and in that, I think we’re able to be a very welcoming community,” said A-B Crew captain Sophia Jensen, a Belmont High School senior and four-year member of the program. “I think one major advantage for a sport like crew is that it’s typically started in high school, or even college, so it’s something where it doesn’t have to be so ingrained into their lives already. It allows for people from a lot of different backgrounds.”
The club is governed by a volunteer board of directors and supported by volunteer parents, coaches, and community members. Signups for the spring began March 1. Practice starts March 25, and the racing season kicks off in mid-April.
Wildly different
A-B Crew fields novice and varsity boys and girls teams. During the fall and spring seasons, A-B Crew teams practice five days a week on Spy Pond in Arlington and one day a week at an indoor facility in Belmont using ergometers. (rowing machines that measure the work done by rowers). Club members compete in regional regattas, about a half-dozen per season.
“The sport is wildly different from any others out there. There’s no other synchronized sport like this or one where you can feel your teammate giving up behind you,” said second-year head coach Ellis Evans-Brown, who has coached rowing for more than 20 years and heads a five-member staff of paid part-time coaches. “It’s really character building and trust building, being there for your teammates.”
Jensen hopes to continue rowing competitively in college, potentially at the Division I level. She rows every fall and spring and completes the winter indoor training. In fact, she wrote in her college essays about winter training, calling it a “game-changer” that pushed her physical and mental capabilities.
“The goal is to grow, and in doing that you have to push yourself,” Jensen said. “It teaches you mental strength. I don’t think anything else could’ve taught me that like winter training does.”
Though the operating budget to pay for coaches, team travel, training, race fees, scholarships and equipment repair exceeds $100,000 per season, the club receives zero financial support from either school district because it is not officially affiliated with the schools. A-B Crew covers all expenses through fees and donations and offers financial aid for student-athletes on a case-by-case basis to help cover the $1,250 cost for the spring and fall seasons.
The Origin Story
Two BHS students started the original school crew team in 2005. They combined with Arlington in 2009 to form A-B Crew.
The program peaked at about 130 kids a few years ago with close to an even number of Belmont and Arlington students. Today, the program consists of about two-thirds Arlington students because the organization’s “summer learn to row” program funnels through Arlington’s parks and recreation department. As of now, Belmont’s recreation department is not involved.
“We’re trying to change that this year,” Evans-Brown said. “It would be great if the two towns talked about the crew team in a positive way.”
A-B Crew wants to grow, with eyes on consistent access to a boathouse and dock down the line.
“The main thing that we’re trying to do is make sure a kid’s crew experience is really positive,” Evans-Brown said. “Bottom line is we want to get more kids in the door and show them how fun it can be. Despite how hard of a sport it is, it’s really fun.”
And it is. Jensen built strong friendships with a handful of Arlington students. The opportunity to row with students from another school gives her “complementary identities.” What happens at school doesn’t necessarily translate to crew.
“In school, I don’t necessarily always have the same confidence and trust in myself that I can absolutely do this like I do in crew,” Jensen said. “I don’t know that people at school necessarily see me the way people see me at crew. I’m not mad about it. It’s just funny.”
