PARENTS: Things To Know

59EC3E56-2849-4643-A8A5-D371E269E4D2_edited

1/1

Practices

Water practices are at the Hingham Maritime Center (HMC). Please DO NOT drop off/pick up your athlete at the HMC parking lot. All parking, dropping off and picking up of athletes must use the Hingham Bathing Beach parking lot. Athletes should leave enough time to walk over to HMC and prepare with the appropriate gear before the practice start time. (At the beginning of the season and on bad weather days (see below), practices are held at the Light Plant.

Attendance & Missing Practice

Attendance to all practices is required. Rowing is the ultimate team sport; every athlete is needed to go out on the water. Should your athlete need to miss practice, it is the athlete's responsibility to let their coaches know. Unexcused absences are unacceptable. Known absences should be communicated by the athlete to the coach as soon as they know about them and documented on the Weekly Google Form.

A parent email to the coach is required for the athlete to return to practice. If sick or injured for more than three practices, a doctor's note is required as well.

Weekly Google Forms

In efforts to help coaches plan practices for the week, a Weekly Google Form will be sent out on Fridays to all athletes in the BAND app. Athletes should be talking to their parent or guardian about the upcoming week before completing the form; help communicate absences or reasons for potentially being late. Forms must only be submitted once and are due that Sunday at noon. If a form is not submitted, that athlete risks not being put in a lineup.

Inclement Weather

On the days we are unable to be on the water due to high winds, stormy weather or low tide, practices will be moved to the Light Plant. Coaches will provide as much time as possible when communicated changes in practice time and location. Announcements will go out to parents over the GroupMe app and to athletes via the BAND app. We will follow the back-to-back schedule: Boys 3:30-5:15 / Girls 5:00-6:45pm.

Communication

All parent / coach communications will be via the GroupMe app, or emailed newsletter. Please download it and watch for the newsletter at the top of the season with the invite link. Or, scan this QR code with your phone to join!

All athlete / coach communications will be via the BAND app. Athletes will receive the invite link at the beginning of the season.

Line of Communication with Coaches should go as follows:

1) Student-athlete speaks with their coach directly, either during "safe talk time" or a scheduled time with their coach.

2) If the athlete to coach conversation has not resolved their concerns, we encourage parents to then speak directly with the coach. Parents may email the coach to set up an appointment to talk about concerns.

3) If the parent to coach meeting does not resolve the issue, we encourage parents to then email the HHSRA Program Director to set up an appointment to discuss the situation.

*This policy is in accordance with the Hingham High School Handbook.

Regatta Day & Etiquette

Races, or regattas, are generally long days. The can be cold and rainy, or sunny and hot. Athletes are expected to travel with their team via bus to and from all regattas to maintain the team unity and mindset. Athletes are often also expected to return to HMC upon arrival back in Hingham to unload the trailer and rig their boats so they don't use up valuable practice time the following week.

The moment athletes step foot off the bus at the regatta location, they are in race mode. After putting their bags down, they must unload the trailer, rig their boats, carry oars to the waterfront, and meet with their coaches. Athletes are not permitted to head to the Hospitality Tent until released by their coach. Parents should avoid the athlete area until their athlete has finished racing. Parent conversations with coaches should also be saved until racing has finished. Lastly, professional presentation and good sportsmanship - always!

Food Asks for Hospitality

In an attempt to accommodate shopping schedules, we ask for food items for every regatta and simplify asks by team and boat. (For example, each girl in the novice boat is asked to bring a half dozen pre-sliced bagels.) Hospitality has no storage, so items are needed to be brought each week. Athletes simply bring their corresponding item to the Hospitality Car in front of the school before they got on the buses.

1/1

Parent Volunteering

Parent Volunteering is critical to the success and survival of our team. As a reminder, HHSRA operates as a 501(c)3 program receiving no financial support from Hingham Public Schools. Instead, our program relies entirely on parent volunteers and fundraising efforts. Your involvement is critical to keep the team afloat; without volunteers, we are not able to operate the program. Volunteering is also a great way to meet our wonderful community!

There are three areas where we need the most help:

Hospitality — Your help will ensure our rowers have food in the morning and a meal during the day at regattas. Our rowers' days are long, stretching 10-12 hours! Without hospitality, they are responsible for their own food, hydration, and shelter (it can rain or even be blistering hot, so we provide the tents). 100+ athletes x 2 meals = 200+ meals!

Every week prior to a regatta, a newsletter will be emailed out to parents requesting volunteers for the upcoming race. A link will connect you to a sign-up for three shifts: setting up our tents and food, serving our athletes and replenishing items, or packing it all up at the end of the day. We can always use an extra hand and the more volunteers we have, the lighter the work!

Fundraising / Sponsorship — As a volunteer, you would be helping organize and run events to help us secure funding. We do not receive funding from HHS, so need to raise around $100,000 each year to upgrade equipment, provide extra coaching staff as the team grows, etc. This volunteer opportunity involves helping with spring/summer fundraisers and adding sponsors.

Trailer Team / Maintenance Team — If you have a knack for tinkering and fixing things -or a trailer hitch!- we can use your help. Throughout the season, our 10 coaches launches (power boats) and other equipment need to be maintained or fixed. We also need help hauling launches to HMC and the Light Plant, as well as trailering our racing shells and hospitality trailer to and from regattas.