Noozhawk’s ParentNooz Camp Guide is officially here and we made sure to make things easy when planning your child’s summer!
To give parents the tools to help make informed decisions about Summer Camps for their kids in Santa Barbara, Noozhawk has conducted a series of interviews with representatives of local programs for this year’s Summer Camp Guide.
In this interview, Noozhawk spoke with Grace Barbara, Head Coach at Mission Rowing, to learn more about the summer programs they are offering this year.
Mission Rowing
Question: What is the name and focus of your camp or program?
Answer: Mission Rowing is a community rowing club serving Santa Barbara County. We offer a weekly Learn-to-Row summer camp to youth ages 11+!
For those with little to no rowing experience, we will teach the basics of rowing in a one, two, or four person boat. From 9-12 Monday-Friday you will gain the knowledge to row in a boat comfortably and confidently with your peers.
Once you learn the basics, its just like riding a bike, you never forget! We encourage our campers to continue rowing with our competitive junior program in the fall.
Q: How long have you been running the program? Do you have any professional accreditations or certifications?
A: Our head coach was a DI rower and has coached at the DI level for 7 years. She is a USRowing Level 2 coach.
Q: What goals will the participants be working on to achieve?
A: The goal of each participant is to learn the basic rowing stroke and gain comfort and confidence rowing in a one, two, or four person boat.
At the end of the week we will has a mini competition between the campers, putting all of the knowledge and skills together to race!
Q: How would you best describe the educational aspects of your program?
A: Rowing has long been known as an ultimate team sport. Learning to row, communicate, and be competitive with your teammates is essential to be successful in the sport. Campers will meet new people, challenge themselves physically and mentally, and try a new sport that is very rewarding. Those skills are important for every day life as they get older.
Q: Describe the types of activities a child would participate in on a typical day.
A: Each day will begin with a land session focusing on the technique of the stroke. We will then spend 1.5-2 hours on the water working on technique and fitness. Each day ends with time off the water doing a fun activity such a frisbee golf, volleyball, or other sporting activities.
Q: What is the typical age range for your camps?
A: We will take youth starting at 11 years old up to seniors in high school. We have a separate Learn-to-Row program for adults.
Q: Do you offer full day and 1/2 day options?
A: Our camp is 9am-12pm only.
Q: What is your policy regarding background checks and training for staff? What is the child to staff ratio?
A: All staff has had a background check and has rowing experience with some coaching experienced in rowing or other sports. Our targeted coach to athlete ratio is 1:6.
Q: What is the cost of your camp? Do you offer any scholarships?
A: $125 per week with the option to sign up for multiple weeks.
Q: Is there anything you would like to share about your program that was not already mentioned above?
A: We are the only Community Rowing program in Santa Barbara County. Rowing is an amazing sport for all ages and it can be competitive or recreational. We are lucky to row on Lake Cachuma which is at it’s highest level in years!
We want to share what Lake Cachuma has to offer by exploring the park each day. We want to spread the awareness of rowing, showing that anyone can learn, and use it to teach independence, critical thinking, body awareness, and overall strength and fitness.
Click here to learn more about Mission Rowing’s Camps and Programs!