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Nontraditional opportunity - Rowing club offers teens a team sport
12/30/2008
Article printed in the Tulsa World 12/14/08
To read the article on the Tulsa World website click below.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20081214_29_A2_TlaJno814225&archive=yes
Neil Bergenroth is offering a niche to teens 13 to 18 years old looking for something other than traditional team sports.
The Holland Hall chemistry teacher joined the Tulsa Rowing Club when he and wife, Cathy, moved to Tulsa in 2002 to be closer to her family.
Within six months, he was teaching his passion to a new generation of youngsters.
Under the umbrella of the TRC, the Tulsa Junior Rowing Club was formed. Now, 43 members strong, the organization competes in events nationally.
For Union senior Stephanie Ames, rowing was an alternative to other team sports.
"My dad heard a commercial on National Public Radio and I needed a sport, so I joined," she said. "Swimming focused more on the individual aspect than team. I played soccer in the fifth grade but spent most of my time picking daisies."
What Ames enjoys most is the team concept of the sport.
"Every individual movement that you make reflects on the team," she said. "You are either in sync or you aren't. What I like best about rowing is the team aspect. It took me about six months for my muscles to get in shape. I love it."
Mitchell Graham learned of the club through its Web site: www.tulsajuniorsrowing.org.
"It looked like it was fun," said Graham, a freshman at Broken Arrow South Intermediate High School.
Holland Hall junior John Carmichael, 17, was recruited by Bergenroth.
"He was my eighth grade science teacher," Carmichael said. "I wasn't really into sports. Even if you aren't extremely athletic coming into the program, you can do this. It might be a little bit tough in the beginning. But I love it."
Bergenroth discovered rowing as a teen growing up in London.
"I started rowing when I was 13 years old," Bergenroth said. "I was one of the few kids to go abroad. I went to college in Boston. I got a teaching job at a New England boarding school. Everything I have done has been connected with rowing.
"When we started the club, we had 10 kids and met three times a week. Now, we have five coaches, meet six times a week during racing season and five times during the nonracing season (winter). We have a full fleet of boats with enough seats to have 60-70 kids on the river at one time."
The highlight of the team so far was competing in the Head of the Charles event in Boston.
"That's about 1,200 crews competing over two days," Bergenroth said. "It's a great trip. In the spring, we competed at the regional championships that is made of teams from the surrounding states. We finished in the Top 20 a couple of times in the eights (eight rowers, one coxswain)."
Bergenroth cautions teens who may be light in stature not to dismiss the sport too quickly. "They might think because they are just 120 pounds that they can't do well in the sport, but there is a role for those kids. It's called the coxswain," he said.
Through the club, team members have earned scholarships at OU, Yale and other schools.
To learn more about the club, go to the Web site or call Bergenroth at 906-5233.
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Tulsa Junior Rowing Club members (from front) Eric Klammer, 17; Sam Berntson, 18; John Carmichael, 16; Brock Turner, 16; and coxswain Andrew Smith practice rowing on the Arkansas River. TOM GILBERT/Tulsa World
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