Men's crew team receives a boost for the spring season

2/5/10 - In the midst of their vigorous off-season training, the University of Rhode Island men's crew team received a very generous gift to help jumpstart their spring racing season. The club team was given the money to fund the purchase of a brand new boat. Club sports are not like varsity sports because they are not given full institutional funding.

As the technology is increasing every year, so does the demand for newer and better equipment. However, as a club team they do not have the luxury to go out and purchase the newest equipment every year.

The funding for the crew team comes from the Student Senate, alumni, parents, friends and fundraising.

This year a generous donor gave $10,000 to the team.

This contribution along with the help of the Student Senate, made the dream of purchasing a new boat a reality. The boat cost around $37,000 and the Student Senate allotted $27,000 to the team.

"It is excellent to have the school back you up, especially being a club sport," senior captain Ryan Mouradian said

The boat seats eight members and a coxswain. The coxswain is in charge of the boat for the purpose of navigation and steering. Mouradian describes crew as a "feel sport" and the feeling of a new boat underneath them will greatly impact the upcoming season.

Senior crewmember Zach Eberson said that crew is a "highly, highly competitive sport" and when teams have the best equipment available it gives them a better chance to win. The design of the new boat is different than their previous one, it is sleeker, lighter and will help them increase speed when racing.

The whole team is very grateful and excited. Eberson said that the sport of crew requires "100 percent commitment." There is no off-season for the team who works all year round, six days a week for around two to four hours a day. Mouradian described the boat as a huge motivational tool for the team, since the boat they were using was 6 years old.

The team is hopeful to get the boat in the water when they travel down to Clemson, S.C. for spring training in March. The team's first race is April 3 against the University of New Hampshire and Boston College. This race was originally scheduled to be in Durham, N.H., but URI crew members made a few calls and requested that the location be changed to Rhode Island so they can dedicate their first race to those that provided their new piece of equipment.

The crew will hold a ceremony before the race where they will honor the Student Senate for its generosity. The team plans to name the boat after the Student Senate as a token of their appreciation. Mouradian said the team is currently in the process of naming the boat. They are going to stray away from naming the boat after a particular person, like all of their other boats, and instead lean towards a more URI-based name.

The team expects to receive the boat in around two to three months and will get it right into the water.

"[The crew team] is going to treat it like a high performance car, like a Lamborghini," Eberson said.

Last year the team received a new four-person racing boat and that team won the bronze medal at the ACRA National Championships, and this years' eight person racing team is looking for a similar outcome.