Attendance and participation in land and water days are vital to the success of your team. Your attendance is the first step to becoming a better rower and better teammate. Team practices provide a solid foundation for success in any sport. However, rowing practices are uniquely tied to attendance of your full team. If just one member of a boat does not attend practice, the other athletes in that boat are unable to practice. Therefore, all athletes are expected to attend all scheduled practices (land and water days) and come dressed prepared for fluctuations in planned training provided based on the coach’s determination to allow for weather changes and staffing. 

Not attending practice has the following effects: 1. The absent athlete does not gain skills and experience. 2. Other athletes are unable to practice.

Not attending practice may or may not have the following effects: 1. The absent athlete is removed from a boat and replaced by another athlete for practice. 2. The absent athlete is removed from a boat and replaced by another athlete for a race.

Absences (defined as non-emergency and no prior coach notification) are never acceptable at the Novice and Varsity levels. Absences are, however, inevitable and sometimes necessary. Click here to complete the attendance form to report an absence, late arrival, or the need to leave practice early 24 hours in advance. In case of a last-minute emergency, contact the club by email hhsrowingclub@gmail.com.

This attendance and participation policy agreement applies to all rowers on the team, including scholarship recipients.

Excerpt regarding attendance from the Participation Policy:

Rowing is a sport that strictly adheres to the 10,000 hour rule - the theory that 10,000 hours of deliberate practice can lead to expertise in a given domain. It takes hundreds of hours, both on the water and on land, to become proficient enough to safely and effectively succeed in rowing. Through continuous and repetitive training, HHSRC’s student-athletes develop precision and strength required to excel on the water. However, rowing is a team sport where student-athletes must work together to safely perform required techniques which are necessary to win. If an student-athlete cannot attend practice, he or she cannot practice and safety perform rowing techniques and are likely to either (a) injure themselves or others, (b) have their performance negatively impact themselves and others in their boat, (c) cause unnecessary stress for themself, others in their boat and their team, or, (d) result in a negative outcome for the boat. To ensure the success of the team and fairness toward others, student-athletes must comply with the following attendance policy. 

• All student-athletes must arrive at assigned practices on time.
• All student-athletes must attend a minimum of 75% of all practices prior to the next race for which he or she is eligible to attend unless such absences are approved by the coaching staff. If the student-athlete fails to meet the minimum attendance requirement, the student-athlete may lose racing privileges for that race and all later races for which he or she is eligible until a student-athlete’s attendance is above the minimum 75% attendance requirement.
• Student-athletes must notify the coaching staff if they will be absent from practice. Unexcused absences may affect a student-athlete's seat or boat assignment.
• HHSRC is not responsible for transporting student-athletes to practice. It is the student-athlete’s and his or her parents’ responsibility to ensure that he or she has reliable and timely transportation to practices. Student-athletes must be proactive in obtaining a ride if needed.
• All student-athletes must attend a minimum of 90% of regattas which he or she is eligible to attend. The coach must be notified ahead of time if an absence is necessary. Unexcused absences may affect a student-athlete's seat or boat assignment. Failure to attend the minimum number of regattas may result in the student-athlete losing racing privileges for the next season.
• The student-athlete may not leave a practice or a regatta site for any reason unless specifically approved by the coaching staff.