Small Club Saturday: Seize The Oar

General Club Information:

When was your club founded? 2013

What is the general background of the club? In 2013, STOF Founder Tara Morgan was working as a Learn To Row coach in Seattle and was approached by an adaptive athlete to learn to row. She accepted the challenge and so it began! STOF started with one athlete, one coach and many amazing mentors from Rowing Canada and USRowing, receiving its first adaptive equipment in 2014. Since then we have solidified our vision into a global initiative to champion inclusion in our sport.

What is your club's mission/goals? Seize The Oar Foundation champions inclusion in rowing through team training, outreach and thought leadership.

Any motto or quotes your boathouse lives by? "Sure, let's try it!" See our Anniversary video: https://youtu.be/0X0lfeqInYM

Program Structure:

What initiatives has your club implemented to bring in athletes and participants?

Seize The Oar Foundation provides team training to all athletes needing adaptation to participate, including those born with disabilities, those with acquired disabilities and those with progressive disabilities. Our team training program includes performance training and learn to row for juniors and masters.

Seize The Oar Foundation offers outreach events called "Rowing Adventure Days" for teams and groups and their families in the Puget Sound area. We hold these events at various boathouses in the region, serving two main purposes: community outreach and relationship building by inviting athlete groups based in the local area and coaching mentorship opportunities for staff at the host boat house.

Seize The Oar Foundation has a global vision for its thought leadership initiatives including: the monthly Para Rowing Global Meetup Series and the upcoming Adaptive Rowing Coach Certification, premiering Fall 2021. We see these initiatives as critical for developing a global para rowing/adaptive rowing community to grow our sport.

What programs do you offer and how is the training structured?

Seize The Oar offers weekly team training, with 90 minute water and land sessions for athletes entering at all levels of expertise. We staff the experience with top coaches, specializing in both rowing and adaptive athlete conditioning, along with volunteer coaches and helpers. Athletes go out in 2x boats outfitted with adaptive equipment and follow 6-week training cycles, training for racing opportunities from May to October. In the winter months, we host weekly high intensity interval training (in-person pre-COVID and on Zoom during COVID).

Small Club Tips:

Seize The Oar is the proud creator and host of "National Inclusive Learn To Row Day", held first in 2019 at the Green Lake Rowing Center in Seattle. At this event, we offered (with Green Lake Crew) rowing and adaptive rowing opportunities to athletes 13 and up. We also partnered with Seattle School District's Adaptive PE leadership, local Special Olympics teams, and fellow adaptive sport organizations, including Outdoors For All, Seattle Children's Hospital, and Seattle Adaptive Sports. We will be doing it again in 2022 and we would love to help you host one at your boathouse!

Seize The Oar has a great social media following! Any tips for other small clubs to grow their followings and use this to share the latest news/updates about their club?

We love our followers! And we love communicating with them, showing them our work, but most importantly inviting them to join our community.

Social media needs to be about a "Pull" strategy, not a "Push" strategy. Pull in your stakeholders, your potential participants, and say Thank You - a lot!

Get quality content and have fun!

Inclusivity is a prominent theme/value throughout your website with the programs and resources you provide – can you share what this means to your club and provide any advice for other small clubs looking to become more inclusive and expansive in their offerings and resources?

We are proud of our commitment to training that is great for everyone interested, and we have found that rowing, unlike some other adaptive sports, works really well to include family and friends. For example, our indoor winter land training is open to the public, which not only builds a great team spirit, but also increases our volunteer base, gets our name further into the community and increases our support.

Inclusion is not a one-way street - it's an intersection of ideas that come from all directions. Creating inclusive programming is something that is not "top-down", but an organic process that takes everyone's skills into account, seeks out who is missing at the table - not just the existing staff and leadership.

Establishing a program takes time and should be approached with curiosity and innovation. Seize The Oar wants to help your club create an inclusive culture/menu of offerings and make it sustainable for the athletes and coaches to come.

Any general tips to share that might help other small clubs in their communities?

Have a good look around your boathouse at its design, its messaging and literally walls and stairs. Get to know your community and partner, partner, partner. STOF can help!

Invest in education for your coaches and your volunteers on how to run a great training program that is fully-integrated into your boathouse culture, programming and long-term strategy.

For more on Seize The Oar Foundation, click here.