High School Rowing Programs
Athletes from Seacoast area high schools are welcome to join our High School programs – select a season from the Programs Menu to learn more about our current program offerings.
Our experienced and talented coaching staff will instruct novice (brand new) rowers on the fundamentals of rowing technique, equipment, proper conditioning and teamwork. Varsity level rowers will continue to develop both mentally and physically, improving on their technique and fitness level. Eighth graders are invited to train on the high school novice team if they are ready to commit to the practice schedule, especially if they have previously participated in our middle school programs. Fun events, both rowing and non-rowing related, have become traditional aspects of the Great Bay Rowing team experience.
The high school team is divided into four seasons – fall, winter, spring and summer. During the fall and spring seasons, new athletes are welcome to join our Novice teams. The novice team is designed for athletes who have no experience in the sport at all, or who have never raced before. Novice athletes will learn to row in boats and on rowing machines, and their seasons will culminate with racing other novice teams from throughout the region. Athletes move up to varsity one year from their first race, regardless of the season they join.
The winter season is devoted to indoor training, where athletes build fitness using a variety of methods. The summer season is a competitive racing season, similar to the spring, for athletes eager to continue developing their fitness and skill.
Summer Rowing Season
Welcome to the Fall 2023 Season! As many of your know, we are undergoing large scale construction at our boathouse location at 31 River Street in Dover. While this is exciting, as it means our dreams of a real boathouse on the Cocheco are getting closer, it does mean this fall season will look a little different than in the past. We will be rowing out of an alternative site in Dover this year – further details to come. We ask that everyone approaches this season with patience and a flexible mindset. Our goal is to continue rowing at the highest standard, no matter where we are launching from, and we are confident we will be able to make that happen.
We will have a Novice and Varsity squad this season. Athletes who are in 8th – 12th grade are welcome to join. No experience is necessary to join the Novice Team. Any athletes who started rowing in the Spring of 2023 are still Novices this fall. Anyone else moves up to Varsity.
These two teams will practice during the same time slot (5:00pm to 7:00pm), and will be boated within their respective squads. Athletes on both the Varsity and Novice teams will race on weekends throughout October. A tentative race schedule is at the bottom of this page.
Season tuition covers racing entry fees, coaching and equipment costs, club membership and facilities upkeep. Fees for uniforms, gear and race travel will be assessed separately throughout the season.
Youth Learn to Row Camp
Register Here (under Learn to Row)
Week Long Sessions – Practices Monday thru Friday
9:00am to 11:00am
2024 Camp Dates
Camp 1 – June 24 to June 28
Camp 2 – July 8 to July 12
Camp 3 – July 15 to July 19
Camp 4 – July 22 to July 26
Camp 5 – August 5 to August 9
Camp 6 – August 12 to August 16
Open to athletes entering 6th to 12th grade, and designed for the someone who has no prior experience with rowing, our Youth Learn to Row camps run for one week, with practices Monday thru Friday. This is a great way to try rowing, especially for anyone considering doing a longer season during the school year. Athletes will learn how to row on land using ergometers, and take those skills to the water in a variety of different boats. Athletes will train for technical skill, overall rowing knowledge, and fitness in a fun, supportive team environment.
Athletes are welcome to participate in more than one camp, keeping in mind that the curriculum will be similar for each session.
High School Recreational Team
Register Here (under Teams & Groups)
June 24th to July 26th
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
4:00pm to 5:30pm
Open to athletes 8th to 12th grade who have successfully completed a GBR High School novice or varsity season, or who have the equivalent of at least one competitive season at an outside program.
Recreational rowing is designed for the athlete who wants to stay in touch with their technical skills and base fitness over the summer, but who does not want to commit to a full competitive schedule. Athletes will train in a variety of different boats, in a fun, supportive team environment. Some comfort and experience with sculling is expected – if this causes hesitation, please get in touch with the Rowing Director and we can discuss options for getting athletes up to speed.
High School Competitive Team
Register Here (under Teams & Groups)
June 24th to August 9th
On the Water Practices Monday thru Saturday: 7:30am to 9:30am
Land Conditioning Practices Tuesday and Thursday: 4:00pm to 5:30pm
Open to athletes 8th to 12th grade (and those who have just graduated high school in 2024) who have successfully completed two GBR High School novice or varsity on the water seasons, or who have the equivalent of at least one year of competitive rowing at an outside program. The competitive team will train at a high standard, to develop athletes’ technical skills in a wide variety of boats, increase racing strategy execution both on the water and on the erg, build overall fitness, and compete against other teams from throughout the New England area, pending summer regatta availability. Athletes will have six on the water training sessions per week, in the mornings, and two land conditioning sessions per week, in the afternoons.
The summer competitive team places a primary focus on sculling, and athletes will spend the majority of their time on the water training in singles, doubles and quads – if you are hesitant about your sculling experience, contact the Rowing Director and we will work to get you up to speed.
There will still be time in fours and eights. Coxswains are welcome to join the summer competitive team, with the understanding that they likely will not be in a lineup every single day, and instead will have practices that are spent riding in the lauch with the coaches, observing the rowers and assisting with video recording, etc. The separate coxswain only registration tuition reflects this. Coxswains who are interested in racing, and available for regattas, will be given the opportunity to race. Any coxswains looking for additional water time should discuss opportunities to work with the masters competitive team and high school recreational team with the Rowing Director.
Racing fees and other associated costs (uniforms/trip fees) will be assessed separately from program tuition. Further information about regattas will be available as the summer gets closer. Athletes should have an up to date passport for Canadian Henley.
There will be a mandatory Athlete and Parent Meeting for the Summer Competitive Team on Saturday, June 22nd at 10am at Hilton Park in Dover.
Regatta Schedule:
Riverfest – July 20th
Lewiston, ME
Cromwell Cup – July 21st (tentatively attending)
Boston, MA
Royal Canadian Henley Regatta – July 30 to August 4
St. Catherine’s, ON
Fall Rowing Season
As many of your know, we are undergoing large scale construction at our boathouse location at 31 River Street in Dover. While this is exciting, as it means our dreams of a real boathouse on the Cocheco are getting closer, it does mean this fall season will look a little different than in the past. We will be rowing out of an alternative site in Dover this year – further details to come. We ask that everyone approaches this season with patience and a flexible mindset. Our goal is to continue rowing at the highest standard, no matter where we are launching from, and we are confident we will be able to make that happen.
We will have a Novice and Varsity squad this season. Athletes who are in 8th – 12th grade are welcome to join. No experience is necessary to join the Novice Team. Any athletes who started rowing in the Spring of 2023 are still Novices this fall. Anyone else moves up to Varsity.
These two teams will practice during the same time slot (5:00pm to 7:00pm), and will be boated within their respective squads. Athletes on both the Varsity and Novice teams will race on weekends throughout October. A tentative race schedule is at the bottom of this page.
Season tuition covers racing entry fees, coaching and equipment costs, club membership and facilities upkeep. Fees for uniforms, gear and race travel will be assessed separately throughout the season.
There will be a mandatory informational meeting for all Novice and Varsity parents and athletes on Thursday, August 31st at 6:00pm. This will be a ZOOM meeting. Participants will receive the meeting link in their welcome email no later than Tuesday evening. You must be registered for the team to receive the link.
High School Novice Team
September 5th to November 3rd
Monday thru Friday
5:00pm to 7:00pm
$745
A novice athlete is anyone in their first year of competition against other teams. If you have participated in the GBR Middle School programs and are moving up to High School, you will be joining the Novice team. If you participated in any Summer High School Learn to Row or High School Intermediate programs, you will be joining the novice team.
If you are not sure if you qualify for this team, please contact the Rowing Director prior to registering.
High School Varsity Team
(minimum one year of Novice Team required)
September 5th to November 3rd
Monday thru Saturday
5:00pm to 7:00pm Monday to Friday
8:00am to 10:00am Saturday
$945
You qualify as a varsity athlete if your first race against other teams occurred in Fall 2022 or earlier, even if you did not participate in the Spring 2023 season.
If you are not sure if you qualify for this team, please contact the Rowing Director prior to registering.
Fall Racing Schedule
Athletes are expected to compete at all regattas unless otherwise noted on the schedule. Conflicts should be communicated to the coaching staff as soon as possible.
September 23rd – Winni Chase – Wolfeboro, NH
October 1st – Textile River Regatta – Lowell, MA
October 8th – New England Jr. & HS Regional Championships – Worcester MA
October 15th – New Hampshire Championships – Pembroke NH
October 22nd – Head of the Charles (select crews only) – Boston MA
October 28th & 29th – Head of the Fish – Saratoga Springs NY
Other Important Dates
October 9th – Indigenous People’s Day, No Practice
Winter Rowing Season
Registration will open on November 6th for 2024 programming!
Winter Training is open to High School Varsity Athletes and High School Novice Athletes who were on the novice team in the Fall of 2023. We welcome athletes both from Great Bay Rowing and from other teams that may not run their own winter programs. If you are a brand new athlete who is interested in learning how to row this winter, please contact the Rowing Director.
Registration is divided into Members and Non-Members. Athletes qualify for Member pricing if they participated in a Fall 2023 program. Any athlete that DID NOT participate in a Fall 2023 program should register as a Non-Member. This is for registration purposes only – all athletes train together.
High School Winter Training
Winter Training Session – January 8th to February 23rd
This season, we will be offering two training level options for our High School Athletes – either five days a week or three days a week. Athletes should choose the option that best suits their schedules, training goals, and interest.
Five Day a Week Winter Training
Practices Monday thru Friday
5:00pm to 7:00pm
Three Day a Week Winter Training
Athletes will select their 3 training days for the season ahead of time and communicate this to the rowing director via email. Athletes may not exceed 3 training days each week.
5:00pm to 7:00pm
High School Spring Pre-season Training
High School Spring Pre-Season – March 4th to March 29th
Practices Monday thru Friday
5:00pm to 7:00pm
Do you play a different sport during the winter and aren’t able to join us for the full winter training season? Then check out our High School Spring Pre-Season option, which will run exclusively in March!
This program is open to high school athletes with prior experience on either the varsity or novice team. If you are a brand new athlete looking to learn how to row indoors before joining us on the novice team this spring, then please check out our Youth Intro to Indoor Rowing March session.
Spring Rowing Season
The Spring season will run from Monday, April 1st to Sunday, May 26th. Athletes who are in 8th – 12th grade are welcome to join either the High School Varsity Team or the High School Novice Team.
No experience with rowing is necessary to join the Novice Team.
Any athlete with prior experience at a different rowing program who is interested in joining GBR should contact the Rowing Director and provide a letter of reference from their previous coach, so we may best integrate you into the team.
The Varsity and Novice teams will practice during the same time slot (Monday – Friday, 5:00pm to 7:00pm), and will be boated within their respective squads. Practices are held in Dover. Athletes on both the Varsity and Novice teams will race on weekends throughout April and May. The race schedule is at the bottom of this page and will be updated as the start of the season gets closer.
Season tuition covers racing entry fees, coaching and equipment costs, club membership and facilities upkeep. Fees for uniforms, gear and race travel will be assessed separately throughout the season.
We will be seeking volunteers for various tasks throughout the spring season, including assisting with the food tent at regattas, organizing the end of season celebration, coordinating the team sponsor shirts, assisting with equipment maintenance and transport, and fulfilling our USRowing Volunteer Requirement at applicable events.
Good faith participation is required from all athletes in our seasonal fundraisers. For families who choose not to participate in seasonal fundraising, a buy out option will be provided instead. All fundraising information will be detailed at the start of season meeting. For the Spring of 2024, please save the date for our two community fundraisers on April 13th at Barnes & Noble, and May 7th at Chipotle!
High School Novice Team
(NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY)
April 1st to May 26th
Monday thru Friday
5:00pm to 7:00pm
A novice athlete is anyone in their first year of competition against other teams. If you joined the Novice team in the Fall of 2023, you are still a Novice in the Spring of 2023. This team is open to any athlete in grades 8-12, who had no prior competitive racing experience or prior rowing experience.
If you are not sure if you qualify for this team, please contact the Rowing Director prior to registering.
REGISTER HERE
High School Varsity Team
(minimum one year of Novice Team required)
April 1st to May 26th*
Monday thru Friday 5:00pm to 7:00pm
You qualify as a varsity athlete if your first race against other teams occurred in Spring 2023 or earlier.
*Athletes who qualify for the USRowing Youth National Championship Regatta and choose to race will extend their season through June 9th.
If you are not sure if you qualify for this team, please contact the Rowing Director prior to registering.
REGISTER HERE
Spring Racing Schedule
Athletes are expected to compete at all regattas unless otherwise noted on the schedule. Conflicts should be communicated to the coaching staff as soon as possible.
Saturday, April 20th – Regatta vs. Greater Lawrence, Concord Crew, Maine Coast (Lawrence, MA)
Sunday, April 28 – Regatta vs. Lake Quinsigamond (Hopkinton, MA)
Saturday, May 11th – Regatta vs. Upper Valley & Concord Crew (Hanover, NH)
Saturday, May 18th & Sunday, May 19th* – USRowing Northeast Youth Championships (Lowell, MA)
Saturday, May 25th – Granite State Sculling Championships (Hanover, NH)
Thursday, June 6th to Sunday, June 9th** – USRowing Youth National Championships (Sarasota, FL)
* Qualifyer for Youth Nationals
**Qualifying Crews Only
