The schedule is subject to change. Not all rowers will compete in all regattas, although we work to include all who are willing and qualified to participate. The youth parents are encouraged to coordinate travel and lodging.

TRAINING SCHEDULE: Practice times will be Monday through Thursday, 5:30 p.m. through approximately 7:00-7:30 p.m., and Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. through approximately 11:00 a.m. Second session will follow breakfast and end approximately 1:30-2 P.M. The athletes will start off slow with shorter workouts to get them acclimated to the physical demands of the DRC Juniors training program.

WAIVERS (PLEASE DO FIRST): You will be asked to fill out a small collection of forms, which we will hopefully have completed by the time of the parents meeting (see below). One of the documents will be the DRC waiver. Because practice begins prior to the parent's meeting, please read, fully understand, fill out, and sign the waiver IN ADVANCE OF THE FIRST PRACTICE. IF ONE HAS NOT ALREADY BEEN DELIVERED, NO CHILD WILL BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE WITHOUT A SIGNED WAIVER ON FILE. Returning athletes with a waiver on file may go ahead and participate. However, you may be asked to fill out another waiver even if you have done one before. We apologize in advance for the redundancy or inconvenience, but please comply if asked. Please click on the link for the waiver DRC waiver.

SATURDAY BREAKFASTS AND CARPOOLING: Breakfast will be available for the athletes to bond before we start our second Saturday sessions. Athletes who participate in the team breakfast may be asked to carpool a short distance with their teammates. Mecca, our years-long tradition, is moving prohibitively far away from the boathouse; therefore, we are meeting at Cafe Express on Lovers Lane (between the Tollway and Inwood Road and only a few short miles from the boathouse). If you are reluctant to allow your child to carpool with other young people, please arrange transportation to and from our team breakfasts. If you do not want your child driving other children, please make sure your child knows and enforces their own driving restrictions. Neither the DRC nor its staff will accept responsibility for enforcement of parent-imposed or legal transportation restrictions. For all breakfasts, please have your child bring $5 in cash. Regardless of money, all children are invited and may eat a healthy pre-arranged and pre-ordered breakfast. Individual orders are allowed but discouraged because of inefficiency and time restrictions, cultural or health-related dietary limitations obviously excepted. Payment is strictly on the honor system, so please do your part to keep up with whatever your child owes if they accidentally miss one or two times.

SAFETY IN THE HEAT: Heat will be safety factor starting in April. Therefore, please make sure your athletes stay abundantly hydrated during the day so that they are prepared to endure exertion in our non-climate-controlled facility.

CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT: When on land, please make sure your athlete brings the following: 1) a medium size towel, 2) running shoes, 3) non-greasy sweat-proof sunscreen (for the up-to 2-mile warm-up run); 4) light breathable clothing; 5) a reusable water bottle with their name written on it (please do not bring disposable water bottles to the facility). Clothes and water bottles left on the premises will be dropped in our lost-and-found box under the metal desk at the back of the boathouse, and donated to charity if unclaimed after a few days.

When on water, please add to your child's kit a change of clothes in the event of a flip unless you are okay loading a soaking wet child into your car for the ride home.

Experience teaches that cotton clothing, although comfortable, retains substantial heat and moisture. Failure to evaporate moisture does not allow the cooling effect for which wicking breathable modern athletic clothing is designed. Also, in the event of a flip, cotton is heavier when wet and will take substantially longer to dry.

BEGINNER RESTRICTIONS: Our beginner-intermediate free rowing clinic in July was a great success drawing approximately 13 ambitious young athletes ages 10-15. Moving forward into the season for those who wish to continue, because of the unique rigors of the DRC program, we restrict the young (ages 10-13) to limited participation, progressing until the age of 15 when they are generally unrestricted and may participate fully. The coaches will do their best to monitor compliance with the limited work schedule for the younger participants; however, please assure the younger children that they can limit themselves further if they are not comfortable doing the work. Communicate directly with Coach Slim at jules3123@yahoo.com or by texting him at 214-682-2495 to discuss what each athlete in that age group may safely do. Please also monitor your athlete's physical limitations, and make sure that they are not pushing themselves beyond their abilities or physician-prescribed limitations in the event of a medical condition. (Run-on sentence alert!!!) Although the DRC goes to great lengths to make the sport safe and enjoyable for all athletic levels, understand that you are allowing your child to participate in an unusually strenuous program both on land and in open water, with inherent dangers associated with open water sports without the benefit of personal floatation devices (life jackets). Also, because a coach may not be near in the event of an emergency, or the child may be far from shore, assistance may not be immediately available such as may be expected in a field sport.

Thank you all for your attention to these details.

Jules Slim, Coach
Dallas Rowing Club Juniors
214-682-2495 cell (texting preferred)

Please contact Coach Slim to coordinate with the designated Crew Parent for the Spring 2013 events.