2017 Spring Appeal - Upwards and Onwards
Dear BLS Crew Families, Alumni, Friends and Supporters,
Boston Latin Crew just wrapped up its most successful spring season to date. The hundred strong team posted an overall 4th place finish at the Massachusetts Public School Rowing Association Spring Championship, its highest finish in the history of the program. While the girls moved from strength to strength, the emergence of the four-year-old boys program and a fast showing by the Novice Squads clinched the performance.
More importantly than this regatta success, BLS Crew continues to shape teenage lives with its focus on teamwork, personal integrity and diversity. At the June 4 “Battle of the Latins,” Friends of BLS Crew cemented its commitment to accessibility with the launch of the “Terence G. Dougherty Power 10 Fund,” a fund solely committed to providing financial aid to BLS students seeking to participate in the program. (While I am 100% committed to the spirit of this fund, the name was not my idea!)
As the BLS Crew program grows, so do its needs. For the spring season, the coaching staff reached a high watermark of nine experienced coaches, the team launched over seventeen shells, including the newly christened “Bastile”, and, thanks to the immense generosity of anonymous donor, the team replaced its aging trailer. That said, Terry’s inbox continues to bulge with new requests for oars, cox-boxes, and other surprisingly expensive gear.
Which all brings us the revived spring (summer in this case) alumni appeal. With the spring season only a few weeks behind us, coaches have already set their sights on Fall 2017 and, in particular, Winter 2018. This past winter, our 100+ athletes struggled to prepare for their April debut on the Charles astride twenty aging ergs. With 40+ Varsity Girls (over 60 next year,) 35 Varsity Boys and 30+ Novices, this meant a lot of split practices and a lot of jogging around the corridors of the Boston Latin School.
With this Achilles Heel clearly in mind, we are hoping to acquire ten new ergs, NOT affordable in the existing budget, at a cost of $900/ erg or $9000 in total. Increasing our dry-land training capacity would make an enormous difference to the team’s performance as our athletes hit the water in 2018.
If you would be willing to contribute an erg, a half of an erg, $50, or, of course, ten ergs, the athletes and broader FoBLS crew community would greatly appreciate your generosity. We can guarantee both that Terry will find a clever way of getting a great price on the equipment and that the machines will be much loved and much used.
If you are able to contribute to the 2017 Appeal for Ergs, please donate here:
Thanks in advance for your consideration,
Terry Dougherty
President
Friends of BLS Crew
P.S. For additional erg inspiration, check out this video of the 2017 Ergathon in Copley Square. Next year, your erg could be part of this historic tradition.