Everett, Wash.
Published: Tuesday, September 9, 2008

An enthusiasm for rowing

The Everett Rowing Association kicks off its 2008-09 season with a new director Pasha Spencer, who ERA board president Bob Knox believes will be a great ambassador for the club.

By Rich Myhre
Herald Writer

 EVERETT -- With summer in its waning days, youth sports are back in full swing. And for many kids, that means tossing footballs and booting soccer balls.

But for others it means pulling a long oar in a sleek boat along a quiet stretch of river.

The Everett Rowing Association has launched its 2008-09 season, which begins with an 11-week fall schedule. The club then moves indoors for several weeks of winter training before returning to the water for a five-month spring schedule.

Along with a new season, the association is also introducing a new director, former University of Washington rower Pasha Spencer, who replaces previous director Matt Lacey.

The association already has about 75 junior athletes, ages 13-18, on its roster, Spencer said, and is looking for more.

"All kinds of kids find their niche in rowing," she said. Though it is sometimes "the athlete from high school that's looking for another sport," it can also be "kids who've never done a sport before, never trained before, and then they come out to the water and they find something.

"It's hard to typecast a certain personality (among successful rowers)," she added. "But the majority of the personalities on the varsity team that I've seen, the boys and the girls, they're real good, hard-working people, and they're enthusiastic about what they do."

They also share a willingness to embrace the physical demands of rowing. Because, Spencer said, "if you're always doing your best, if you're always pushing yourself, it's always going to hurt."

In recent years, the ERA has produced dozens of outstanding rowers, including several who have competed internationally. The association has sent at least one athlete to the Junior World Championships in each of the past six years, including Mukilteo's Shannon Stief, who raced in Ottensheim, Austria, in July.

Also, dozens of others have gone on to row collegiately, including many with scholarships. According to Spencer, 25 ERA alums are currently rowing in college with scholarships totaling around $250,000 for the coming school year.

At last spring's collegiate women's championships, where 16 teams competed, there were 12 former ERA rowers, she said. Five ex-Everett rowers competed at this year's men's national championships.

The ERA is continuing to grow, Spencer said, and there is room for expansion in both the juniors program and in the adult masters program. For all ages, the club wants to reach out to both competitive and recreational rowers, including those with disabilities.

The ERA's boathouse is at Langus Riverfront Park near the I-5 overpass over the Snohomish River. According to ERA board president Bob Knox, there have also been talks about adding a second facility closer to the Highway 2 bridge over the river.

Spencer, who grew up in the Columbia River town of Stevenson, was a rowing walk-on at the University of Washington and ended up winning two varsity letters before starting her career in coaching. She spent one year as an intern at Washington and then went on to jobs at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., the Saugatuck Rowing Club in Westport, Conn., Yale University in New Haven, Conn., and latly at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, Calif., where she was the head coach.

When her husband took a job in north Seattle this spring, Spencer applied for the ERA's director vacancy. That position came open when Lacey took a similar job with Seattle's Pocock Rowing Center.

The ERA's board was impressed by Spencer's coaching experience, "but more so by her enthusiasm," Knox said. "She just oozes enthusiasm for rowing.

"We were looking for a person to really be an ambassador out there," he went on. "Getting into schools, meeting with Rotaries, meeting with chambers of commerce, and really spreading the word."

The association's goal, Knox said, is to be "the top rowing experience in the Northwest, and we felt like she could really help us get to that next level."
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA