Avery Boulware, Campus Carrier Sports Editor
Berry’s rowing team, Viking Crew, has been functioning without a coach for the past semester. Their coach, Berry alumnus Andrew Williams, quit unexpectedly during winter break.
“He was only a few years older than us,” senior Emily Melchior, co-president of Viking Crew, said. “He was 22 when he started when I was a freshman. He really helped the team grow and become what it is today.”
For the past semester, the Viking Crew student officers have had to step in as honorary coaches.
“It was a weird transition,” Jarvis said. “Luckily the officers did so much already, they made it a really smooth transition.”
Melchior and her co-president, senior Elizabeth Blakely, organize team workouts and practice times.
“The seniors have been really great leaders this season,” freshman Kate Allen said. “They have given up a lot of their free time to be at the boathouse and to cox our boats during water practice.”
Viking Crew has continued to function, but the team ran into an obstacle last weekend and, because of an SGA rule, were not allowed to attend a regatta. Club teams are required to have a Berry faculty or staff member accompany them on any overnight trips. Crew had a regatta scheduled at Clemson this past weekend, which required an overnight stay, but were unable to attend.
“We contacted probably every department at Berry,” Jarvis said. “No one was able to come, so we had to cancel. Everyone was pretty upset.”
Instead of racing, the team put in a lot of practice time on the rivers of Rome.
Crew’s next regatta is an invitational organized by Samford’s crew president, Melchior, Blakely and several other crew presidents. The regatta will be this weekend in Gunnersville, Ala. Samford and Berry will be represented along with Georgia State, Louisiana State and Rhodes College.
Tentative chaperones have been put in place for this regatta, as well as the Southeastern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) regatta in Oak Ridge, Tenn. on April 16 and 17.
Melchior is optimistic that the team will continue to overcome obstacles, but she is doubtful that Berry will provide a new coach for Viking Crew in the immediate future.
“There’s not a ton of initiative towards getting one,” she said. “[Hiring] a coach would require a big funding output, even part time, for a sport that only affects about 35 people. I can understand how Berry doesn’t see the value in that.”
In the meantime, Melchior and the rest of the officers are training next year’s leadership for a larger amount of responsibility than ever before.
Many parents of team members, realizing the stress of Viking Crew’s situation, have also contributed support.
The future of crew at Berry is uncertain, and Melchior hopes that it can still continue after she graduates.
“The team has been around for almost 25 years,” she said. “I want to see it continue. I’d hate for it to fall right after I graduate, that would be really sad. I’ve grown a lot as a person through the team, and I’d hate for that to not be there for someone else.”