CAPITAL CITY ROWING VARSITY ATTENDANCE POLICY
Practice schedules are established by the coaching staff and posted on the website calendar. Any changes to the published practice schedule will be announced by the coach. Rowers/coxswains are required to attend all team practices and regattas. Rowers should be proactive in obtaining a ride to practice. CCR is not responsible for transporting rowers to practice but will facilitate the organization of carpools to get rowers from school to practice.
Missed practices are missed training opportunities and unlike missed homework assignments that can be turned in for partial credit or procrastinated study time; training time cannot be recouped. The training schedule is optimized for athlete growth. Moving a workout from one week to the next will often overload the athlete for that week; therefore, practice is rarely canceled. Lightning or high winds may keep the team off the water; but unless instructed otherwise, water and land practices will remain as scheduled. Rowing inherently demands a large commitment of time and energy in order to compete. Rowers need to effectively manage their time to balance academic requirements and team commitment.
We realize that rowing is not the only thing in your child's life. Injuries, illnesses, and some unavoidable circumstances will prevent attendance from time to time; however, we do expect that a good faith effort is made to attend all regularly scheduled practices. As such all rowers will be allotted two (2) free absences per semester for any reason, which do not fall into the excused/unexcused categories below (no-call no-shows are never acceptable outside of emergencies). Do not use these absences lightly as an absence often means that the entire squad is impacted. These two (2) free absences may not be used during spring break. Even excused absences may inherently affect regatta lineups due to lost training time.
Coaches will assign rowers mandatory OYO (on your own) workouts for any non-illness/injury related absences. Failure to complete the assigned OYO workouts may result in an excused absence becoming unexcused.
Unexcused Absences:
The coaches must be informed in advance of absences related to family trips, appointments, etc. Any absence that is not properly communicated to the coach will be considered unexcused. Unexcused absences will likely result in the rower being removed from their lineup or even missing a race. If a rower accumulates three (3) or more unexcused absences in a semester, a coach-parent meeting will be called and that rower’s racing privileges will be suspended, until he/she demonstrates the attendance required for team success.
Excused Absences:
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Illness. Unless unexpected emergency circumstances exist that don’t allow prior communication, athletes are required to contact their coach before practice if missing a practice due to illness. If an athlete misses three (3) or more consecutive practices due to illness, a doctor's note will be required clearing them to return to practice.
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Appointments. Requires notice of more than one (1) week. Except for urgent appointments based on unexpected injury/illness, absences due to appointments with less than one (1) week's notice will be considered unexcused.
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ACT/SAT Testing. See ACT/SAT page attached. Requires notice of more than one (1) week. Absences due to testing with less than one (1) week's notice will be considered unexcused. Please do not schedule testing on regatta weekends, as that can impact the entire team.
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Coach’s Discretion. Any other absences require two (2) weeks’ notice and will be excused at the coach’s discretion.
Spring Break: March 11th – 15th, 2024
Spring Break Practice
Two a day practices will be held during spring break at lake Talquin in order to prepare the athletes for peak competition season. These practices are mandatory and all athletes are expected to attend. These practices play a vital role within the annual training plan as they allow for an increase in volume and intensity of training. A significant amount of speed and skill is achieved during this brief period of time allowing the team to remain competitive throughout the season. By attending these practices, the athletes will find themselves better prepared both from a fitness and technical standpoint. Specific dates and times will be provided by the coaching staff.
If an athlete is unable to attend sessions during spring break, the coaching staff can no longer guarantee them a position within a racing lineup. Upon return, the athlete will have to seat race in order to re-enter any previous lineup or to have the opportunity to advance their seat. Seat races cannot be guaranteed if they cannot be worked into the training schedule. Missing these practices is unfair to other athletes who remain working to keep their competitive seats. Returning to a highly developed team also puts the returning athlete at greater risk of injury as they will have to seamlessly re-enter into a higher volume and intensity of training that the other athletes have prepared for.
While we understand that this can be an inconvenience, it is a necessary piece in maintaining a highly competitive program that prepares its athletes for success.
ACT/SAT Testing
ACT/SAT Testing will conflict with weekend practice and some regattas. While testing is an excused absence, some weekends will have less effect on the team than others and we ask that you take this into account when signing up for tests.
SAT Dates:
August 26: No major conflicts.
October 7: Avoid if possible. Practice the weekend before First Coast.
November 4: Head of The Hooch
December 2: Avoid if possible. Practice the weekend before Fall Sprints.
March 9: No major conflicts (First Saturday of spring break).
May 4: Avoid if possible. Practice the weekend before SE Regionals
June 1: TBD - Practice the weekend before Nationals
ACT Dates:
September 9: No major conflicts.
October 28: No major conflicts.
December 9: Fall Sprints
February 10: No major conflicts.
April 13: Avoid if possible. Ergathon
June 8: TBD - Nationals
July 13: No major conflicts.