Mosely optimistic about new rowing league

Broadway isn’t coming to Thibodaux.

Nonetheless, Bayou Rowing Association coach Charles Mosely conjured an interesting parallel when describing the formation of the Tri-Parish Racing League, which is set to launch this fall.

“Being a (crew) member is like being part of ‘The Rockettes’ in water,” he explained. “You use all of your muscles and mentally have to concentrate to stay in line with everyone else.”

Mosely is confident all participants will get ‘a big kick’ out of the nascent league, which commenced its inaugural season with an open house Saturday at the Bayou Rowing Association in Thibodaux.

He also knows it can be used as a vehicle to land athletic scholarships to some prestigious universities.

“I want to let these kids know the education opportunities available through crew,” Mosely said.

It’s one of the reasons the league has drawn interest.

“Crew is really big at some Ivy League schools,” said Marty Janice, Principal of Thibodaux Christian Academy. “That’s what got my attention.”

The Bayou Rowing League will be comprised of coed teams from the E-Learning Center (both Houma and Thibodaux locations) and Thibodaux Christina Academy.

Mosely is hoping to add Max Charter School to that lineup.

Practices will run for six weeks beginning Saturday, Sept. 8.

A race schedule will run Saturday, Oct. 20, through Saturday, Dec. 8, with a championship to follow on Saturday, Dec. 15.

“We worked with Mosely last year and he gave us a demonstration with some rowing machines,” Janice said. “It seemed like a good thing to do if the interest is there, but the jury is still out on that one.”

But if there’s one person who can spur popularity, it’s Mosely.

Before arriving in the Pelican State, he spent many years in Cleveland, Ohio as a rower and coach in the Flats (Public) Racing League, which is recognized as the largest in the nation.

Mosely worked as director of the league his final four years before coming to Louisiana in 1999.

Thibodaux was a rowing ghost town prior to his arrival, but Mosely was able to tap into the area’s athletic talent by creating the Bayou Rowing Association.

The program received a lot of exposure this summer when 13-year-old Thibodaux rower Marion Todd was selected to attend the United States Rowing Association’s Junior Develop-mental Camp at the University of Iowa.

Todd was one of only 16 girls in the country invited to attend the camp and the first Louisiana native to receive an invitation from any USRA developmental program.

Rowers participating in developmental programs are groomed to eventually compete for positions on national, international and Olympic rowing teams.

“After Marion went to that (developmental) camp, we got at least 12 to 15 phone calls from colleges saying that they didn’t know we had a rowing program down here,” Mosely said.

But one does, and Mosely is optimistic it will help generate more phone calls in the future.

“I think people are becoming more aware (of rowing),” he said.

For more information, call the Bayou Rowing Association at (985) 859-0766.

“The girls have a little more depth than the boys,” she said. “This gives me a lot of latitude to cover all of my events with strong swimmers. The girls should be tough again this year.”

And they’d like to recapture the exhilaration of finishing on top.

“It (states) was extremely exciting,” explained Lefort. “Everyone on the girls’ side was nervous at first, because we weren’t sure we would win it, but when we finally did, it was really thrilling.”

Ring would love to see an encore performance, but she knows a new season brings new challenges.

“Some of the teams we see at states we don’t see during dual meets, so we go into states not knowing what we’re up against,” she said. “It’s hard to scout teams. You never know what can happen.”

The Terriers begin their seasons Tuesday through Friday, Sept. 4 through 7, with the annual Blue and Gold scrimmages at Ellendale.

Mosely optimistic about new rowing league