Mosley: Rowing scholarships there for the taking

Thousands of dollars are floating upstream.

That, according to Bayou Rowing Association coach Charles Mosley, is what’s most frustrating when discussing the general lack of local interest in crew.

“Ever since (Thibodaux rower) Marion Todd attended the (United States Rowing Association) developmental camp, loads of colleges have been inquiring about giving away rowing scholarships to kids in this area,” he said. “We don’t have any!”

Schools offering academic and/or need scholarships to rowers include Amherst, the University of Virginia, North Carolina, Bates College, the University of Wisconsin and the University of Alabama.

Each institution offers 20 full scholarships each year. They are primarily available to women because of Title IX.

“Two-to-three weeks ago, the University of Indiana signed 12 rowers to their women’s team, and three of the 12 had been rowing less than a year,” he quipped. “It’s the market right now.”

The Thibodaux-based Bayou Rowing Association’s Fall League gathered 14 junior-high rowers from E.D. White, St. Genevieve, the E-School and the Max Charter School, but would like to see that number expand in upcoming years.

“I think most of the kids have expressed interest in the program, but they’re still young,” he said. “But if we could get some 10th and 11th graders interested who would commit themselves academically, we could get a lot of college coaches interested. We haven’t developed a good feeder system to take advantage of these scholarships, and they’re all going to kids from the North and Midwest.”

With that, Mosley has a simple message for parents.

“Provide your children with an opportunity to become exposed to rowing,” he explained, “and if it’s something that they’re interested in, they’ll have an opportunity for a good education through scholarship money.”

And they’ll also learn about a sport that’s near and dear to Mosley’s heart.

“Rowing instills mental and physical discipline and mandates teamwork,” he said. “You also get to have a lot of fun traveling to competitions and meeting new people from different places.”

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