According to the Sports Facilities Advisory & Sports Facilities Management, rowing is on the rise again. The SFA and SFM noticed a significant number of athletes, young and old, who are recognizing the physical and mental health benefits of participating in the sport & culture of rowing— a sport that athletes can continue to pursue well into old age.
A recent CBS Sunday Morning piece highlighted the growth in rowing in mainstream culture and the extension of rowing into the $75 billion health club market.
The trend in rowing is also being supported with the opening of new rowing centers.
Sarasota recently funded a $40 million park development, Nathan Benderson Park that is home to among many things (2 malls, 7 hotels, and a multitude of restaurants) a new world-class rowing center which will host the 2017 World Rowing Championships. Oklahoma City over the past 10 years has created the incredible Boathouse District which includes a series of rowing and paddling boathouses, a whitewater Riversport Adventure center ($45M), cycling, running, and zip line adventures. Boston has what is considered the largest rowing club in the world: Community Rowing Inc or CRI on the famed Charles River. Clermont Sports Development Corporation (near Cincinnati) has succeeded in bringing several large events to Harsha Lake and the East Fork State Park including the US Rowing Club National Championships on July 13, 2016.
Unlike other sports that spike following Olympic Success (women’s softball, soccer, and others), rowing’s rise does not seem to be attributed to the upcoming games, said the SFA and SFM. However, for younger athletes in the sport, collegiate scholarships may be a driving force.
Though a collegiate sport since the mid 1800’s, the NCAA didn’t officially adopt rowing (and the 12,000 newly available scholarships) as an official sport for women until 1997. A recent report shows that 55.5 percent of girls in youth rowing and 17.8 percent of boys get some form of university scholarship funding, making it a sensible sport for parents, schools and communities.
Nationwide, US Rowing reports 85,000 individual members and 1,300 member organizations in total.
Recognizing the upward trends in the sport of rowing, USRowing and RowAmerica partnered with The Sports Facilities Advisory & Management (SFA|SFM) in 2015 with the combined purpose to grow the sport of rowing, and to create rowing development tools and services in order to expand the reach of rowing.
Glenn Merry, CEO of U.S. Rowing, is enthusiastic about this partnership in that “we have a number of industry consultants, but we have never had a service that includes financing and management in one package… We have even completed a site visit and will begin master planning a new rowing center at a major amusement park attraction.”
