Grammar Gazette- Issue 2, 2011

grammar gazette SPRING 2011

It’s all about teamwork MRS JUDITH TUDBALL, DEAN OF CO-CURRICULUM

This year marked the start of a revitalised rowing programme at Brisbane Girls Grammar School. Mr Mitchell Rosenlund was appointed as our new Head Coach/Co-ordinator of Rowing and was keen to make his mark on our rowing programme. Mr Rosenlund’s passion for this sport began as a student at St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace and, as an experienced coxswain, he has been a member of the Queensland and Australian rowing teams. Rowing is about teamwork and this is reflected in Mr Rosenlund’s approach to the programme at Girls Grammar, where he emphasises that team work is just as important off the water as it is on the water. Girls need to work collectively to rig boats and prepare boats prior to regattas, as this is an integral part of their rowing experience. Mr Rosenlund is keen to develop crews that work well together as an equal unit in a team and he places importance on crews setting goals together and then striving throughout the rowing season to achieve those common goals. Clearly,

he has made a great start to fostering this positive culture is the Girls Grammar Rowing Programme. In order to cultivate a sense of harmony and unity within the crew, rowers need to have implicit trust in the coxswain who will read the tides and winds and respond to them in order to keep the boat on the right path—Mr Rosenlund believes you can learn a lot about yourself as a person when you sit in a boat rowing backwards for 2000 metres while the coxswain bellows orders. He considers rowing to be a challenging sport requiring great determination and focus, and the rewards are very often intrinsic in nature. When hard work and team work come together great things can be achieved, and when the conditions are ideal and the crew is in sync, a very special feeling is generated. Ethnographer Mark de Rond spent twelve months studying the Cambridge Boat Squad in the lead up to their successful 2007 Boat Race campaign against Oxford. He cites University of Chicago psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihaly in describing

the feeling when perfect rhythm generates ‘flow’, the most enviable of all rowing experiences. This feeling can be portrayed as capturing a rare moment in time where one is totally absorbed in what one is doing—it’s the experience of pure harmony, or the point at which mind and matter fuse effortlessly and you know something special has occurred (de Rond, 2008). An important component of the School’s rowing programme is the Rowing Support Group. Together with the staff, parents contribute significant resources, time and energy to ensure their daughters gain the most from a demanding sport. The mix of coaching expertise, family support, friendships and skill development is fundamental to the successful development of the Girls Grammar rowing programme.

2011 Captains’ reflections

The strengths of the 2011 rowing season were largely the girls’ enthusiasm and dedication. No matter what the results the girls always remained positive and supportive of their teammates. The younger girls were outstanding; cheering for the opens squads and their friends at every regatta. The dedication to training was also stronger than it has ever been. This season the girls learnt the importance of teamwork and being there for their crew, no one let their crew down, and no one let the team down. Rowing training in the Term II holidays gave all the girls the opportunity to bond with their crews,

improve their technique and prepare for the regatta season. During regattas every girl put in her best effort and supported her rowing friends. In September the School State Championships were held in Rockhampton. The girls who attended were given the opportunity to experience real regatta racing with most girls racing more than they ever had before in new boats and against new competition. Many of the crews who attended exceeded their own expectations. It was a fantastic weekend and a brilliant end to the 2011 rowing season. AMELIA GROENEVELD AND ALEXANDRA THEILE

References: de Rond, M., (2008), The last amateurs, to hell and back with the Cambridge boat crew, Cambridge, Icon Books Ltd.

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