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| October 1st 2023 at Worcester, MA: Woman Jr 4+ B in Textile River Regatta |
Emily’s sophomore is much busier than her freshman in high school. Additionally, the training of Varsity rowing becomes much stronger than Novice back in the spring season. In this case, Emily finally needs to decide if she wants to devote herself to Squash or Rowing.
Squash and rowing are both great sports. One is an individual sport, and the other is a team sport. As parents, Joie and I found the differences between suqash and rowing are even bigger.
Basically, squash is completely a 1 player sport. It can be social and also be very competitive. I found that many junior athletes started the squash journey at a very young age. In the meantime, you definitely need private clinics to enhance skills and tactics for tournaments. In order to have a higher national ranking, junior players and family also need to travel at the weekends, including in-state and out-of-state. Higher-level tournaments (e.g. Gold, JCT) even need 3-days. Frankly speaking, aiming to be very competitive in squash definitely needs lots of “resources”.
Compared to suqash, rowing also needs resources, but in different ways. In terms of a team sport, you will need your teammates for almost every practice. I do not think any athlete will buy “a boat”. Practicing occurs in a pond or river. It also means the “venue” is not your private space, and the coach would not have you a “private” lesson. For a rowing club or team, the performance would depend on the achievements of the number of boats, not individual rowers. In the meantime, the formal rowing experience started in 9th grade. You can have earlier exposure, though.
After moving to Boston in 2021 summer, Jolie and I have made two girls try the sports as many as possible. Alice plays squash and is also on a soccer travel team. Emily has decided to devote herself to rowing, but squash is still one of her favorite sports. Seeking the balance between individual and team sports is a very interesting journey. Every kid will find the best solution on his/her own.
We will continue to accompany Emily to achieve her goal: rowing in college.
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