Rowing, for all the things I love about it, is a frustratingly homogeneous sport. There’s a lot of work to be done when it comes to making the sport more accessible. Teams like Philadelphia City Rowing and Row New York, and Serve Your City in Washington D.C. are doing admirable work to expand the sport beyond its traditional prep-school atmosphere. Today’s actionable item does have an optional fitness component – if you’re a rower, you can join the Erg for Equality here – but if you’d rather, you can visit these groups and find one which you think best would benefit most from your help.
Donate to Philadelphia City Rowing.
Whereas some of our other actionable items have focused on getting people out of trouble, helping to improve access to sports is an action that aims to lay the foundation for keeping youths safe in the first place. By providing a nurturing, competitive atmosphere, academic and nutritional support, and other enrichment activities, these programs have proven that backgrounds and colors don’t matter – anyone can benefit when they’re part of a team.
