Faith Pizor
It is with great sadness that we inform the WYRA family of the passing of the co-founder, Faith Pizor. On April 8th, Faith lost her battle with cancer and Alzheimer’s.
As many of you know, Faith, her husband Gordon, and others founded WYRA in 1991. It was their passion, dedication and tireless commitment to area youth and the sport of rowing that got WYRA to where it is today. Faith happily knew every rower that passed through the doors. Whether it was finding a good deal on a boat, finding coaches, researching regattas for WYRA to race in or planning BBQs, summer camps, college nights and countless other events, Faith was passionate about the success of WYRA and the happiness of its rowers. She will be sorely missed.
Please look for her obituary in Delaware Online (it will be posted in the next few days). A memorial will be held at the boathouse once COVID restrictions have been removed. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked for donations to WYRA's scholarship fund.
LOOKING FOR A SPRING SPORT?
WYRA WILL BE ON THE WATER
WYRA will begin its Spring 2021 program on Monday, March 1st.
Until then, our coaches and staff are at the WYRA Boathouse from 2:45 pm - 6:00 pm, Monday through Friday for tours, or by appointment. Please feel free to stop by for a tour, get in our indoor tanks, or get on the water.
Click here for more information!
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WYRA and AmazonSmile: You shop. Amazon gives.
Did you know that WYRA is a listed charity on Amazon Smile?
Well, it is!
AmazonSmile is a way for customers to support their favorite charitable organization every time they shop with Amazon.
Shoppers who start at smile.amazon.com will find the same Amazon they know and love, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the price of eligible purchases to the charity of your choice.
Here's how to sign up for AmazonSmile:
1. Visit smile.amazon.com
2. Sign in with your Amazon.com credentials
3. Choose a charitable organization to receive donations, or search for the charity of your choice... in this case WYRA
4. Select your charity
5. Start shopping!
6. Add a bookmark for smile.amazon.com to make it even easier to return and start your shopping at AmazonSmile
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GUIDE to COLLEGE RECRUITING for Rowers and Parents
As part of our continuing series on rowing and college admissions, I have attached the link below that will take you to an article from USRowing. It is a general overview of the recruiting process for student-athletes looking to row at the collegiate level.
https://usrowing.org/sports/2016/10/24/9128_132107092146779593.aspx
SUPPORT WYRA on OCT. 14th & 15th
Help Support WYRA at Boscov's on Concord Pike - October 14th & 15th! Make a purchase there or online and mention the Wilmington Youth Rowing Association and WYRA receive's 5% of your purchase.
WYRA COLLEGE ADMISSION PROGRAM
This is the first in a series of posts on the college admissions process. The link below discusses the many myths of the admissions process. As we move forward with this series, we will be including information on sports and the admissions process for those who are looking to row at the next level.
https://www.usnews.com/.../common-college-admissions-myths
Update on COVID Testing
I have received emails from several families from Chester County that since their child has no symptoms or has not been in contact with someone with symptoms, they won’t test her. This was an unexpected development. If you are in a community that will not test because of being asymptomatic and not having contact with someone with symptoms, then please let me know at louis@wyra.com.
WYRA COVID-19 Testing Information
As part of the overall efforts to maintain the health and safety of the WYRA community, we will be requiring all staff and rowers to go through COVID-19 testing prior to the start of the fall programs on Wednesday, September 9th.
We apologize for the short notice regarding testing, but we wanted to ensure that we had the correcting listings of test sites located in the State of Delaware, Chester County/Delaware County Pennsylvania, and the State of New Jersey.
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State of Delaware: https://coronavirus.delaware.gov/testing/#find-a-testing-location-near-you
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Delaware County and Chester County: https://www.chesco.org/4460/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Testing-Information
LOOKING FOR A FALL SPORT?
WYRA WILL BE ON THE WATER!
WYRA will begin its Fall 2020 program on Wednesday, September 9th. Our Boathouse will be following all guidelines that have been put forth by Governor Carney for youth sports clubs.
Until then, our coaches and staff are at the WYRA Boathouse from 9:00 am - 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday for tours.
Please feel free to stop by for a tour, get in our indoor tanks, or get on the water.
As the Executive Director, I can also be emailed at louis@wyra.org
WYRA is lowering our Fall 2020 enrollment fees
The Board and staff of WYRA are fully aware of the negative effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our community, on our economy, and on our rowing families. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused the normal regattas scheduled for this fall to be cancelled. However, we are planning to have one team vs. another competitions.
To that end, we are reducing our Fall 2020 fees. The “Early Bird” discount will be $1025, down from the traditional $1500. This “Early Bird” discount will run through Wednesday, September 9th. A reduced standard fee of $1150 will take affect on Thursday, September 10th.
As WYRA has always had in place, we do have a limited amount of financial aid that is available.
Fall Rowing will take place!
Saturday - 15 August: WYRA will be having fall 2020 schedule. The Board and Staff are working to develop a program that follows all pandemic guidelines. These plans will ensure maximum safety for our rowers and coaches all the while providing a complete rowing experience.
A complete announcement and plans will be forthcoming within the next few days. Please check back to this page or reach out to our Executive Director, Lou Salvadori, at Louis@wyra.org.
WYRA COVID-19 UPDATE
Monday - 10 August Update:
While Fall High School and Middle School sports are not taking place in Delaware, the Wilmington Youth Rowing Association (WYRA) has been approved as a youth sports team to have fall practices and one on one team competitions.
Rowing is considered the "Ultimate Team Sport". It is a full body workout and is all about teamwork. In this sport, you’ll make great friends and you’ll learn to work hard/well with others, a vital skill for any person. Additionally, rowers are highly sought after for colleges and universities.
We invite all middle and high school student-athletes and their parents to consider having them join WYRA this fall. No experience is necessary. Visit our website, www.wyra.org, or you can email louis@wyra.org to schedule a time to visit to learn more.
WYRA has provided the link to the State of Delaware Official COVID-19 website:
https://coronavirus.delaware.gov/
Friday - 21 May Update:
WYRA is in the process of developing our reopening plans for the Summer. Please stay tuned for additional information and a projected date. As you all realize, this will be dependant on Governor Carney's phased plan for the State.
Monday - 18 May Update:
WYRA is joining forces with EDiS who is very generously donating to help keep local business and nonprofits afloat during this difficult time. Even better, it's a fun, healthy activity you can do with your family. CLICK on the WYRA and EDiS home page banner to learn more and get involved.
Wednesday - 15 April Update:
As you know approximately four weeks ago, as part of the national response to the ongoing threat of COVID-19, we at WYRA decided to close the Boathouse and the Spring 2020 season until such time that it would be safe to resume. We knew that, had we stayed open, our boathouse could have become a significant threat to our WYRA’s community's health. But that knowledge did little to assuage the profound disappointment of our action, especially in the face of two weeks of practices full of encouraging enthusiasm.
In the meantime, we've done what we can to keep our rowers training and our organization running smoothly. Our ergs are available for loan to WYRA rowers and we have shared physical training regimens to minimize the lockdown's disruption to their fitness. WYRA coaches have been making full use of Zoom conference calls to keep in contact and to ensure no function of WYRA is allowed to default to autopilot.
Monday - 6 April: On the Good News Front - The past few days WYRA has been participating in the Rowers Choice March Mania tournament. We had a men’s team and women’s team enter. Each team is composed of four athletes, and they submitted a 2,112 meter erg piece to be seeded. Today the first round results are in. Unfortunately the guys team will not advance. However, our girls team is still in it! They are the “Female Wombat Squad” and the #8 seed in the B bracket. The next round is a 2,500m piece and will be posted on April 9th. Good luck to our girls as they prepare for a tough matchup these next few days! Here’s the link to the tournament website:
https://www.rowerschoice.com/marchmania
Friday - 27 March: Pursuant to Governor Carney's declaration, WYRA will remain closed until further notice. Please continue to monitor the WYRA website and your email for updates. We are constantly monitoring the situation. PLEASE Stay Safe and Healthy!
Thursday - 19 March: In an abundance of caution during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wilmington Youth Rowing Association (WYRA) will be suspending our WYRA practices for an additional week, that being the week of 23 March through 28 March. We will continue to update as new information becomes available. We must take care of ourselves, our loved ones, and our WYRA family.
Please note that WYRA will make erg machines available to take home for our WYRA rowers so that they can stay in shape and be ready for our upcoming regattas.
We are continuing to monitor the situation, CDC announcements, USRowing, Row2K, and the regatta websites to ensure we have the most up to date information. At this time the regattas that we are planning to attend, with the exception of the Neczypor, have not cancelled or postponed. Please note that the Steve Neczypor regatta cancellation is unrelated to the COVID-19 outbreak.
As mentioned above, WYRA will remain closed for the next week, the week of March 23rd – March 28th. We will be continuing to reassess the situation and we will be keeping everyone updated via e-mail, Facebook, and our website, www.wyra.org.
WYRA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that introduces the wonderful sport of rowing to kids ages 10-18 through fun summer camps and in our after school competitive program. We are a composite program made up of public, private, home schooled and parochial schools from the Delaware, Maryland, southeastern PA and southern New Jersey areas. Our goal is to promote physical, mental and social wellness in young people of all backgrounds, using the sport of rowing.
Spring Crew 2021
Click the above link to sign up for Spring Crew
STAY CONNECTED TO YOUR CREW
Keep connected to your crew. Get schedules and team updates for every athlete in the house, plus a way to message other members in your crew and a way to give coaches a heads up about practice. Enjoy unlimited access to scores & stats, photo/video sharing, and more.
ESSENTIAL PARENT HOW-TOS
Once you've created your account, add your mobile phone so you can receive text messages from your coach.
Now that you have your mobile phone on your account, make sure you enable text messaging.
Need a second parent, other family member to get messages about schedule changes or race times? Add a second email address to forward all communications.
Do you need to send a question to another parent about a ride? Follow these instructions on how to send messages using the mobile app.
Coaches need to know if you are going to miss a race or practice. Easily RSVP using the mobile application.
WYRA has proudly taught thousands of area youth the sport of rowing since 1989. We are an inclusive program allowing youth of all abilities to row.