{"id":137006,"date":"2016-11-03T12:40:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-03T10:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/137006\/joy-of-rowing-discovered\/"},"modified":"2016-11-03T15:50:01","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T13:50:01","slug":"joy-of-rowing-discovered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/sports-news\/2016\/11\/03\/joy-of-rowing-discovered\/","title":{"rendered":"Joy of rowing discovered"},"content":{"rendered":"

After an absence of five years, youngsters interested in rowing could be seen trying their hand at the sport on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Victoria Lake Rowing Club resurrected its junior section and held an open day at Germiston Lake.<\/p>

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\u201cThis is an official re-opening of our junior section that has not been operational for five years,\u201d said the club\u2019s junior section head coach, Talbot Pule.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the past month we have been approaching schools in the area and getting the children interested in rowing.\u201d<\/p>

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Pule said they were excited that the day saw 20 sign-ups of children, between the ages of 13 and 15.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a decent turn-out, enough for us to manage and handle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday was just an introductory programme because a lot of children are not familiar with the sport and have never been in a rowing scull (boat) before, so we just wanted them to familiarise themselves with the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The club will meet at the lake every Saturday from 7am to 9am.<\/p>\n

Pule also told the GCN that more children are welcome to join the club.<\/p>\n

Considering that rowing is a water sport, it is preferable that children, interested in joining, know how to swim though it is not an absolute requirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club is mainly open to children between the ages of 13 and 15, as this is the best age for children to start rowing,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou find that when the children are younger, they are too small to carry the boats and cope with the physical strain of the sport of rowing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe junior section helps develop rowing on a national level, as the more children we reach at a young age, the deeper the pool of talent the federation Rowing South Africa has to pick from and develop future stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among other activities, the novice rowers were given the opportunity to get in the scull and on the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough the weather wasn\u2019t favourable with a gusty wind, we managed to get them interested in joining,\u201d said Pule.<\/p>\n

To join or for more information, visit the club\u2019s website on www.vlcrowing.co.za.<\/p>\n