Redefining Outreach: The Pocock Access Rowing Programs

In 1995, the George Pocock Rowing Foundation offered its very first “access rowing” program to the Lakeside Education and Enrichment Program (LEEP). Since then, our outreach programs have been designed and delivered for many different groups, including homeless and street dependant youth, adults with physical and developmental disabilities, young women, school groups, and “at-risk” youth.

Today, the Pocock Foundation’s Access Rowing Committee is a leader in access program delivery and is seen as a key national resource in the effort to bring the sport of rowing to more people. We have taken the experience we have gained from 15 years of delivering access-based outreach programs and made it available not only to those in the Northwest, but also to the entire national community of rowers and potential rowers.

The Access Rowing Committee works to bring the benefits of rowing to more people using three avenues:

1. Rainier Valley Rowing
   Other PRF Access Programs


2. Providing Program Development Resources to the community free of charge such as our Outreach Cookbook, a how-to guide for visioning and creating effective access programs.


3. Participating in the Regional and National conversations to develop best practices for access and outreach programs. To read about the US Rowing sponsored Conference on Access, Affordability and Diversity where Program Director Julian Zimlich presented in February 2008, Click Here.

What IS Access Rowing?

Seattle is a town rich in opportunities for those who love outdoor sports. The city boasts 6200 acres of green space in the metropolitan area. And there is nearly another third of that, more than 3 square miles, of “blue space”, or recreational area for water sports1 inside the city limits. If you include Lake Washington, you can add another 21,500 acres of blue space2. This means nearly 4/5 of Seattle’s recreational areas are water ways. Because of this, community members who don’t have access to this “blue space”, actually miss out on significant opportunities. Opportunities to recreate, try new things, exercise, and experience some of the most urban areas of their city from a whole new perspective.

Of the water-based activities one can choose from in Seattle, perhaps rowing is the most ubiquitous. Home to the champion University of Washington teams, almost thirty clubs, and two of the first public (Parks Department) rowing clubs in the nation, Seattle is virtually teeming with long rowing boats, or “shells” gliding under bridges and across lakes almost everywhere you look. Still, whole groups of Seattle citizens aren’t participating. 

There are many reasons community members don’t row. Many people lack funds to pay for programs, equipment, regatta fees, and uniforms. Others don’t have transportation to a boathouse. Many of our closest neighbors don’t know how to swim, aren’t familiar with boating, or have parents and guardians that don’t trust water-based activities. And yes, many people don’t see people like them represented in the culture of water sports.

Access programs are designed to change all this. Community donations, dedicated volunteerism, community partnerships, and innovative programming have all come together to overcome the obstacles in our communities that keep our neighbors from rowing.

Members of the rowing community know that the longer someone rows, the more they learn. About healthy lifestyles, about themselves, about others, and about being an active and invested member of a community. The reality is that our NW rowing community has the capacity to change the face of rowing in our city, and in this country. That’s why the goal of the Pocock Foundation’s Access Rowing Committee is to open the doors of life-long rowing to those community members who aren’t yet able to enjoy some of the best rowing water in the world right now. That’s rowing outreach.

(Data Taken from the City of Seattle Quick Facts Guide and Wikipedia) 

1 http://www.cityofseattle.net/leg/clerk/kwikfact.htm and
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Washington

Who We Are

Access Rowing Committee and Staff

Pocock Foundation Board

For Additional Information, please contact:
Karla Landis, Program Director

Support Access-Based Rowing