By Stephanie Wang – 12th Grade, Peters Township High School

Believe it or not, the oldest intercollegiate sport is rowing, not football, as you might expect. It’s no surprise why rowing is so popular and durable of a sport. Not only does rowing provide a no-impact full body exercise, but it’s also a great team sport that allows participants to increase self-awareness and confidence, build lasting relationships, and achieve a healthy lifestyle.

Today, there are over 17 local competitive high school rowing teams and over 147 post-secondary schools that offer scholarships for rowing. One of these high school teams is the Peters Township Rowing Club, a club level team that offers rowing to local boys and girls in the South Hills area. The team was founded last year by a group of parents led by Judith Alexander after a two-week Learn-to-Row Camp last spring.

Since the team is not affiliated with the high school, anyone is free to join. The team has over twenty members from local high schools such as Peters Township, Canon-Mac, and Elizabeth Forward High School. The team’s coach is Stephanie Zang, a skilled rower who rowed in high school and on Ithaca College’s varsity rowing team ever since she was a freshman. Currently, the team practices at the Venetia School three days a week, and during the spring, the team will practice at the Montour Boat House. While training is year-round, interested students can join at any time in the season. In the winter, the Peters Township Rowing Club participates in indoor sprint competitions that allow athletes to compete against students from other schools. College recruiters come to competitions like these to see statistics on each athlete’s performance. Over 147 colleges (including local colleges like Robert Morris University and Duquesne) offer rowing scholarships, many of which go unclaimed every year.

Undoubtedly, there’s a huge advantage in joining a rowing team—it’s a good physical exercise, it can help a student grow as a person, and it can result in a pay-off in the form of college scholarship.

If you are interested in joining the Peters Township Rowing Club or would like to become a sponsor, please visit ptrowingclub.weebly.com and/or contact them at ptrowingclub@gmail.com.

Stephanie Wang is a rising senior at Peters Township High School. She was a PYM Reporter last year and is the current head editor of Business Funnel. Stephanie has been published in media outlets like the Almanac and Pittsburgh’s Post-Gazette. Besides writing, Stephanie enjoys cooking and making bad puns.