A Most Beautiful Thing Inclusion Fund Starts its Second Year

The Pocock Foundation’s A Most Beautiful Thing Inclusion Fund (AMBTIF) was launched just about one year ago, with a goal of bringing rowing to more diverse communities. In that time, it has helped to create or expand rowing programs in five communities across the US.

Specifically, in its first year, AMBTIF has:

• Provided 900 youth with transportation, swimming lessons and academic support.
• Reached another 2000 youth through outreach.
• Supported 20 coaches of color, to ensure sustainable and fair compensation for their coaching.
• Made it possible for program participants to travel to races and visit out-of-town college rowing programs.

In every community, Arshay Cooper kicks off the program with a public event at the waterfront involving city officials, school representatives, rowing Olympians of color, and usually a few celebrities as well! This gives community members an enthusiastic welcome to the sport of rowing, the program, and the opportunities that will be provided.

The program is designed with continuity in mind. Systems are set up for transportation, swimming lessons, connections are made with the local schools, equipment is provided, coaches are paid a fair wage, program leaders are assisted with local fundraising—all with a goal of keeping these programs running well into the future. The athletes themselves are shown a future that they likely hadn’t previously envisioned—a sport that is newly accessible to them, the possibility of rowing in college, and the other places that rowing may take them.

In year two, AMBTIF will provide the same programming equipment and support to five more programs:

• BLJ Community Rowing (Philadelphia, PA)
• RowLA (Los Angeles, CA)
• Athletes Without Limits (Washington DC)
• Brick City Rowing (Newark, NJ)
• Waco Rowing Center (Waco, TX)

Concept2 looks forward to supporting these five programs as we supported the first year programs: with RowErgs for each program, and oars to go with the boats being provided by Hudson Boat Works. We’re happy to be able to help in this way as AMBTIF works to introduce more diverse populations to the sport of rowing.

Read here for more information.