What do you think of “Once a rower, always a rower?” Even if you have to quit not because you don’t like it, but because you have to? There was a conversation that came up with us about how people who quit shouldn’t be wearing their crew gear anymore. What’s your opinion?
The most basic way I can explain is this: we put so much time, effort, money, blood, sweat, tears, etc. into this sport that our racing tanks, unisuits, jackets, tshirts, and anything else with our team logo on it become sacred to us. We can’t wear our medals all over the place so we wear our gear instead to show off the pride we have in our team, our teammates, the sport, and ourselves. If you’re not on the team anymore it’s kind of like they’re on the outside looking in, you know what I mean? I know it sounds kind of stuck up to say that but I can’t think of another way to explain it.
On the other hand, you bought the stuff with your money so technically you can wear it whenever and wherever the hell you want. It’s not like anyone’s gonna go up to you and say “you’re not on the team anymore, take your shirt off…”. If someone had rowed for a few years and had been a fairly dedicated member of the team I wouldn’t have that much of an issue with it but if you rowed for like, a season and then quit? That’d annoy me (and was kinda what I was getting at up above).
Definitely depends on the circumstances, like what was previously stated, some sophomores/juniors/seniors had to leave because of injuries, scheduling issues (collegiate rowing), issues with coaches, etc. Even when they did not have much contact with the team afterwards, it was never a problem to have them wearing gear. I loved when girls who graduated came back to support us and wore their gear, and I plan on doing that too!
I agree. It’s very situational. It’s AWESOME when former teammates support the team by showing up and wearing their gear – I definitely support that. What I’m “against” I guess is the people who don’t contribute anything and then continue to wear their stuff after the fact. That just pisses me off because I know how much effort everyone else has put into representing the team and then there’s this other person who did very little or nothing at all and they’re sporting the same gear as those who actually did the work.
IMO, I think the only reason you should wear crew gear from a crew you aren’t a part of anymore is if you grew too old for the crew. Not if you quit because you couldn’t take the pain, regardless of how much it cost—I’m sure some rowers would be willing to buy used gear for a slightly lower price.
I think it depends on the amount of time you were on the team and the terms on which you left. My team this year had a bunch of people leave, for a variety of reasons. One, for example, was a senior who had rowed since her freshman fall and she quit her senior winter because she wasn’t happy on the team and with the coaches etc etc but it was a lot of personal stuff and she continued to support us and keep in contact with the team and no one had any problem with her wearing gear from the team. On the other hand, we had a freshman join the team and end up leaving the team in really bad taste (she skipped a bunch of practices, never explained what was going on, was always late, never made an effort to be a part of the team, never interacted with any of us outside of practice, etc) and everyone judged her for wearing our apparel because she never really tried to be a part of our team. So, long story short, I think it depends on the situation and circumstances.
YES! This was more along the lines of what I was getting at, I just couldn’t figure out the right way to say it. I agree, the situations and circumstances are everything.