Wyandotte Boat Club

Picture Page Three

Our High School Families

With the completion of the new building at the Mulbery site in 1943, the Boat Club began a new type of building, the building of its rowing programs and membership. In order to build the summer rowing programs, the club decided to approach the local high schools to see if they would be interested in starting high school rowing programs. It was reasoned that a high school rowing program would become a feeder program for summer club rowing. The first high school contacted was Theodore Roosevelt and they accepted the challange. The first Wyandotte high school rowing program began. Soon after, Our Lady of Mount Carmel began their own rowing program and the number of rowers grew both for the schools and for the club.

The Boat Club allowed the schools to use, free of charge, its facility and boats until the schools could purchase their own rowing shells. The club and school programs flurished from the early 40's to the early 70's when a third high school, Riverview High school, joined the family. In 1992 Gibralter Carlson High School, which had an existing program, was brought into the fold. With the completion of the new facility on Pine Street in 1997, the club now had more room for rowers and equipment and Grosse Ile High School was invited to join as the fifth school rowing from the club.

The wyandotte Boat Club continues to support high school rowing by granting free use of its facility to the schools. There is a reciprocal use of club and high school equipment and the club insures all equipment. The clubs truck and trailer are also available for use by the schools. Today there are approximately 350 high school students rowing out of the Wyandotte Boat Club and over 100 of them row for the club's summer program.

In the early 1970's, in order to foster home town competition, the club decided to sponsor two local regattas. The Hebda Memorial Challenge Cup and the Wyandotte High Schools Rowing Regatta began as inter-school competition. Soon other school around the state and Canada were asking to row in these regattas. It was decided by the club to open the WY-HI regatta to all schools and the competitors quickly grew into the hundreds. For the 2000 WY-HI Regatta there were approximately 1500 rowers from nine high schools and the spectators were numbered in the thousands. The high school programs and the two regattas have done wonders in raising funds for the schools, helping kids and promoting rowing.