Dear all,
On behalf of the University of Georgia's Rowing Team, I wanted to inform you of the events of Thursday night, March 13th. As you may know, the Georgia Crew is a club team dating back to 1995. Last spring, our team moved its practice facilities from Sandy Creek Park to Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, Georgia where we practice daily. We recently finished construction on our new boathouse which has the capacity to hold 16 racing shells. As of early this week, the team owns 8 racing boats. We also own the new boathouse, over 36 oars, a trailer, a coaching launch, and various tools used for boat maintenance. As a club team under the division of Rec. Sports, we receive very limited funding for a team that competes in an expensive sport; thus, our 60-member team often must raise funds to ensure the success of the crew.
Sometime on the night of Thursday, March 13th, multiple persons forcefully entered our secured facility and set fire to the center of our newly finished boathouse using the gasoline we keep for our coach's boat. As a result, six of our eight rowing shells were rendered un-rowable. The arsonists also stole and burned a great deal of our other equipment including tools and electronic equipment for the boats. They also sprayed graffiti including obscenities on many of the boats. The estimated damage on the boats alone is over $80,000. As we have some insurance, this event by no means marks the end of UGA Crew. Today we hosted our 4th annual South Eastern Regional Collegiate Sprints (SERCS) in Elberton, Georgia, despite our own lack of equipment. Over 15 teams from across the South East were in attendance, and through the generosity of other crews we were able to compete in borrowed boats. The team will travel tomorrow to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida to train for spring break -- again using borrowed equipment.
This letter is intended not only to inform you of the recent tragedy that has struck our team, but also to ask that you consider helping UGA Crew in whatever capacity you can. We have set up a fund intended to help the team recover from this loss. Anyone can donate to the "UGA Rowing Relief Fund" by making a deposit at any Wachovia bank -- also people may mail donations to:
UGA Crew 201 Ramsey Center Athens GA 30602
Please feel free to contact me for any additional questions you may have. You may email or call me at 706-340-3030. I thank you in advance for your support.
Sincerely, Eric Sherman PR Officer