Kelsey Arnold (1st year, Grand Valley ’11), Assistant Women’s Coach
Hometown: Hudsonville, MI
Most fun part of my job: Watching rowers develop not only themselves as athletes, but as young individuals
Food I cannot live without: Beans
Cat count: 4

As much as I liked rowing out of beautiful Fort Hamer and busy Naples, it was time to leave and make our way to good ‘ole Bentley’s Resort in Osprey, Sarasota. This familiar venue is our hotel of choice, providing a tiki bar, heated pool, and the opportunity to order a whopping 2lb burger with a side of stomachache.

The sky looked questionable as we pulled into the Historic Spanish Point – Sarasota Crew’s practice site. After rigging in a light rainfall we headed out on the water for another technical row, working on posture and timing. With the boats mixed with novice and varsity, the team was able to learn from each other as they watched one another do drills. This group is very young, so improvement is constant and expected.

The water tonight reminded me of the finals at the 2010 Dad Vail. High winds swept the boats towards shore and threw salt water into the shells which made for a difficult row. However, a look to the west shocked you with a beautiful pink and orange sherbet sunset. Sunsets are a whole new world when you experience one while floating on top of the water. I am looking forward to many more on this trip

Coach John Bancheri is going on his 14th Semester at GVSU. By the way, that is the second longest tenure of a rowing coach at G.V.S.U to Coach Springer’s 10 years.

Home in Allendale, I live at the closest Condo to the Boathouse and the RTC. :-)
Favorite Sports: anything my sons Patrick and Salvatore Play and I love live football
Favorite Song: “Take Me To The River”, by the Talking Heads, is too obvious. Also in that category is “Sultans of Swing”, “I Want To Take You Higher”, and “No Way”
Favorite Song of all Time: “Wots uh the Deal” and anything performed well live.
Favorite Colors: Maize and Blue that fades in the distance.
Currently Reading: “Art of War”, By Sun Tzu
Master G.P.A. : 3.67

This is Costas Ciungan ’14 the editor of the Grand Valley Rowing Website with Coach Bancheri and we had a few questions we wanted to ask about the program.

Costas: Coach B, what is the most memorable part of the trip so far?
Coach B: Dude I just saw a Pink Cadillac in mint condition.

Costas: So coach, we have been at two different venues to row out of so far and we have yet to visit two more , Why do you like moving around so much?
Coach B: I am of Italian heritage. We enjoy exploring and at the same time I like taking our student athletes from the state of Michigan to new places that take them totally out of their comfort zone, while we get the chance to row on different bodies of water and even give Ryan Kasley ’12 a chance to shine in his hometown of Naples, FL.

Costas: What do you hope to accomplish on this Winter Training Camp?
Coach B: a lot of rowing. Oh yeah thats right, we are here to work on technique. I am enjoying taking the time to explain the stroke and its components in depth with our athletes. My Favorite part of practice is the 15 to 30 minute chalk talks before practice regarding the week and days focus. “A pound of preparation is worth a ton”.

Costas: What is one of the highlights you are looking forward to this week?
Coach B: Actually there are three: taking the boys to Busch Gardens in Tampa, rowing with “Minnie the Moocher” , and Maria Reichner’s Paella.

Costas: Over your 32 years of coaching you have made these types of trips many times so what are some of the differences over the years?
Coach B: I found over the years that if the Athletes get what they want than I get what I want. Last year we had our own version of the Bowl Season. This year I felt we all should go on a cruise, so I came up with the concept Crews/Cruise

Costas: How and why did you come up with the Theme Crews/Cruise?
Coach B: From 7 A.M. to 1 P.M. I am the admiral of the Laker Navy. I expect all our athletes and coaches to Listen, Learn, and Focus. After 1 P.M. I told the kids to consider themselves on a cruise ship, you have a pool, a beach, and a few excursions and as long as they happily comply, there will be no need for a “Shakedown Cruise”.

If you have any questions for Coach Bancheri in regards to this Winter Training Trip or future regattas feel free to contact me, The Editor of GrandValleyRowing.com at ciunganc@mail.gvsu.edu