Chris Stabile, Head Coach I can still vividly remember the beginning of my rowing career:  I was standing outside of a boathouse in Allendale, MI being greeted by the novice coach, whose first words to me were “How much do you weigh?...Good, I have a job for you.”  Since then, sitting in the back of a boat yelling at rowers has always felt like home.  Dark mornings spent frozen in puddles which have accumulated in the cox-seat as waves broke over the gunwhales or sweating in a 100 degree hallway while glued to an erg have somehow only made me more resolute in my masochistic love of this sport. While my two years at Grand Valley coxing and rowing were incredibly fun and rewarding, the last few years coaching at East Grand Rapids as an assistant coach have been just as fulfilling, although perhaps no less fatiguing.  I am greatly looking forward to coaching and mentoring rowers who wish to create a cohesive, competitive team, and have fun doing so.  I know how much I benefited from athletics when I was younger, and as a former all-state cross country runner and competitive martial artist, I am excited to bring a more varied view of training and competition to the team.  I look forward to a great season in which we all strive not to work hard, but to work harder. Patrick Reed, Land Coach Experience: Coached and taught swimming, and coached wide-outs in football. Has a Physical Health and Education Minor.  All around athlete, die-hard competitor, and avid fitness enthusiast; has been involved in weight training and condition for the past 6 years. I am excited about coaching this year because: I’m always excited to jump into a new and unfamiliar athletics.  Coaching conditioning and weight training for EGR crew gave me that opportunity.  I’m excited to do my part to help the team progress and develop.  Also, for the challenges and experiences ahead and learn from both my fellow coaches as well the students. Tom Getz, M.D.  Rigger/Boatman Definition (From The Nuts and Bolts Guide to Rigging):  "Rigger, when it begins with a capital R, is used to describe the person who adjusts the rowing equipment, with a small r, describes that funky metal thing hanging off the shell or lying on the boathouse floor." I began rowing in 1980 while at Medical School at the University of Iowa (2 seat/port in a very old wooden 4).  My clinical rotations soon took up 150% of my time so rowing was put on hold for several years. When East Grand Rapids Crew was born in 1999, I began looking after and maintaining the boats and other equipment.  It all started the first season when I volunteered to drive to Lucan, Ontario to retrieve all the missing riggers and shoes that were supposed to come with one of our first two boats (Pickle) but were somehow left behind at the Kaschper factory in Canada... and needed to be here the next day for the beginning of practice.  I've been repairing and maintaining the boats ever since.  Although our daughter Meghan, who was one of our hotshot rowers in the lightweight 4 and lightweight 8 during the team's first four years, graduated in 2003, I still love working with the kids and the coaches, and have found everyone to be appreciative and interested in learning more about the boats. A real thrill was being part of planning, designing, and building the boathouse in John Collins Park, a facility that finally gave us a safe secure place to practice and maintain our equipment.I have attended the Kaschper Rigging and Repair Clinic, the U.S. Rowing Level I Referee Clinic, and the U.S. Rowing Level I Coaching Clinic. I am assisted by a dedicated group of equipment volunteers, who have put in innumerable hours helping with dock installation and removal each season, boat repair and rebuilding, boathouse projects, and all kinds of other tasks.