Hello, my name is Katie, and I am addicted to coxing. However, you may just call me NinthGirl, a proud label that proclaims my status as the sometimes-forgotten nine of eight.

This addiction, like most addictions, did not just appear out of nowhere, but came on slowly. It all started innocently one day, the first time I met with my school-appointed "Big Sib" at a picnic before high school. All Lindsay, my junior big sib, could talk about was crew. Rowing, crew, her crew friends, everything was relating to this team in this sport I'd never heard of. "I'm not going to talk about crew anymore," she'd tell Alina, her other little sib, and I. Then she would launch off into some story or introduce us to another fellow rower. It wasn't only Lindsay who noted my small stature, her younger sister, a sophomore coxswain, immediately decided in math class that I should cox.

So, that spring, I did.

Crew became the defining experience of my high school career. I wrote all my english papers about it, what crew person doesn't? My friends came from the crew team, not exclusively, but they were usually rowers or coxswains or friends of rowers and coxswains. During the spring, when the crew season was, I spent more time dreaming about crew that doing my school, and it only got worse as the years went by.

My quest for the perfect form of motivation started sophomore year.

When our boat was finally set in the spring, we had gained one rower who had been seat raced off of varsity from our origional line up. Beth was about the most intimidating person I had ever met, and she knew a lot more about crew than I did, or than a lot of the boat. She ran the crew more than anyone, and her sometimes sardonic comments were tearing our boat-unity apart. In a last ditch attempt to pull my girls together, I wrote each one a letter reminding her of all the good things she contributed to the boat. It didn't really work, but it started me on my search.

Throughout junior and senior years in high school, I continued working. I memorized crew quotes, got feedback from coxswains with more experience than me, and even more importantly, my own rowers. I was constantly pestering my coach for advice and soaking up his little catch phrases. They always told me that coxswains couldn't win races.

By senior year, my quest had crystalized. I wanted to find the right magic words to win a race.

I don't mean that I could win a race in the sense of getting out there and pulling the oars through the water. In some ways, I will never be as essential as a rower, there are rowers who row without a coxswain. But for the men and women that I am coxing at the time, I am a key ingredient. Sure, I don't put the power on the water, but I try to urge the boat on faster with my voice, my tone, my very heart and believing. If my crew's techinque and mental attitude were falling apart due to being down off the start of a race, could I bring them together? Could I say the right phrases in the right way to get them to pull through? What words would make a crew win? There had to be a difference, or there wouldn't be a coxswain.

My rowers, those who heard of the quest as I grilled them for feedback, usually didn't agree that I could ever win a race for my boats. But they always encouraged me to keep on trying. After all, a coxswain with that kind of passion could never hurt.

So, with five seasons under my belt now, I know I haven't found the perfect formula. As the columnist Believer in the Stern on row2k.com claims, if you find these words, send them to me under triple encription and don't tell another soul. Until then, please join me on my journey into motivating your crew, the search for the magic words.

What have you heard of or found worked really well? Do you have comments or questions about motivation? Stories? Legends? Lore? That's what the comments are for, I'd love to hear it.

Welcome aboard on this journey into the magic world of your voice.

Ninthgirl

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