UF Crew members are ready to get their feet wet after more than a month of dry-land training.
Two of the three motors from the coaches' boats were stolen Nov. 29, severely limiting practice on the water.
The team hopes to finally get new motors purchased with both school funding and its own resources sometime this week.
Adam Kallin, the team's president, said the motors are an essential safety precaution, and they allow the coaches to instruct rowers out on the water.
The Sport Clubs Council, a governing board composed of eight students from different sport clubs, considered the team's request for $3,100 to buy new motors on Jan. 10, said Eric Ascher, sport clubs coordinator for the UF Department of Recreational Sports.
The ruling was delayed because the council had concluded meetings for the semester when the request was submitted, Ascher said.
Regardless, the team is frustrated with the pace of action. Its first race is Feb. 23, Kallin said.
"We alerted the school about this a month ago," he said. "No action was done until the first week back."
The council members decided to give the team $1,500 from "special-request funding" to buy one motor. The team will replace the other motor with money it earned through fundraising.
John Kauderman, president of the Sport Clubs Council, said the special-request funding allocation covers emergencies, but larger allocations of money are reserved for situations that completely debilitate a team. He said the council decided money for one motor would be sufficient for practice to continue.
Some team members don't feel that enough has been done.
"We're trying to become an elite team," said Matt Hoover, a member of the varsity men's team. "And we feel like RecSports doesn't care about us at all."
