Coaches are educators and leaders, not customer-service representatives.

By CJ Bown

The recent SafeSport survey that revealed the reasons for coach attrition didn’t tell me anything new. It simply put data behind conversations many coaches have been having with me for years.

Rowing coaches aren’t burning out and leaving the sport because they don’t care. Coaches are burning out and leaving because the job has expanded far beyond coaching. For many coaches, the job now involves managing parents, and most do so without training, structure, or support.

In rowing, pressure rarely shows up on the sideline. In fact, there really isn’t a sideline where it can manifest. Rowing doesn’t look like most youth sports. There aren’t parents yelling at officials or shouting instructions from the stands. There’s no obvious flashpoint.

The pressure on coaches builds elsewhere. In emails. In texts.

In conversations that begin politely and slowly turn into second-guessing of training plans, development timelines, and race-day lineups.

Why did they do that at practice? Why are they seat racing again? Why isn’t my athlete in the top boat?

None of these questions is unreasonable on its own. But with 50 plus athletes on the team, these conversations compound, creating an environment where coaches feel constantly evaluated and quietly undermined. That’s exactly the kind of tension and distrust the SafeSport survey describes.

Rowing is a long-term lifelong sport competing with a short-term “give me results now” culture.

Many families come to rowing with expectations shaped by other sports, where advancement feels faster and outcomes are better understood.  Rowing isn’t on SportsCenter and it’s not “mainstream,” so when rowing doesn’t deliver immediate validation, frustration builds. The coach becomes the most obvious place for that frustration to land.

The SafeSport data make clear that this dynamic is a major driver of coach burnout. In rowing, it’s compounded by the reality that many junior programs rely heavily on dues and fundraising. That creates an imbalance where coaches can feel exposed when pressure escalates and expectations collide with the cost and leverage of paid dues.

Rowing already runs on a thin coaching pipeline. There are few full-time roles, limited paths for advancement, and let’s be honest, not much money. Despite growing youth participation and demand, the sport relies on a small number of highly committed coaches carrying an oversized load for modest to no pay.

The incentives to coach in rowing aren’t strong. Hours are long and unpredictable. Early mornings, late nights, and weekends on the road. Compensation is limited and plateaus quickly.

Add constant parental pressure on top of that, and the question becomes obvious: Why would a good coach choose to do this long term?

When a coach leaves, the impact is immediate. I know; I get this call once a week. Rowing knowledge walks out the door. Teams scramble to find a novice coach so development doesn’t stall. Continuity with the varsity team breaks.

In most cases, programs don’t fail loudly, they shrink quietly, scale back, or fade out over a few seasons.

It’s a structural, foundational problem baked into how the sport operates. And it’s why the SafeSport findings aren’t surprising. Now, those of us in rowing have to work together to build and support the response.

Parent management isn’t just an important skill. It’s a core part of the job.

I’ve worked in the sport a long time and spent countless hours around both the coaches and the parent boards that support junior rowing teams. To me, the most important takeaway from the SafeSport survey is the need for better education, training, and support specific to managing parents.

My recommendations:

Coaches must be prepared for the full scope of the role.

This is on the coaches as much as it is on the parent boards. Coaching education does a solid job covering technique, training, and safety. But it doesn’t do a great job of teaching communication, expectation setting, and conflict navigation—areas that consume the most time and emotional energy.

Expectations must be set early and consistently.

Most conflicts don’t appear mid-season. They grow out of assumptions that were never addressed up front. Clear, consistent parent education can reduce a significant amount of friction before it reaches the coach, which matters when coaches are already working long hours for modest pay.

Support must be structural, not just verbal.

Saying “we support our coaches” doesn’t mean anything if, when pressure rises, coaches are left to handle it alone. While I understand that parent volunteers on the board are busy, too, when coaches are questioned, real support and real backing matter even more.

Coaches are educators and leaders, not customer-service representatives. When that line blurs, authority erodes, hours expand, and burnout accelerates. In a sport where coaches aren’t paid well to begin with, that tradeoff stops making sense very quickly.

Schools and boards must create a coach-support policy that relieves coaches of parent-conflict management. It needs to protect coaching authority through clearly defined escalation and communication protocols.

Honesty about development matters, too.

It’s hard for parents to hear that a son or daughter might not be the star athlete they want them to be. Not every athlete rows varsity. Not every athlete is recruited. When those realities aren’t stated bluntly, parental frustration and disappointment can build.

Those feelings then land on coaches, who are already doing the best they can to support the team. Programs should state realistic development and recruiting expectations for families before the season begins so coaches don’t have to manage cases of disappointment individually.

Combine the above recommendations and we can position coaches for real success—but only if we act and make actual changes.

The SafeSport survey doesn’t solve a mystery; it confirms something coaches already know. Unmanaged parent pressure is a major reason they leave. The fix isn’t complicated but it requires intent and follow-through. Do these things and you reduce the pressure that drives good coaches out of rowing.

The rowing community doesn’t need to panic but we do need to recognize that protecting coaches is as important as protecting athletes. It’s a responsibility we can’t keep ignoring.

C.J. Bown began his coaching career at Marquette University. He is vice president of sales at Pocock Racing Shells and president of sales and marketing at Finish Line Shell Repair.

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