#supportBEcrewteam
Bishop Eustace Preparatory School’s crew team has a long history of success at state and regional levels, preparing students for future success by teaching teamwork, resilience, and leadership skills. The team is affiliated with the NJSIAA (Non-Public A) and frequently competes in regional, national, and international events including the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, Stotesbury Cup Regatta (the world’s largest high school rowing event) and Garden State Scholastic Championships (the largest scholastic athletic event in New Jersey). All of these events attract thousands of rowers and spectators.
Participation in these events brings significant exposure and pride to the school, with its athletes competing in front of more people than any other sport at the school. In addition, crew, like other sports provides important life experiences to its athletes. Particularly for young women, rowing has become one of the most lucrative collegiate scholarship opportunities thanks to Title IX and the explosion in growth of female rowing teams over the last decade. Combined with the 2023 Deloitte survey findings, 69% of women in leadership roles played competitive sports. It’s clear that rowing plays an important role in the Bishop Eustace Preparatory School experience.
Yet, despite its important role, it has come to the attention of those associated with the team that the school is considering cutting the crew team, quoting budgetary issues. Since the pandemic, the team has had challenges rebuilding to its previous numbers. Crew has become increasingly popular in the area, with Bishop Eustace located directly across from the world-class rowing course on the Cooper River and nearby boathouse. Current and former crew parents recently met with administrative officials regarding a recruitment and fundraising strategy. We are confident that with our new, more aggressive strategies and a little time, we can ensure the sustainability of the program for future generations. Let us not sacrifice a program that offers so much to so many due to short-term challenges. Please join us in signing this petition to preserve the Bishop Eustace crew team and protect these opportunities for current and future student-athletes. Please do not make contributions through this site. Your signature is more than generous. Thank you!
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
April 24, 2026
Reached 100 supporters
April 23, 2026
93 Comments
It is a MISTAKE to cut this team. The cooper river is an incredible resource and the crew team is such a selling point to get kids into good and even Ivy League colleges who are highly active in recruiting rowers.
Two of my children benefited from the life lessons of being part of a rowing team: hard work, discipline, strategy, the power of synchronization, true grit and so much more. It's part of the BE institution. Please find a way to keep the program.
This team meant more to me than I can explain. I went on to row in college because of the joy that this team brought me. It gave me more than just a workout. It was about community, friendship, support, progress, and the unmistakable bond that comes with being in a boat where everyone shares the same goal as you. Save Eustace Crew!!
Rowing at eustace was what made the school bearable. It introduced me to lifelong friends and made me a lot of connections for my future that I didn’t even realize at the time. It would be a shame to see one of the school’s most important sports disappear, especially since it has always been one of the most neglected by the school.
Crew is a growing sport that offers tremendous scholarship opportunities to its students. Eustace will struggle to attract students looking at prep schools if it cuts programs like crew those students look for. The school seems to find money whenever it wants to fund much bigger projects than this!
I want to do crew at Eustace. It’s one of the big reasons that I chose the school. I enjoy rowing so much and how much of a team sport it is.
The amount of scholarship money that will be lost with our rowers NOT rowing for our school is disgraceful. To word an email to everyone at Eustace stating only five rowers in the spring just to make the general public think oh they don’t even have enough rowers to have a team is very misleading to make the team look bad. The public should know you can enter singles, doubles, fours. They should also know that out of the five rowers one senior got a FULL RIDE to a Division I school. Also stating that it will be more competitive for them to row for Cooper Juniors just means they will have to compete to even have the opportunity to be in a boat at a regatta and have an opportunity to even race. Getting rid of the crew team robs our students of scholarship opportunities and will change the trajectory of their futures. This decision was made by people that have NOT even been to a regatta to show support for their own crew team even when the team is racing on Cooper River. You should be ashamed of yourselves for neglecting this portion of YOUR student body. I never thought the people at Eustace would behave this way. Not really that proud to say my child goes to Eustace right now. You can and should do better by ALL of your student athletes including the ones that don’t choose a “ball” sport.
Sign Petition
We never post to your account. Social sign-in is used only to verify your signature.
Add a comment?
Your signature will be added via . Tell others why you're signing — it's optional.
By signing, you accept our Terms and Privacy Policy and agree to occasional emails about petitions. Unsubscribe anytime.
Share this petition
Share this petition to help it reach more people.
Your share link
#supportBEcrewteam
Bishop Eustace Preparatory School’s crew team has a long history of success at state and regional levels, preparing students for future success by teaching teamwork, resilience, and leadership skills. The team is affiliated with the NJSIAA (Non-Public A) and frequently competes in regional, national, and international events including the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, Stotesbury Cup Regatta (the world’s largest high school rowing event) and Garden State Scholastic Championships (the largest scholastic athletic event in New Jersey). All of these events attract thousands of rowers and spectators.
Participation in these events brings significant exposure and pride to the school, with its athletes competing in front of more people than any other sport at the school. In addition, crew, like other sports provides important life experiences to its athletes. Particularly for young women, rowing has become one of the most lucrative collegiate scholarship opportunities thanks to Title IX and the explosion in growth of female rowing teams over the last decade. Combined with the 2023 Deloitte survey findings, 69% of women in leadership roles played competitive sports. It’s clear that rowing plays an important role in the Bishop Eustace Preparatory School experience.
Yet, despite its important role, it has come to the attention of those associated with the team that the school is considering cutting the crew team, quoting budgetary issues. Since the pandemic, the team has had challenges rebuilding to its previous numbers. Crew has become increasingly popular in the area, with Bishop Eustace located directly across from the world-class rowing course on the Cooper River and nearby boathouse. Current and former crew parents recently met with administrative officials regarding a recruitment and fundraising strategy. We are confident that with our new, more aggressive strategies and a little time, we can ensure the sustainability of the program for future generations. Let us not sacrifice a program that offers so much to so many due to short-term challenges. Please join us in signing this petition to preserve the Bishop Eustace crew team and protect these opportunities for current and future student-athletes. Please do not make contributions through this site. Your signature is more than generous. Thank you!
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
April 24, 2026
Reached 100 supporters
April 23, 2026
93 Comments
My daughter Elizabeth rowed for BE crew in 2008 - 2010 - Stotesbury Champions! She went on to be a scholarship rower at Drexel where she won medals at Dad Vail and rowed at Henley. Her teammates were her best friends and she learned so much about discipline and teamwork from this fantastic sport.
It is a MISTAKE to cut this team. The cooper river is an incredible resource and the crew team is such a selling point to get kids into good and even Ivy League colleges who are highly active in recruiting rowers.
Two of my children benefited from the life lessons of being part of a rowing team: hard work, discipline, strategy, the power of synchronization, true grit and so much more. It's part of the BE institution. Please find a way to keep the program.
This team meant more to me than I can explain. I went on to row in college because of the joy that this team brought me. It gave me more than just a workout. It was about community, friendship, support, progress, and the unmistakable bond that comes with being in a boat where everyone shares the same goal as you. Save Eustace Crew!!
Rowing at eustace was what made the school bearable. It introduced me to lifelong friends and made me a lot of connections for my future that I didn’t even realize at the time. It would be a shame to see one of the school’s most important sports disappear, especially since it has always been one of the most neglected by the school.
Crew is a growing sport that offers tremendous scholarship opportunities to its students. Eustace will struggle to attract students looking at prep schools if it cuts programs like crew those students look for. The school seems to find money whenever it wants to fund much bigger projects than this!
I want to do crew at Eustace. It’s one of the big reasons that I chose the school. I enjoy rowing so much and how much of a team sport it is.
The amount of scholarship money that will be lost with our rowers NOT rowing for our school is disgraceful. To word an email to everyone at Eustace stating only five rowers in the spring just to make the general public think oh they don’t even have enough rowers to have a team is very misleading to make the team look bad. The public should know you can enter singles, doubles, fours. They should also know that out of the five rowers one senior got a FULL RIDE to a Division I school. Also stating that it will be more competitive for them to row for Cooper Juniors just means they will have to compete to even have the opportunity to be in a boat at a regatta and have an opportunity to even race. Getting rid of the crew team robs our students of scholarship opportunities and will change the trajectory of their futures. This decision was made by people that have NOT even been to a regatta to show support for their own crew team even when the team is racing on Cooper River. You should be ashamed of yourselves for neglecting this portion of YOUR student body. I never thought the people at Eustace would behave this way. Not really that proud to say my child goes to Eustace right now. You can and should do better by ALL of your student athletes including the ones that don’t choose a “ball” sport.
Help this petition grow
Share it with friends to help reach 500 signatures.
Sign Petition
We never post to your account. Social sign-in is used only to verify your signature.
Add a comment?
Your signature will be added via .
Tell others why you're signing — it's optional.
Signing with Google or Facebook verifies your signature instantly — no email needed.
By signing, you accept our Terms and Privacy Policy and agree to occasional emails about petitions. Unsubscribe anytime.
Share this petition
Share this petition to help it reach more people.
Your share link
Petitions like this
Other petitions you might want to support
Scan to share
Anyone who scans this can sign the petition.
My daughter Elizabeth rowed for BE crew in 2008 - 2010 - Stotesbury Champions! She went on to be a scholarship rower at Drexel where she won medals at Dad Vail and rowed at Henley. Her teammates were her best friends and she learned so much about discipline and teamwork from this fantastic sport.