“Head of the Genesee” Regatta Offers Sponsorship Opportunities
For the past 10 years, Stonehurst Capital has generously served as the lead regatta sponsor. The event brings more than 800 collegiate competitors to the area. The regatta has become a popular fall festival for the greater Rochester region, drawing more than 10,000 spectators annually to the banks of the Genesee River and Genesee Valley Park.
"The regatta is one of the few regional events that truly celebrates and highlights one of the Rochester community’s greatest natural assets,” said Deborah Stendardi, vice president for government and community relations at RIT. “The regatta is a very prestigious competition for collegiate rowing teams from the United States and Canada, and is one of the premier events on the fall rowing calendar, which also includes the “Head of the Charles” in Boston among others.”
In addition to RIT and UR, and other regional institutions, university participants typically include Harvard, Yale, Syracuse, University of Wisconsin, Brown, Colgate, St. Lawrence, Hamilton and Dartmouth in the U.S., as well as Queens and Brock Universities in Canada. Rowing, or crew, is becoming an increasingly popular and visible sport within the region, which has also spurred community-wide interest in the regatta.
Several area high schools currently offer rowing programs, including Pittsford, Brighton, Fairport, and McQuaid, with interest among high school students growing significantly each year.
“We would like to thank Stonehurst Capital for 10 years of dedicated service to the regatta,” said Stendardi. “We now anticipate working with new sponsors as we move forward with a great Rochester tradition.” As the naming sponsor, the Regatta Management Committee is asking for a three-year commitment in the amount of $50,000 per year to help underwrite this important intercollegiate and community event, said Stendardi.
The major “naming” sponsorship helps to underwrite the operations and competition costs associated with the event, such as insurance, entertainment, security and other related services and expenses. Individual labor involved in making the event happen is on an all-volunteer basis, including members of the Genesee Waterways Center and other crew enthusiasts in the region. The universities provide staffing to plan and implement the event. The Regatta Management Committee includes representatives from the City of Rochester and Monroe County Parks Department, community volunteers, and RIT and UR.
Local companies may also sponsor and participate in the “Corporate Challenge.” Here, company employees participate in a competitive and fun race after several training sessions with RIT and UR crew coaches.
The Corporate Challenge provides organizations with the opportunity to promote team building and spirit within their organizations. Eric Schoenhardt, a project director at The Pike Company, victors in last year’s Corporate Challenge, put it this way: “Rowing an eight man boat is not done, cannot be done, by individuals merely adding their skills together. It requires teamwork. Perfected, the rowers are not thinking about how the others are working but they have coordinated their strengths to work in concert and compliment with the others in the boat. When all eight rowers hit a few strokes together perfectly, the boat just leaps. It is a great sensation. Six months after the event there still remains a special unity and enthusiasm for rowing among those in our company that participated. We are looking forward to doing it again.”
To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, contact RIT’s Office of Government and Community Relations at 585-475-5012. Additional information about the regatta can be found at: http://www.headofthegenesee.com.