Letter from Lisa Iverson:
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am pleased and excited to announce that Kate Hebdon has accepted our position of Director of Rowing, and Matt Hebdon has accepted the position of Head Coach of the Youth Program.
Kate’s position is a full-time salaried position that includes being the Adult’s Head Coach and overseeing the club operations and programming as a whole. She brings experience as a Adult’s head coach along with project management and organizational skills to bring our volunteer-driven club to the next level. Kate will report directly to the Board President.
Matt’s position is hourly, like our other coaches. He brings valuable experience as a Youth head coach and developing young athletes to meet their goals. This position will report to the Board Vice President.
Kate and Matt have already moved to Olympia and are to begin their positions with OAR on August 16th.
Everyone who had the opportunity to meet Matt and Kate Hebdon should easily recognize the energy, excitement, tireless work ethic, and vision that this couple will bring to OAR. The Board is enthusiastically behind this rather unique decision to hire them both. We believe they are well-suited to re-energize the Masters Program and further build our robust Youth Program as we emerge from the pandemic. We are looking to them to organize, coordinate, and implement new initiatives to improve our club functioning as a whole and further connect OAR with the Olympia community.
As a Board, we are committed to doing everything possible to make this transition in leadership and organizational structure a success. We know we have work ahead of us, and we ask that all club members and families join us in an open, positive, collaboration with Kate and Matt as they transition into their new roles. We want to make it clear that we do not envision any lessened need for volunteerism, although we expect some shifts in who does what, and some streamlining of some operations.
Sincerely,
Lisa Iverson, President Olympia Area Rowing Board of Directors