BUFFALO — Sasha Bailey was a team captain during the most successful era of University at Buffalo rowing and now the UB grad is back on Tonawanda Creek helping interim head coach Kerri Brace restore the rowing program to its glory days.
Prior to this season, Bailey was hired as novice assistant coach after spending four years working for RowNY – a non-profit organization in New York City. RowNY served under-resourced schools in New York City with a mission to empower youth through the sport of rowing as well as academic enrichment and support.
When Brace got wind Bailey was interested in returning to Western New York, she wasted little time offering her an opportunity to serve as the novice coach at her alma mater.
“We really needed someone with a mindset of created an established culture of what it takes to be a Division I rower,” Brace said “We had a good foundation, we just needed to harness it and bring it out and there is no denying that I thought Sasha would be able to help bring that out.”
Bailey rowed at UB from 2007-11, arguably the best era in program history. In 2010, the Bulls became the first team in Dad Vail Regatta history to capture the Jack and Nancy Seitz Trophy in three consecutive years as women’s point champions. Buffalo also won the Colonial Athletic Association championship in 2010.
Bailey hopes to help Brace renew the winning culture she experienced as a student-athlete. Now, as a novice coach, she relates her previous experiences as a rower and what she has learned as a coach since leaving UB.
“I felt like I could have an attachment to bringing the program back to what it was a few years ago, but also trying to grow it from there,” Bailey said. “I tell them that ‘you have a chance to create the path that you want to create and change this program and turn this program around. You can be the class that makes the change.’ “I try to correlate it with my experience when I was here.”
Another reason Bailey wanted to return to UB was to work with Brace who was named the interim head coach over the summer. The two complement each other well and Bailey felt the experience she had gained would be an asset.
“I knew that Kerri and I had a lot in common in terms of our coaching styles and method,” Bailey said. “I felt like it could be a place that I could come back to and bring a different perspective in terms of the coaching experience I had gained in the last couple years.”
This fall will mark the 20th anniversary of the first Division I rowing team at UB. Brace hopes that bringing Bailey, an alum of the program, back as an assistant coach will help cultivate relationships with former UB rowers.
“We are really focused on making sure the alumni know their value and they know they are welcome here and they are permanent family members,” Brace said. “We’ve had some great highlights over those 20 years and we want to make sure those girls know that we want them still involved and active in this program.”
Together, Brace and Bailey hope this is just the beginning of many new highlights for UB rowing.
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