GLRF hosts a booth at the 2014 ACRAs

GLRF hosted a booth at the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) Championships 24 - 25 May 2014 on Lake Lanier in Gaivesville, Georgia, United States. The racing venue is the site of the 1996 Olympic rowing competition.

ACRA was was formed in 2008 to provide a means for American university club (non-varsity) programmes to compete at the end of the school year. Membership is open to all collegiate, junior college, and community college teams that are not eligible to compete for the NCAA or IRA Championship.

The event brought competitors from all over the United States, including the Mid-Atlantic, the Northeast, the Midwest, the South, and the West Coast.

The event's popularity has grown every year. In 2013, 57 schools competed, bringing 844 men and 442 women to compete in 1x, 2x, 2-, 4+, and 8+ boat divisions. Attendance at the 2014 event saw attendance rise by almost 10% with 64 schools competing.

The GLRF booth was enthusiastically embraced by the athletes, many of whom were unaware of the organization. The crazy spandex shorts and tights were once again the hot item for sale, much to the consternation of a few uptight coaches (homophobic or just worried about his/her resume stature?). A new product featured at the booth got a lot of attention: The Coxies Cure. The product is championed by actors, musicians, and voice over speakers who rave at its almost instantaneous ability to restore a hoarse voice.

The GLRF booth also served as the official soft launch for the newest feature of the GLRF website: Categories of the Rowing Community. The new Categories application offers all aspects of the worldwide rowing community a means to connect and network and create groups for their specific area of interest. Currently the Categories application offers separate community platforms for Adaptive, Coaches, Coxies, Juniors, Masters, OpenElite, Race Officials, University, and Women.