VW Coaching Staff
Women's Coaching Staff
Featured
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Director of Women’s Rowing
Allison Ray
Allison has been the Head Coach of the Varsity Women at Oakland Strokes since Fall 2014 and the Director of Women's Rowing since 2018. Allison began coaching in 1998 and has experience at all levels of rowing in the USA and Canada, domestically and internationally, including coaching at the Olympic Games.
Allison is proud of her accomplishments prior to working at Oakland which include multiple coaching awards, coaching at 13 international regattas and contributing a chapter in "Real Women, Real Leaders" by Kathleen Hurley and Priscilla Shumway. Allison graduated from the National Coaching Institute with her Canadian Level 4 Coaching Certification.
While at Oakland, Allison has led the team to multiple Youth National Championships, top team performances at the Southwest Regional Championships and outstanding performances at Head of the Charles Regatta. Allison is most proud of all the hard work that Oakland does every day to develop and foster a team environment where everyone belongs, has the opportunity to perform and is a place that the alumni want to come back to.
Women’s Assistant Coach
Boathouse Manager
Natalie started rowing for a small sculling club at 12 years old. After 5 years of sculling she switched to Oakland Strokes in her senior year of high school for a more competitive experience. Natalie has been to Youth Nationals twice; first in 2014 for the lightweight women’s double and secondly with Oakland Strokes lightweight women’s eight. She became a national champion in 2017 with said lightweight eight. Natalie has since gone on to row with multiple colleges. Having been on many teams with many coaches Natalie has in depth knowledge of how to find your place on a team with success and knowing what is best for you. She was always been interested in coaching, so when the opportunity came to she had no hesitation.
Natalie found her way to Boathouse Manager through curiosity. Throughout her rowing career Natalie had a strong interest in how everything worked in rowing. With lots of questions and time she learned how to take care of the equipment. She’s been obsessed with finding out how anything works since she was young.
Natalie studied Art History at Cal Poly Humboldt
Assistant Coach
Isaac joined the Oakland Strokes in the fall of 2023. He learned to row in Cambridge, Massachusetts, spending his high school years on the Charles River. He went on to row for two years at Brown University. After graduating in 2018, he spent time away from the sport working in education. He moved to the Bay Area in August.
Assistant Coach
2022 is Izzie’s first season with Oakland Strokes. Izzie comes to our program with over 40 years of coaching and rowing experience. Programs coached include the novice women at Temple University and Mount Holyoke College (MHC) and at Craftsbury Sculling Center and Florida Rowing Center. She is most proud of the novice women who earned the title “most successful crew in MHC program history” after winning Eastern Sprints and finishing third at national championships. Izzie is a two-time US National Team member competing in the heavyweight 4X and earning silver in the lightweight 2X, Pan Am Games, 1995. Izzie started rowing as a junior at Northfield Mount Hermon on the Connecticut River in Massachusetts. Izzie’s hopes for Oakland Strokes student-athletes are to help them realize the life-long value in: 1) showing up and 2) trying their best-on-that-day everyday.
In grad school she studied 2K race performance and carbohydrate consumption. Izzie created The Boathouse Row Cookbook; an inspirational example of the strong and uplifting bond among the Philadelphia rowing community. She has been a speaker at USRowing annual conventions and provides nutrition guidance to rowing programs nationally. Previous work includes being a clinical dietitian at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Alta Bates Summit Medical Center.
When not coaching, Izzie can be found sculling at Berkeley Paddle and Rowing Club, teaching nutrition and exercise physiology at San Jose State University or playing with her two daughters; one plays beach volleyball and the other rows.
Women’s Assistant Coach
Administrative Coordinator
2022 is Emma’s first year working with Oakland Strokes. Emma began rowing in 2012 for a small sculling program in Oakland. She qualified for Youth Nationals twice throughout high school, winning the silver medal in the Women’s pair in 2017. Emma was recruited and rowed all four years at Oregon State University. In her final year she helped Oregon State to a 14th place finish at the NCAA Championships. She earned the Suzanne Wilkins Most Inspirational award in 2021.
Emma graduated in 2022 with a degree in Kinesiology. After graduation, she spent the summer working on a farm in Oregon driving tractors and baling hay. She returned to the Bay Area in the fall and is excited to be coaching for Strokes!
Email Emma