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Club Overview
Operating under the auspices of the River City Rowing Club, the RCRC
Juniors offer young people in 8th to 12th grade the opportunity to learn
to row, then compete against teams from throughout the western United
States. First year rowers are assigned to the RCRC Juniors Novice Team,
while those with at least a year's experience row as members of the
Varsity Team. RCRC offers teens a safe environment in which fitness,
self-discipline, teamwork and camaraderie are emphasized. Crew members get
the opportunity to race against other junior teams at regattas around the
state, including the 5700-meter Head of the Port hosted by RCRC.
The team practices at the Port of Sacramento in West Sacramento, a well-protected
body of water located close to downtown Sacramento. Practices are held from 4:30-6:30pm on weekdays and 8:00-10:30am on Saturdays. Novice rowers practice Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Varsity rowers practice Monday thru Saturday.
River City founded its Junior Crew in 1995 and has grown ever since. The junior crew is open to boys and girls in grades 8-12. Participants come from Davis, Sacramento, Woodland, West Sacramento and beyond. RCRC Juniors competes in the USRowing Southwest Junior Rowing Association, which consists of clubs/teams located throughout California and the southwest (Arizona, Utah, Colorado). We race in the annual Southwest Regional Junior Rowing Championships held at Lake Natoma in May. This race is the qualifying regatta for the USRowing Youth National Championships (YNC). The 2008-2009 season started with change in leadership on the parent level as well as a complete replacement of the coaching staff. The team saw many improvements both in terms of competitive success and program function.
In the women's single event, RCRC history was made as Sam Warren won the gold medal and qualified for the national championship regatta. She was the first athlete from River City ever to compete there. At the youth national championship, Sam raced phenominally well, leading to a silver medal performance. She continued racing in the summer to earn a spot on the U.S. Junior National Team, racing in the women's quad.
Since then, RCRC has continued to qualify boats to YNC. In 2010, the Women’s Quadruple sculls earned a 9th place finish. In 2011, RCRC sent 4 boats to YNC with 3 boats earning national placement. The Women’s Quadruple Sculls earned 8th place, the Men’s pair earned 5th place, and the Men’s Double Sculls earned 9th place.
River City Juniors have also made appearances on the USRowing Junior National Team, which selects top athletes from all over the country to represent the US in the World Championship regatta. River City has had the pleasure to have two athletes achieve this accomplishment (2008 – Justin Hopkins and 2009 – Samantha Warren) and many of our athletes have earned invites to the selection camps to try out for these crews.
Upon graduation from high school, several of RCRC alumni have earned scholarships to row in college. We currently have athletes representing RCRC at Columbia, Cal, Washington, Stanford, Cornell, University of San Diego, Trinity, Willamette, Sacramento State University, and Orange Coast College. Recruiters regularly attend varsity practices and our regattas. |
