The First of Many Small Club Saturdays: Richmond Community Rowing

USRowing will feature a new small club on a Saturday once a month to highlight their achievements and mission. The first is Richmond Community Rowing.

Based in Richmond, Va. and founded in 2016, RCR shares a boathouse with the VCU Crew Club and Virginia Boat Club. The club is in the process of building a boathouse in which they aim to have study spaces, host tutoring programs, yoga and fitness courses and general health and wellness clinics for its athletes (primarily juniors).

Mission

RCR's mission is to make rowing accessible to everyone, regardless of background, ability, or experience. They aim to provide a sense of community and promote a healthy lifestyle that influences their athletes beyond the river.

Club Background

RCR was founded by Mason Brown and Tim Nesselrodt, both former Virginia Commonwealth University club crew athletes in Richmond, Virginia. Mason and Tim saw huge potential in the James River and wanted to build an organization that was accessible to a broader audience. Rowing is not a very developed sport in Richmond so Mason and Tim wanted to bring more programming to the area, specifically targeting the underserved community.

Program Structure

Each program exists to serve all participating athletes. The club understands that everyone's relationship to rowing is unique and aims to honor that by being flexible and available for their athletes. For athletes who are just interested in participating at a recreational level, RCR doesn't push mandatory attendance and provides the resources needed for a safe, enjoyable row. For athletes interested in being competitive, they provide more structure and formal training.

Initiatives to Bring in Participants

For its adaptive program, RCR partners with Sportable, one of the top Paralympic sport clubs in the country. They do a lot of the recruiting on their end and feed athletes into RCR through Sportable memberships. For junior athletes, a lot of our outreach is done through Richmond Public Schools. In addition to youth programs and adult learn to row, the club provides more competitive programs, which are mostly made up of VCU graduates who have a desire to continue their rowing career beyond college.

For more on Richmond Community Rowing, click here.