Waco Rowing Center’s goal is to be highly competitive within five years on the national scene, with the goal of sending an athlete to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. We support our athletes through community engagement (partnerships with local businesses, relationships with local elected officials and schools) and academic and mentorship support (college readiness, college trips for our athletes, SAT/ACT tutoring, financial lessons and college essay workshops). All with a strong focus on social emotional learning (SEL) with a rowing-based youth development manual, pre/mid/post SEL surveys for the athletes, and SEL workshops for coaches.
Steeped in great tradition, but also becoming hindered by it, rowing is evolving. Considered elitist, fighting for its place in the Olympic program against X-Games styled sports, rowing needs to embrace coastal rowing and different formats and distances while becoming more inclusive. There is an opportunity to strike on the inevitable changes coming to rowing. No longer just Ivy League teams in the Northeast or Cal and Washington on the West Coast. Rowing is making its way to Texas. The rowing world is seeking something new, and that is exactly what we are building here.
F rom day one, we have embraced adding faces to the sport and opening doors for our city’s youth. For example, here are a few schools WRC ED Matthew Scheuritzel helped send student-athletes to: University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Cornell, Georgetown, George Washington, Navy, Boston University, Princeton, University of Washington, Yale, Stanford, Air Force Academy, California Berkeley, and many more. With the local leadership on our board, and the relationships our national board members and ED have with the coaches and admissions offices of the above schools, Waco Rowing has already generated national buzz.
Team
What’s the next big thing in rowing? Waco.
Matthew Scheuritzel
Executive Director
