ROWING ON THE BANANA RIVER: SPACE COAST CREW
CONTRIBUTING WRITER: Crystal Marin, Satellite Beach Resident
Did you know that the first organized collegiate sport in the U.S. was not football or even baseball? It wasn’t golf, tennis or soccer either. It was rowing! Yale and Harvard raced their boats competitively on the Charles River marking the beginning of organized collegiate sports in the United States in 1852. Now fast forward 150 years later, the Space Coast has its very own rowing club right here on the Banana River.
The Space Coast Crew is a Brevard County rowing team that started over 20 years ago when multiple high school rowing teams came together to share resources and equipment. A myriad of teams quickly grew to become one club team. Today the Space Coast Crew club serves both middle and high school scholastic athletes from all over Brevard. There is approximately 150 youth student athlete members between the high school and middle school programs. The Space Coast Crew is committed to teaching rowing while simultaneously using the natural lessons that come with the sport to teach youth how to work hard, be patient and set goals.
The Space Coast Crew is a non-profit organization that was established in 1996 to promote the sport of rowing among Brevard County students in grades 6th through 12th. There is a professional coaching staff, but they also rely heavily on parents, community volunteers and community donors to operate, manage and maintain their wonderful programs. These students practice and workout every day except for Wednesdays and Sundays. It is a rigorous program for serious athletes. “Space Coast Crew is a growing family that is becoming even more competitive every day. We are looking for young athletes to join us and learn something new that they could use for their whole lifetime,” high school coach Bryan Little said.
The facility they use is Oars & Paddles Park in beautiful Indian Harbour Beach. They row on the Banana River where it meets the Intracoastal Waterway. Their nearly unlimited, well-protected waterway is some of the best in the state of Florida for rowing and paddling, according to their website.
The alumni of Space Coast Crew have rowed for colleges such as UCF, Stetson University, and Embry Riddle. Alumni also coach around the state of Florida and the Southeast. The Space Coast Crew high school team rowed in their first Regatta (boat race) of the year in Jacksonville, Florida, where they earned medals in five of the races. Coach Little says they are always recruiting new athletes and welcomes anyone interested in finding out more about Space Coast Crew to go to their website at www.spacecoastcrew.org.