Youth Program Overview

General
We serve between 10 and 20 youth aged 12-18 (8th grade – 12th grade) with one head coach and volunteer assistant coaches.  We practice 4-5 times per week, mostly at 5:30pm, at one of three locations discussed below. Our year is divided into four seasons, with the spring and the fall being the busiest competitively. We participate in competitions approximately 6- 8 times per year. Our program is geared for youth of all ages and abilities, and everyone learns both types of rowing: sweep and sculling. A swim test is required, and 45-90 minutes of vigorous exercise is part of every session.  Beginners (novices) are brought on typically at the start of each season. There is always a coach in a nearby safety launch when youth are on the river; when at the lake, the coach rows near or with the youth athletes. Some of the land training is conducted by the youth captains.

Head Coach
Maggie (Eure) Boccuzzo started her rowing career in 2015 with the YMCA Quad Cities Team. She joined the DMR Juniors a year later, where she rowed from 2016-2020. Recruited by The Florida Institute of Technology as a dual-sport athlete in both rowing and swimming, she competed on both varsity teams until 2022, when the rowing program was cancelled. She continued swimming her last two years and graduated in May 2024 with a degree in Civil Engineering.

Maggie has a background in coaching youth, in rowing and swimming, lifeguarding, and working with children and young adults with disabilities.

Coaching Philosophy
The top priorities of this program are safety, fun, exposure to all aspects of the sport of rowing and skill development. Some participants go on to row in college, but it is not the expectation. We do our best to accommodate various schedules and maintain flexibility around other youth activities, as nearly all of the youth are very busy outside of rowing. As a growing competitive team, it is also our objective to reward dedication, hard work, and attendance. Who gets to row in which boat for practices and races is a balance of these factors along with other constraints including boat availability, skill levels, regatta event schedules, fairness, and competitive aspirations.  Coaches will do their best to place each youth in at least two events at each regatta unless there are unique circumstances which would be discussed with the youth prior to the regatta. 

Signing Up
Sign up for a Youth Learn to Row is through Event Brite.

When signing up for the Youth team, the registration platform for Des Moines Rowing is iCrew. All youth members and their parents/guardians must create iCrew accounts for payment and organization. Novice Youth registration is here. New Parent/Guardian registration is here. If you have already signed up on iCrew, please use your account to login, go to the Club Home tab and scroll down to the Registration Profiles to register. Contact [email protected] for assistance.

Communication
We use three main channels of communication. Most importantly is GroupMe. After registering, please download the app and you will be invited into the chats (there is one for youth only, and a second for youth, parents/guardians, and coaches.) The second channel is email, using the addresses registered in iCrew. The third channel is within a shared Google sign-up calendar (you will receive this link once you’ve registered), which is where athletes let coaches & captains know the practices and regattas they will attend.

Locations

  • Des Moines River boathouse – our primary facility is located beside the Birdland Marina. In 2024, the river levels have been unsafe to row; luckily, we now have…
  • Easter Lake boathouse – a new boathouse opened in May 2024 at the Easter Lake North Shore Project.
  • Wellmark YMCA – is where we conduct many of our winter training sessions. A YMCA membership is required to participate. However, some sessions will be at in the Easter Lake erg room.

Seasons and Fees

  • Sessions: Spring session runs from April 1 – June 15. Summer session begins on June 16 – August 31. Fall session is September 1 – the weekend of the Frost Bite regatta in Wichita (typically the first Sunday in November). Winter session runs from December 1 through the end of March. 
  • Fees: For 2024, the spring, summer, and fall sessions each cost $390 (except Novices pay $300 for their first session). The 2024-2025 winter session will likely cost $175 and may require an optional YMCA membership (roughly one third of workouts will be held at the Wellmark Y). However, winter training might also be held at the Easter Lake boathouse erg room.
  • Regattas and Traveling: in addition to the fees listed above, participants are expected to attend regattas with associated travel costs and entry fees. Questions about these costs can be directed to the parent organizer listed below.
  • Scholarships: families for whom these costs present a hardship may apply to the Board for scholarships. Questions about eligibility should be directed to the parent organizer listed below.

Key Upcoming Dates in 2024

  • March 30 – Saturday: Youth Learn to Row – spring session 1, 8am-11am. Sign-up here.
  • April 7 – Sunday: Youth Learn to Row – spring session 2, 8am-11am. Sign-up here. 
  • April 20-21 – Saturday (travel) and Sunday (comepetition and travel): Illinois Junior Rowing Championship
  • April 26-27 – Friday (travel) and Saturday (competition and travel): Camp Randall Invite (Madison, WI)
  • May 3-5 – Friday (travel), Saturday (competition), and Sunday (competition and travel): Indianapolis Junior Sprints
  • June 15 – Friday (travel) and Saturday (competition and travel): Minneapolis Sprints
  • August 5 -8 – 4-day Youth Learn to Row session, 4:30 – 6:30pm. Sign up here.
  • September 28 – Des Moines Regatta at Easter Lake
  • October 5 – Head of the Mississippi regatta in Minneapolis, MN
  • October 13 – Head of the Rock regatta in Rockford, IL
  • October 19 – Iowa Chase regatta in Iowa City, IA
  • November 3 – Wichita Frost Bite Regatta in Wichita, KS

Contacts

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