2025 Fundraising Campaign

Texas Crew is in a pivotal stage in it’s growth as a collegiate rowing club and is in need of our help to continue it’s phenomenal momentum. The sport of collegiate rowing has rapidly grown in the United States over the last 20 years, as has the competition. In a sport decided by milliseconds and inches, to set our team up for success, they must be able to leverage the top of their class. From the coaching staff to the equipment, everything has a massive impact.

Texas Crew has just completed a historical racing season. They started the year placing 5th out of 39 and 6th out of 42 in the Women’s and Men’s Collegiate 4+’s respectively at the Head of the Charles. Our club’s highest finish at HOCR since 2009. At the 2025 Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Regatta, the team took home betting tanks from 21 different universities after winning both the men’s and women’s varsity 4+ events. They capped off the year taking home national championship titles at the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) by winning the men’s varsity and men’s novice 4+ events. Over the past 4 years and thanks to head coach Sean McKenna and his coaching staff, the team has claimed two men’s small boats trophies and 8 top 3 finishes across the men’s and women’s side at ACRA. This nearly triples the amount of medals earned from the entire decade prior. It is now time for TCF to respond with the financial support needed to continue the team’s momentum.

The Texas Crew Foundation aims to financially support Texas Crew through five facets: coach salaries, scholarship awards, team endowment, training camps and equipment. This 2025 summer fundraising campaign aims to primarily support three of these with a campaign goal of $25,000: coaching salaries, equipment and endowment. $15,000 will be allocated to coach salaries, $8,000 to equipment, $3,000 and beyond will be allocated to build the Texas Crew Endowment Fund.

Time to get back in the racing spirit! Donors will be grouped by decade and compete to earn their class various prizes. The top contributing era will earn naming rights to the next Texas Crew shell!

Classes will be grouped into the following years to compete!

• 1969-1984

• 1985-1994

• 1995-2004

• 2005-2014

• 2015-2024

Hi all,

My name is Sean McKenna. I've been the Texas Crew coach for the past 3 years.

We finished an undefeated season (racing 64 crews and losing to none) in the Varsity 4+ earning what is (to my knowledge) Texas Crew's first national title in a heavyweight event. We also beat out 29 other crews to defend the Novice 4+ national title we won last year. The team spent three weeks ranked top 10 in the row2k CMax rankings out of 61 ACRA clubs.

In my 3 years we've gone from a group of 10-12 part time rowers to the national spotlight by winning a lot of medals at ACRA, SIRA, Dad Vail, Hooch, and Head of the Charles. In the Row2k recap, Texas was mentioned more than Michigan, Purdue, UCLA, Notre Dame, etc.

We don't have enough seats in boats to have a full team. On a good day (no breakage) we can get 49 heads rowing. That includes the 2 "new to us" 8+’s bought by anonymous parents and friends all the way down to the “Row vs Wake” which takes on water but still floats.

Problem: 49 people paying dues doesn't cover our operating expenses. 

Next year's goal is to "Light the Tower" by winning the overall points trophy. To do so, we ideally need 73 heads minimum. 

We need:

• 7 person coaching staff - $40,000

• 4 "new to us" 8+'s for novices - $20,000

• 2 "new to us" 8+'s for racing - $20,000

• 3 sets of "new to us" oars - $5,000

• 3 "new to us" cox box sets - $2,500

• Misc. hardware to refurbish existing equip - $2,500

• Spring training trip to Natchitoches  - $10,000

We haven't yet arrived at the point where our 15+ year old boats hold us back from winning but we will be next year.  A new 8+ costs $60-$70,000. The bus to ACRA alone is ~$15,000.

The world of club rowing is changing. Despite our wins, Texas Crew is getting left in the dust. 

I've enjoyed my 3 years with Texas Crew but, with other programs offering to pay 2x and 3x more than Texas, I can't stay here much longer. I pay most of our coaches "total comp package" out of pocket because they spend more on Texas Crew than Texas Crew spends on them.

This team will be a revolving door with a new coach rebuilding every 2 years, for as long as the kids pay the salary. Imagine if your salary was determined by your newest employee. I'm not saying the reason the coaches salary got cut 30% this year was because some of my 19 year old bosses lost seat races, but it could have been. Ultimately, this is your team, you need to decide if you want a sustainable system.

Myself and the other coaches would love to stay on for the '25-'26 season, but we can't without alumni support. 

Please consider everything you gained through this team and this sport. Help us provide those same benefits to the next generation. 

Thanks,

Sean

Texas Crew currently operates at around 50% of an operating budget compared to legacy club programs of similar size. These programs are largely subsidized by alumni organizations managing a team endowment to consistently allow their programs to remain competitive on the national stage. This is the eventual goal and mission of TCF.

Thank you to each and every one of you that has supported and continues to support Texas Crew. We all share a unique bond through the world of sport and would love to continue to grow that bond with the next generation. Any and all contributions are greatly appreciated. Please help keep Texas Crew in the national spotlight with a contribution today.