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Founding Story
Coach always said that winning a championship is done just as much off the water as it is on the water. The life of a student-athlete is a tough one. With a full academic load and many practice hours, rowing is not a sport for everyone. Of the 23 recruited athletes in the Class of 2017, only 2 made it all four years on the Cal Men's Rowing Team.
Attrition can be divided into two categories, controllable and noncontrollable. Controllable stems from the day to day activities of a student-athlete like class, training load, advisers, and scheduling conflicts. Things that can be avoided with support, planning, and hard work. Noncontrollable are financial, medical, and the desire to row.
Making it through Cal Crew is an intense life-changing experience that bonds you with your teammates. To thrive in Cal’s intensity it takes a village. Ranging from the team, coaches, athletic staff, professors, and alumni, but ultimately It falls on the individual to navigate their own path.
Together Jonathon and Justin formed the Cal Committee to give back as a sign of appreciation for the opportunity given to them by Cal's Men's Rowing Team. By strengthening the team we at The Cal Committee aim to combat those controllable and noncontrollable attrition reasons through financial backing, network building, and mentorship.
By focusing on these areas The Cal Committee will bridge a gap in the Team’s current fundraising strategy by expanding donor participation and making it meaningful by attaching donating to an experience. At the end of the day, it was the team that was impactful during Jonathon and Justin's time at Cal and in giving back they do not want to lose that intense experience of comradery.
This community building will support current student-athletes making it easier for them to win races, solidifying their experiences, and keeping them invested in the program’s future success.
Mission
To expand the fundraising efforts of the Cal Men's Rowing program and the University as a whole, while building alumni relationships across different sports, departments, and types of employment.
Being a group of engaged alumni from the California Men’s Crew Team, we are steeped in the pursuit of excellence and want to build upon the team’s storied past by helping bring it to modern day fruition.
Within that larger framework, we want to focus specifically on increasing the velocity, volume, and impact of the student to supporter evolution. By connecting and engaging alumni in a focused organized manner we aim to solidify, improve, and grow the University of California Berkeley.
Through financial donations, networking, and mentorship we want to continue Cal’s history of attracting top talent and educating the leaders of tomorrow. At the same time having fun and building upon the undergraduate experience that transformed our lives.