🚣‍♀️ Welcome to the Water: CTC’s First Blog Post

20 Years Strong — and Just Getting Started

For nearly two decades, Chicago Training Center (CTC) has stood on the banks of the Chicago River with one belief at the heart of everything we do: young people have unlimited potential when given access, opportunity, and a community that believes in them.

Today, we’re proud to publish our very first blog — a new space dedicated to sharing the stories, victories, lessons, and lives that make CTC what it is. Whether you’re a parent, supporter, volunteer, former athlete, or someone just discovering our work, we’re grateful you’re here.

🌆 The Chicago We Serve. The Youth We Believe In.

CTC was founded in 2006 with a simple but bold idea: Rowing shouldn’t be limited to a few zip codes. It should be accessible to any young person willing to show up, work hard, and grow alongside a team.

Rowing is not just a sport — it’s a classroom, a mentor, a family, and in many cases, a lifeline. It teaches:

• discipline

• resilience

• teamwork

• confidence

• leadership

• and the ability to push through when things feel impossible

The water has a way of changing people. And every young person who comes through our doors deserves that chance.

🚣‍♂️ Why Rowing? Why CTC?

The boat doesn’t move unless everyone pulls together. Every mistake impacts the whole crew. Every victory belongs to the whole team.

That’s the magic of rowing — it reflects life, school, and community.

At CTC, our athletes learn how to show up for themselves and each other. They learn how to start over after failure. They learn how to lead, succeed, and envision a future they once thought was out of reach.

We’ve watched youth who arrived quietly and uncertain become students with scholarships, college athletes, coaches, and leaders in their neighborhoods.

🌟 20 Years Strong — A Milestone Worth Celebrating

As we enter our 20th year, we’re looking back with gratitude and forward with purpose.

In two decades, CTC has:

• Served thousands of Chicago youth

• Built year-round programming that blends sports, mentorship, and wellness

• Supported academic success and personal growth

• Introduced young people to rivers and lakes they had never experienced

• Competed in regattas across Illinois, the Midwest, and the nation

• Created a community that feels like home

And we’re just getting started.

📝 What You Can Expect from the CTC Blog

This space will become the home for:

• Athlete spotlights

• Behind-the-scenes coaching stories

• Program updates

• Regatta recaps

• Alumni journeys

• Reflections from our Executive Director

• Updates on our boathouse vision

• Tips for parents and young rowers

• Highlights of donor impact

• Ways to get involved

Our goal is simple: to tell the stories that matter and celebrate the people who make CTC possible.

💛 Thank You for Being Part of This Journey

CTC exists because of families who trust us, youth who believe in themselves, coaches who give their all, donors who invest in our mission, and a community that never stops rowing forward.

If this is your first time here, welcome. If you’ve been with us for years, thank you for helping us reach this milestone.

We invite you to follow along, share our posts, visit often, and help us spread the word as we enter our next chapter — stronger, louder, and more united than ever.

Here’s to the next stroke, the next story, and the next 20 years of impact. Let’s keep rowing, together.