A $1 million grant will bring a free competitive rowing league to Oklahoma City-area high schools starting in the 2027-28 school year.

The RIVERSPORT Foundation announced the Varsity Rowing League on Tuesday, Sept. 22, funded by Oklahoma City-based Inasmuch Foundation. The league will be free to participating schools for its first two years, with Riversport providing coaching, equipment and race coordination, The Oklahoman first reported.

Organizers expect five to six schools to join in the inaugural season. Two schools had already expressed interest as of the announcement, according to KOCO. No specific school names or districts have been confirmed publicly.

The league will feature both boys and girls teams. Student-athletes will train on campus and at Riversport's Oklahoma River facilities, combining indoor rowing with on-water practices. The season will include biweekly races and a state championship event.

Chris Sorensen, executive director of the RIVERSPORT Foundation, told KOCO the races will feel like a football game. "We're one of the only facilities in the world that has these stadium lights, so that we can run races when it gets dark … We're going to run races every other Tuesday under the lights, kind of like a football game," Sorensen said.

Sorensen also told KOCO the program targets both high school and middle school students, though The Oklahoman's report and the league's official name reference only high schools. Which grade levels will compete in the inaugural season has not been clarified.

The program follows a phased funding model. Inasmuch Foundation's grant covers full costs for the first two years. Schools will share costs in years three and four before reaching full financial independence by year five.

The league will be free at first. But Riversport said student-athletes who develop through the program may advance to its Junior Crew, which feeds into college-level competition. About 50% of graduating Junior Crew seniors go on to compete at Division I or Ivy League universities on athletic scholarships, according to Riversport.

Robert J. Ross, president and CEO of the Inasmuch Foundation, said in a statement reported by Rowing News that the grant reflects a shared goal of expanding access to opportunity for Oklahoma students.

Organizers are targeting a 25% increase in youth rowing participation over the league's first four years, with a long-term goal of expanding to as many as 20 schools statewide. Riversport is a U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Site and will serve as the venue for canoe slalom and kayak cross at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

No enrollment deadlines or informational meetings for interested schools have been announced.