CRCAA - Cedar Riverside Athletics

Cedar Riverside Community Athletic Association (CRCAA) began as a dream for equal opportunity for our neighborhood youth, both female and male. 

In the Cedar Riverside Community of Minneapolis, MN there is a huge need for quality programming for our youth. In the high rise towers alone the estimated population is 6000-8000 people of which 60% + are youth under the age of 18. 

CRCAA has been developed over the course of the last 11 years. It includes the following programs: Sports Check It Out, Academic Athletes, Cedar Riverside Community Running Club, Breakfast Club, Four Seasons of Inclusion, Riverside Royals and Cedar Riverside Community Traveling Basketball. Be That Neighbor (formally Friends of the Mill District) has partnered with CRCAA to assist with program development and sustainability. Our programs serve youth grades K-12 with development programs for leadership for beyond high school graduation. A support system of tutors, community developed coaches, college student athletes, experienced mentor coaches and community organizations comes together through the program to help mentor our youth towards high school graduation and post-secondary opportunity. 

Our end goal is academic success and life long learning. Through this program we serve more than 400  youth.

We are raising money to help our program with operating costs. Our biggest barrier still remains as transportation. Our current fundraising is primarily for the purchase of a 12-15 passenger van but we continue to have needs for equipment, camp scholarships, school supplies, uniforms, winter gear, outdoor equipment and youth coach stipends (must complete the certification process). $5.00 buys school supplies, $25.00 pays for equipment, $50.00 buys a whole uniform, $100.00 helps fund youth coaches certification and $200 helps us carve into the $15,000 we need to purchase a van that will serve our youth for the next 6-8 years. We have raised $13,000 currently for the purchase of a van. We have received a considerable discount and the support of the dealership with up keep and maintenance.

Your support of our programming can help us make a significant positive impact on the lives of our neighborhood youth. The Cedar Riverside Community is a vibrant community filled with residents that have amazing resilancy and hope. Unfortunately the community also has many issues such as poverty, lack of resources and unemployment. Opportunities should not and will not be limited for our youth in spite of these realities. That is why CRCAA exists. 

 Final Four Feature 2019 This feature was done by CBS Sports and the NCAA. It aired during the 2019 NCAA Final Four. 

Thank you for your generous support. We are humbled by the outpouring of support .