WCA Director, Capo Rettig Interview

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Published on Wednesday, 04 January 2012 04:52

PC:  For those that haven't heard of World Class Academy tell us a bit about it?

CR:  World Class is a private high school for whitewater kayakers. If you are a junior paddler interested in seeing the world and paddling the best whitewater out there…. this is it. It’s the ultimate life adventure. First and foremost we are a school with high standards for our academics. We are privately accredited through the Northwest Accreditation Commission and we are completely in control of our curriculum. We offer two semesters per year and students can choose to come for a full year or just a semester. Each semester we travel to a different destination. Students, teachers, and coaches, live, train, travel and learn together. 

PC: As a former student give us a quick glimpse of what the WCA experience is like from that perspective...

CR: It’s been a crazy journey from student, to teacher, board member and now director…. I have really been able to see the program from all angles. I was fortunate enough to attend World Class my senior year, the first year of the schools existence. We traveled to New Zealand and Ecuador that year and had a really tight crew of students and teachers. It opened my eyes up to the next level of kayaking. Growing up as a young paddler in Oregon, I was the only kayaker in my high school and constantly searched for people to paddle with. I remember the first person from the school I met was Rush. He rolled up from California and we drove out to Montana together, where the school was based in those days. I remember talking about where kayaking was going with him and he had all these crazy ideas for filming kayaking. He busted out a rough VHS copy of Young Guns Productions “The Next Generation”, his first full length film and I remember thinking……”damn this is it… this is where kayaking is going”. It was an amazing feeling to be part of this, part of the progression, surrounded by all of these talented people who searched for the same things I did. World Class is all about the community and the team. It is hard to describe to people how close this community is…. many of the friendships that are formed are lifelong. 

PC:  Committing to travelling in distant counties in close quarters with a small group of people you don't know could be an intimidating proposition to a potential student... what are the most common questions you receive and what is a typical response?

CR:  A lot of students come in with nervous excitement…. Suddenly you are thrown into this group of people that you are expected to do everything with. Sometimes this environment creates some stress. Kayaking really diffuses this and always brings the group back together. Being able to be flexible and work within a team is perhaps one of the greatest skills you come away with at World Class. Student’s sometimes are concerned about how difficult the whitewater will be….. “How good do you have to be” a lot of students ask. To be part of World Class, you are not expected to be a class V boater or a champion at freestyle. What’s more important is where the student is at in his/her kayak progression. Are they willing to train hard? What are their goals? In the setting of World Class students improve their kayaking extremely quickly. To be part of World Class you need to possess a minimum of class III whitewater skills. 

PC:  Service programs are always included in the academy curriculum, what is it that you hope the students will get out of this component of the program?

CR:  The service-learning component of the World Class is one of the most important aspects of the school. The idea is to recognize what unique skills we possess as a group and how we can use these skills to help those around us. Our last service-learning project in Costa Rica came from the lack of access locals in the Sarapiqui have to kayaking. We put on a whitewater festival with food, music, kayak demos, whitewater clinics, stand-up boards, and rafting. It was a huge success. People who had lived their whole lives next to the river finally got an opportunity to participate in the sport. Past projects have ranged from riparian restoration in Ecuador to river clean up projects in Chile… each experience is uniquely focused on the area in which we travel. We call it a service learning project… and not just community service, because we recognize as a school, how important these experiences are for the students and the depth it takes to process these interactions. Often these service-learning projects end up being the highlight of the trip. It is part of our goal of making our students become not just good kayakers, but global citizens.

PC:  I remember back in the day being jealous because I was stuck at home during the school year while Rush, Marlow and a bunch of you guys were able to be kayaking year round because you were with World Class. I couldn't go because of the price tag, a barrier to entry shared by many kids out there... I know there are kids who do manage to overcome that problem with hard work / fundraising, is there some encouragement / advice that you can give to those young rippers who are going to need to do some serious fundraising to attend a semester ?

CR:  One of our constant goals is to be able to offer scholarships for those students that need financial help to attend the school. It is one of the things I struggle with constantly… this idea that we are a “rich kid” school.  It is true that World Class is a very expensive program… just by the nature of things.  With help from our sponsors like NRS and TRIBE we are able to offer general scholarships to students who qualify.  If you think the school is too expensive, I encourage you to contact us about scholarship opportunities.  We also provide a fundraising packet that is full of ideas on how students can take the initiative and do some fundraising on their own.  One student named CJ from Boise, raised almost his entire tuition through personal fundraising. Our other big goal is to attract more international students. This year alone we will have had students from Canada, UK, and Bali. 

PC:  High calibre paddlers have come through World Class (Rush Sturges, Tyler Bradt, the Garcias, Lane Jacobs, Todd Wells, etc), this program clearly nourishes whitewater talent yet the focus remains on the academics / experiences / culture / character building ... What do you think it is about the experiences gained during time at the academy that help affect the students character ?

CR:  I think it goes back to the culture that we create and nurture through the program. The program creates life-long friends across the globe. This has certainly been the case for me. I just had a big new-years gathering with my core group of friends… all classmates of mine from World Class. These friends are not just limited to students from World Class, but with the global paddling community in general. I  never would have met Ben, or you for that matter, if I had not attended the school and been opened up to those other paddling communities.  After a while you forget that these people didn’t attend the school…. the paddling community is just tight like that. The school is really just a vessel for introducing young paddlers to communities around the globe and helps form those bonds. 

PC:  Ben Marr is meeting up with WCA on the Salween in February, what else is on the horizon next semester at World Class?

CR:  Ben Marr is going to be coming to China with us as our guest instructor. We are super stoked to have him…. Going to be epic. Part of World Class is opening up our students to the best paddlers out there. Ben is going to be bringing a whole new energy to the program. We are hoping to have a guest instructor each semester. China is going to be a very unique destination for us. This is the third time World Class has been to China and the experience is a powerful one. We will be running a 10-day trip on the Yangtze before heading to the Mekong and the Salween. The school will return and head to the West Coast of the U.S.A. for spring run-off… and some of the most epic whitewater on the planet. Next year we will be going to B.C. Canada/Nepal in the Fall and Chile/ West Coast U.S.A. in the spring….. another heavy hitting year. We are also looking to expand our summer programs and begin to offer international trips. 

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Thanks Capo, look forward to seeing some footage from the semester in China.

For more information on World Class Academy check their website HERE.

Semester Wrap up video from the students at WCA: