Cal Women’s Rowing Camp

Camp Coaches

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  Kirsten Girard

  Camp Director & Assistant Coach

  Kirsten Girard joined the staff in 2022 and is in her first season as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

  View Kirsten's Bio
  

  Kirsten Girard

  Camp Director & Assistant Coach

  She joins the Bears after serving as an assistant coach for the Loyola Marymount women's rowing team for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. Prior to that she served as the Novice Coach and Assistant Varsity Coach at Harvard University and the Head Novice High School Girls Coach at Arlington Belmont Crew.
  
  Girard’s coaching experience also includes serving as an assistant coach for the Northwest Rowing Center in Vashon Island, Washington and teaching the basics of rowing as a Learn-to-Row Coach at Stanford University.
  
  Prior to beginning her coaching career, Girard was a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll and two-time Big 12 Academic All-Conference rower for the University of Tennessee, competing in the 1V8 boat for the Vols for all four years. Girard was a member of the Tennessee crew that finished second at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta in 2018, and she assisted the Vols in winning three bronze medals in the 1V8 event at the Big 12 Championships.
  
  Girard earned her BS in Education with a concentration in Recreation and Sport Management, and minors in Business and Psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and the Institute for Rowing Leadership graduate program through Community Rowing in Boston which teaches coaches about all aspects of rowing coaching and program management, including subjects in sport science, team management and leadership.

  Contact: [email protected]

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  Al Acosta

  Head Coach

  Al Acosta, a 1993 University of California, Berkeley graduate who became a five-time National Coach of the Year leading the Stanford women’s lightweight team, is in his third season as head women’s crew coach for the Golden Bears.

  View Al Acosta's Bio
  

  Al Acosta

  Head Coach

  Acosta, who grew up in Berkeley, attended Berkeley High School and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Cal with a degree in fine arts in 1993, started the Stanford lightweight program in 2001 and guided the Cardinal for 13 consecutive years. He led the squad to four straight IRA national titles from 2010-13 before the school posted a runner-up finish this past spring. Acosta was honored as the National Lightweight Coach of the Year for the first time in 2008 when Stanford earned a bronze medal at the national regatta, as well as for each of the team’s national championships.

  In 2013, Rowing Magazine named Stanford as the “Crew of the Year” as the top collegiate rowing program in the country. In addition to on-the-water success, Acosta’s student-athletes have achieved a 100 percent graduation rate during his tenure.

  Prior to accepting his role at Stanford, Acosta worked with the country’s top junior programs, the Oakland Strokes rowing program, for eight years. He served as head girls’ coach from 1994-96 and as head boys’ coach from 1997-2001. His boys’ varsity eight captured California state titles in 1998 and ’99 and finished among the nation’s top three in 1997, ’98 and ’99. In addition, Acosta was the head men’s master’s coach for the Lake Merritt Rowing Club in Oakland from 1997-2001.

  On the national level, Acosta served as chair of the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Lightweight Committee from 2007-09. He has also been a head coach and associate head coach at national team development camps for both high school boys and college women.

  Acosta and his wife, Linda, have two children and reside in San Francisco.