RAIDER

Raider Challenge or "Raider" as it is more commonly known is a very popular athletic competition held within Junior ROTC programs around the United States. It is the Junior ROTC equivalent of the Army ROTC "Ranger Challenge" team competition in college, only far less dangerous but very challenging as well! Raider is considered the varsity level athletic event for Army JROTC. Our teams compete across our area against the other Army JROTC programs in Area 2. In mid-October, we will compete for the Region Championship, with the goal of earning a spot in the State Championships in late October in Griffin, GA.

Our Raider team season begins in early August with tryouts followed by our practice season. We typically compete beginning in early September, culminating in the Region and State Championships. Tryouts are conducted over a 3-day period, with all three days required. The tryouts assess the physical, mental, and emotional aptitude of participants. Our goal is to build a team that is strong, fast, resilient, motivated, and most of all, a TEAM. 

Raider training is task-focused to prepare the cadets to compete in 5 primary events. Those events are the 5KM Team Run, the Cross Country Rescue (a cross country team-run carrying 25 pound ruck sacks and one 100-pound simulated casualty litter traversing several obstacles), the One-Rope Bridge (the team constructs a rope bridge following detailed rules in the quickest time possible), The team Tire Flip (the team flips a 600+ tire 50M down and back), and the Cadet Fitness Challenge (a sprint team obstacle course with mazes, lifts, jumps, carries, and crawls throughout). Our practices are conducted Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 3:30-5:00 PM unless instructed otherwise. Practices are not only required but extremely important as Raider is a team sport. When cadets miss practice they impact the team as a whole.

Since Raider Challenge is an extracurricular activity, requirements to make the team and the rigorous training to prepare for competitions are all on-par with the many athletic programs on campus. In many cases, the training regime takes workouts and conditioning drills from football, wrestling, cross country, and track.

All cadets desiring to compete and become a Raider must have a valid athletic physical on file with either the high school athletic department or with the Army JROTC cadre.

2021 Competition Schedule:

2 SEP: @ Dooly Co.

9 SEP: @ Fitzgerald

23 SEP: @ Turner Co.

25 SEP: @ Ware Co. (Saturday)

30 SEP: TCCHS (host)

23 OCT: @ Crisp Co. (Region)

30 OCT: @ Spalding (State)