I seriously underestimated how important erg work was when I joined, and I wish I had focused on that a lot sooner. As others have said, if you are already an athlete rowing will be challenging but you will likely excel with time and effort. The same can be true if you weren't already a competitive athlete, but I speak from personal experience and others who were on my team when I say it will be a lot harder. I never really "made it" as far as being in the best boat in my club went.
You should also research whether this new team you want to join has requirements for making varsity. My club required that you go through "novice year," in which your times could still get you recruited by colleges but you were ineligible for varsity or JV. In your case, you could obviously make those teams as a senior, but just in case you were hoping to make varsity or something junior year you should definitely check the protocol of the team.
You may ask your current coach to e-mail a note to a few of the coaches at the schools you are most interested in. Be sure to provide him or her with the contact information of the coaches you want him or her to write to. At this point, college coaches are generally permitted to contact you up to once per week.
Sign up for the college fairs at the bigger summer regattas if you attend — Independence Day Regatta, USRowing Club Nationals these are generally open only to rising college seniors. Narrow your list of schools. Fall of Your Senior Year: Let the college coaches on your short list of schools know they are on your short list. Ask them what your chances of admission are. This is the college coaches chance to show your school credentials to the admissions office to see your academic stats are within range.
For Division I, you are not permitted more than 5 such visits, but you may only wish to make 2 or 3. Only go on official visits where you are seriously considering the school. They take up valuable time of you, your parents and the coaches. You spend all day and sometimes overnight with the team, get to know your potential teammates, meet personally with the coaches. While it is their chance to size you up, it is also your chance to see if the team is a good fit for you — not just in terms of rowing, but also attitude and spirit.
Get a feel from the coach where you stand in terms of their desire to support you for a spot on the team. But do start thinking about the schools in terms of your first, second and third choices. Narrow your list down further to early action and early decision schools, then apply early to that school or those schools. Coaches have the most influence early in the process. Division II and III coaches do have some influence but may have less influence than in Division I, and club coaches may have little impact on admissions.
Visit the schools in which you're interested during the summer after your junior year. Go to the admissions office, tour the entire campus and take a look at the surrounding neighborhoods.
Mid- to late-August often works well, as your camp will be over and many coaches are back on campus. Contact them well ahead of time to make an appointment. Some Division I schools also have invitation-only "open houses" for potential recruits. During your stay, try to picture yourself in both classroom and boathouse settings. Evaluate the amount of training time that will be required there and its impact on academics and other activities.
The freshman or assistant coach is usually the primary point of contact for high school recruits in Division I, though it's the opposite in other divisions, where assistants are generally part-time.
In every case, make sure that you meet the head coach at some point. After all, that's the person with whom you'll likely spend three of your four years.
Should a particular coach be key to your decision, don't be afraid to ask how committed she or he is to the program. People do change jobs, and rowing coaches are no exception The Sprint Before your senior year starts, narrow the field to a small number of schools. Tell the coaches on your short-list schools where they stand, because you are going to be making some requests of them — admissions indications and official visits — and you don't want to mislead them or to waste their time and resources.
If you're still unsure about your preference order, it's acceptable to say they're in your top X schools, but be prepared to narrow it down quickly. Ask coaches to let you know where you are in their recruiting hierarchy, how likely you are to be admitted with and without their support, and how much impact they expect to have on admissions decisions for the coming year. In some cases, a coach may be able to obtain a "likely to admit" letter from admissions, subject to your continued academic performance.
Remember that such letters are by no means a guarantee of admission. If invited, make an "official" campus visit as early as possible after the first day of senior year classes.
You'll be to experience school in session, meet current rowers and watch a practice, which may help you to establish your final preference order. Rowers are permitted up to five such "official" visits but don't feel compelled to utilize your full allowance. Each one takes valuable time away from your studies and consumes very limited rowing program resources.
Also, don't interpret the absence of an invitation for an official visit from a Division II or III school as a lack of interest. They simply have less funding. Based on your preferences and on where you stand with them, select one or two top priority schools early in the fall. Coaches use whatever influence they have at admissions in direct correlation to your attractiveness as a candidate and to the strength of your commitment to attend if admitted.
Plan to apply early. Coaches have their greatest impact in the early action process. Devise an "early action" or "early decision" strategy in consultation with your parents and counselors. Remember that many "early action" programs now prohibit early applications to other schools. Physical attributes are also important. Height allows rowers to have a longer, more efficient stroke and the top rowers on each team are usually some of the tallest ones.
Club or high school team experience can be important for recruits that rowed for an established team. Strong race results at prestigious regattas are something that college coaches can trust. This also applies to international recruits rowing for prominent teams abroad. However, if a college coach is not familiar with your rowing club, high school team or level of competition in the region, this experience becomes less important in their evaluation.
Regarding using video for rowing recruiting , sports like softball and volleyball make recruiting videos a much bigger part of the recruiting process. This is especially true for video showing larger boats, like eights. However, many recruits will go the extra mile to stand out and video can help do that.
When it comes to rowing recruits, most coaches look at the following in order of importance give or take a slot :. Strong grades and test scores are very important for college coaches. In regard to physical attributes , college coaches are always on the lookout for tall recruits. Height allows rowers to have more length and leverage in their stroke and tall rowers are seen as having more upside.
Coaches love to see good technique , but this one is difficult to gauge from a recruiting video, especially one shot in larger boats. Coaches like to evaluate rowers up close, preferably in smaller boats like fours, pairs or singles.
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