Category: Recruiting

College Q&A Recruiting

Question of the Day

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I am very shy and talking to college coaches is super intimidating to me. I really want the chance to row in college and I don’t want my shyness to get in the way.

I don’t think it will. Not everybody is super outgoing or comfortable making conversation – there’s nothing wrong with that. As long as you’re not completely aloof when you meet/talk with them, there’s pretty much no way that being shy can work against you. I answered a similar question a couple weeks ago (linked below) about talking on the phone with coaches and I think a lot of what I said in that post would also apply to your situation, particularly the part about acting confident even if you don’t feel like it.

Related: Hey! This isn’t exactly about rowing but I was hoping you could help. So I have been emailing with a college coach a little bit and I am supposed to call him this week. The only thing is I get really nervous when I talk on the phone so I am really nervous about calling him. Do you have any advice about talking to college coaches on the phone? Thanks!

You already know that part of rowing in college entails meeting with coaches so there’s really no getting out of doing that. You essentially have to just take a deep breath, say “suck it up, this is part of the process”, and go in there ready to tell confidently tell them why you’d make a great addition to the team. Most coaches are pretty chill people too and very, very few of them are actually intimidating people.

College Q&A Recruiting

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I am going to be a senior and I have been looking at this one school that I could potentially row for. I have spoken with the coaches via email and I really love the school. The head coach seems to be interested in me but the thing is, I am not the tallest or strongest rower on my team and I am worried that I won’t be able to live up to the expectations of the college coach or college rowing in general.

Very rarely are people’s expectations as high as you think they are. Trust me…

Here’s the thing you’ve gotta understand about pretty much every rower competing at a high level right now, be it in college or on their country’s national team – very, very few of them were the tallest or strongest on their junior teams, let alone on the teams they’re on now. If coaches only took the tallest and strongest you’d have very few teams, very little competition, and very little to motivate you to get better. You can’t change your height so whatever – forget about that. You can improve your strength and fitness though so if that’s an area where you feel like you have some room to get better, start a lifting program, do some circuit training, etc.

This is going to sound horribly cliche but I’ve heard it straight from the mouths of too many coaches to think of it as anything but a cliche – character trumps height, strength, etc. any day of the week. Obviously there’s got to be a base level of ability in place, which you’ve clearly got, but you can make up for a lot of things simply by being a solid person. It’s all about work ethic and whether or not you’re willing to put the work in to improve upon the strengths you already have. A 5’9″ woman with a 7:35 2k who is constantly finding ways to get better, buys into the team’s philosophy and goals, and is willing to do the not-so-fun stuff with a consistently positive attitude is ultimately going to be a more valuable asset to the coach (and team) than a 6’1″ woman with a 7:22 2k who does just enough to be good but won’t put in that extra effort to do what’s necessary to be great.

Going back to the expectations thing, I would first find out what the expectations are before assuming you can’t, don’t, or won’t meet them. It’s as simple as saying something like “As an incoming freshman, what range of erg scores do you typically look for?”. From there you can compare your times to the range you’re given, determine what’s realistically possible for you to achieve by next August, and then put together a plan to make it happen. Doing that and keeping the coach(es) up to date with your progress (i.e. new PRs) goes a long way in showing what you’re capable of, how hard you go after something you want, and just the overall kind of person/athlete you are. I would also caution against assuming on your own what the expectations are or might be just based on what you see or read online. Yes it’s hard work and yes it’s time consuming but isn’t that true of most things that we find worth pursuing?

If you assume right now that you won’t be able to live up to the expectations, you’re right – you won’t. The expectations at most college programs are pretty high and that’s a good thing – you should want to be part of a team that has high standards and lofty goals like that but you sure as hell shouldn’t let that intimidate you. Do you honestly think that this coach would be talking to you in the first place if he/she didn’t think you had the capabilities to meet and exceed the expectations they have for the athletes they coach? Come on. They don’t have that kind of time to waste.

The upcoming year, or at least the fall semester, is probably going to be pretty stressful as you go through all the necessary preparations to get ready for college. Don’t make things even harder for yourself by worrying about stuff like this. It’s not worth it. Like I said, try to start doing some kind of lifting this summer to start working on your overall strength and the next time you talk with the coach ask them to name 3-4 of their basic expectations for incoming freshman in terms of erg scores, team contributions, etc. Graduating and going to college is essentially like leveling up in a game – what happens next really isn’t anything out of the ordinary, there just happens to be subtle differences in a couple areas that present new challenges that are usually small and easily achievable with the right about of dedication and persistence. I think you’ll find that rowing in college compared to your current program is the same way, as will be the expectations of your new coach(es).

College Coxing Q&A Recruiting Teammates & Coaches

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Hi! I’m finishing my junior year in high school and I know it’s quite late for me, but after my past spring season I’ve decided that I want to cox in college. I’m uncertain about a couple things in the process though. First off, I emailed the head coach for my top choice college, and he emailed back that he would share the email with his recruitment coordinator, his assistant coach, to answer all my questions. So when I email coaches from now on, should I just always email the assistant coach? For another college, they don’t have an assistant coach listed, but they have a novice coach. Should I email them over the head coach? And lastly, what are some good things for a coxswain to include in those emails?

These are great questions!

So, for your first question, I think a good thing to do is email whoever is listed as the recruiting coordinator/freshmen coach and then CC the head coach, that way both of them get it but it’s directed at the person who you’ll mainly be corresponding with. After the initial email where you introduce yourself and such you can probably just stick to emailing the assistant coach. You can always ask though – “should I CC [head coach] on the emails going forward” – and they’ll let you know what works best for them.

For your second question, yes, email the novice coach and do what I said up above. Some coaches aren’t listed as “assistants” and instead are just titled “freshmen coach” or “freshmen/novice coach” on the athletic department websites even though they are assistants to the head coach in the grand scheme of things.

Related: I’m a junior starting to look into the recruiting process. What would a good first email to a coach be formatted as? What should I include? How long should it be?

Regarding emails, check out the post linked above. There are a couple other links in there that might help you out but in addition to that I’d recommend checking out the “recruiting” tag and reading some of the questions that other rowers and coxswains have asked. You might find an answer to a question you didn’t know you had yet.

What to wear: Official visits, pt. 2

College Recruiting

What to wear: Official visits, pt. 2

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Got a question this weekend about what to wear on official/unofficial visits when you’re going during the warmer months. The previous post I did on what to wear on official visits was from the fall but advice-wise, pretty much everything I said in that post applies to this one.

Between unofficial (when you’re going specifically to look at the school) and official visits (when you’re going specifically to visit the team) I don’t think there needs to be much, if any, difference in what you wear. On a scale of lounging on your couch in your underwear to an afternoon at the country club, both occasions probably warrant at least a 7ish. Unless you’re going to an open house or other semi-formal event at the school/boathouse, you’re totally fine wearing casual shorts and a t-shirt or button down.

Related: Hello! I am attending a “business casual” open house this weekend at a college that I am strongly considering. I want to make a strong impression, I was just wondering, as a coach, what do you think would be appropriate to wear? I want to look nice without looking silly or too glitzy. Thanks in advance!

Another thing for everyone to remember is to wear comfortable shoes/sandals. You’ll likely be doing a fair amount of walking so function takes precedence over form. Sunglasses and/or a hat wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

Image via // @rowingblazers

College High School Q&A Recruiting

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Hi there! I’m a rising senior in high school and I’m considering rowing in college but I’m not entirely certain that I want to do it. Should I talk to the coaches of a couple schools anyways or should I just wait until I get to college?

You could do either one but it might be easiest to test the waters now vs. when you get to campus and have tons of other things occupying your time during the first couple of weeks. I’d recommend getting in contact with the assistant coach/recruiting coordinator (they’re almost always the same person) of the schools you’re applying/have applied to and indicate that you’re interested in rowing in college but haven’t fully made a decision one way or the other yet. Let them know the major(s) you’re interested in and ask for some basic information about the team (I’d say limit it to two or three questions max for right now).

Don’t forget to include your basic stats – height/weight, which side you row, your 2k and 5k/6k time and average splits, the boat you rowed in this year/how well you did, etc. so that they can get a general idea of who you are as an athlete (assuming you’re already a rower – if you’re not just include your height/weight). Including your GPA and any academic highlights (the number of APs you’re taking seems to be a common one…) is also a good idea. If you’ve got all that on a rowing resume already then you can just attach that. I’ve found that when emailing coaches, the shorter and more direct your email is the more likely you are to get a response (not a fast response, just a response in general).

When you’ve got some free time, scroll through the “recruiting” tag and read some of the (many) questions other people have asked. There’s some good info in there and some of it might end up applying to you if decide to pursue rowing in college.

How To Q&A Recruiting

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Hey! This isn’t exactly about rowing but I was hoping you could help. So I have been emailing with a college coach a little bit and I am supposed to call him this week. The only thing is I get really nervous when I talk on the phone so I am really nervous about calling him. Do you have any advice about talking to college coaches on the phone? Thanks!

Trust me, I completely understand how you feel. I hate talking on the phone. It just makes me so uncomfortable. I’m always afraid that I’m not going to hear or understand what the other person says and I’ll have to ask them repeat to themselves or something and I’ll end up sounding really stupid. Since the majority of my rowing-related phone calls are for interviews, most of the tips below will probably have some kind of tie-in to that. For the most part job interviews and recruiting phone calls are pretty similar; the only things that would likely be different is the wording of some of the questions you ask.

Related: My coach talked to the coach of my top choice university and, even though they had coxswains go on official visits, they might not recruit one this year! He suggested I call them and try and convince them to take me. Any tips on how to go about this phone conversation without seeming pushy or pleading?

Determine how much privacy you need to feel comfortable before, during, and after your call and schedule accordingly so that privacy is maximized and distractions are minimized.

When I schedule a phone call, the most important thing for me is making sure it’s at a time when I’ll be the only person home. Not only does this minimize the likelihood of being interrupted or having the person I’m talking to hear someone yelling across the house to someone else, it also ensures that I won’t have anyone bugging me afterwards about who I was talking to, what we were talking about, how’d it go, etc. Few things piss me off more than other people thinking they’re entitled to details just because you’re in the same area as them or they overheard part of your conversation. (Spoiler alert, you’re not.) I’m uncomfortable enough talking on the phone, I don’t want to finish it and immediately have someone question me on everything that was discussed or critique the responses they heard me give.

The other reason why I like to be totally alone is so that I can guarantee myself absolute silence. It helps a lot with the whole “being nervous about not being able to hear what they’re saying” thing. One time last summer I had a phone interview with someone and they unexpectedly called two hours before we were supposed to talk. Something had come up and they wanted to know if talking now was a possibility. I didn’t feel like I could say no so I said sure, now’s totally fine. Except it wasn’t – I was standing in the middle of a crowded street in Brooklyn where both privacy and silence were nonexistent. I had to walk a couple blocks before I was finally somewhere semi-quiet (or as semi-quiet as Brooklyn can get in the middle of the afternoon) but because I was still straining to hear what he was saying, I spent the entire phone call distracted and nervous. When I hung up a police officer that was standing nearby actually asked me if everything was OK because I was so visibly uncomfortable. Talk about awkward…

Make a list of 2-3 questions, plus any follow ups you know you’ll have.

You know they’re gonna ask you if you have any questions at the end and you know they’re gonna expect you to have at least one or two so you might as well write them down ahead of time. This makes the segue from conversation to Q&A much smoother since having it all right in front of you allows you to just read it out loud instead of fumbling with the wording in your head or spending half the conversation trying to come up with something to ask (been there, done both).

Whenever we get to that point in the conversation and the other person asks if I have any questions I usually say something like “I do actually, I’ve got a list of three that I put together last night. Two of them are important ones regarding _______ and _______ and the third is just a general question about _______.” The first two questions are always the same and the third is something that is unique to the program I’m interviewing with. The reason the first two are always the same is because I want to have some way of comparing all the programs I talk with so I can narrow down whether they’d potentially be a good fit or not. The reason I tell them that I have a list of questions that I put together last night, this morning, or whenever is because it shows I put time, effort, and thought into preparing for the phone call. Preparation is key and in situations like this it’s a great way to communicate how serious you are about whatever it is you’re interviewing for (be it a job, recruiting slot, etc.).

If you had some questions but they were all answered throughout your conversation, don’t freak out and think you have to scramble to come up with something just for the sake of asking a question. Usually if this happens to me I’ll respond to “do you have any questions” with “I did have a couple but you actually answered both of them when you were talking about _______ and _______.” If you have any follow-ups that you thought of while you were talking, feel free to bring those up but don’t be afraid to say that they already answered your questions. The biggest no-no though is not having any questions, period. If they ask you if you have any questions and you say “nope … *crickets*” then it can/will give them the impression that you weren’t that interested to begin with or you weren’t paying attention to anything they were saying during the 10, 15, 20+ minutes you were on the phone. I used to think it was so dumb that you had to ask questions at the end of a phone call like this but it actually does make sense when you think about it. They’re trying to learn more about you, you’re trying to learn more about them … how else can you do that than by asking questions?

Oh, one more pro tip … write your questions on a sheet of computer paper or something similarly sized in black permanent marker. Don’t use a fine-tip marker on a notebook-sized piece of paper or write your stuff in pencil on a hot pink Post-it – use something you’ll be able to see from across the room if necessary. Make sure it’s legible too. There’s nothing more embarrassing than scribbling down a question and then not being able to read it when it comes time to actually ask it. The reason I write my questions on a large sheet of paper is so that while we’re talking I can make notations on what’s being said, either in response to the question(s) I asked or just in general.

Go to the bathroom.

Don’t laugh, I’m totally serious. Last summer I had a phone interview scheduled for pretty much immediately after we were supposed to get off the water at Penn AC. It was hot as hell that day and I’d drank a ton of water that morning so naturally, I had to pee really, really bad. I got off the launch and started walking up to the the boathouse when my phone rang. Pretty sure I wasn’t even a step off the dock yet. For about half a second I struggled with “do I let it go to voicemail (and seem unprofessional/unprepared), go pee, and call him back” or “do I answer it and potentially not be able to pee for another 20 minutes”. I answered it and spent at least 3/4 of the phone call mentally cursing the hot temperatures, 32oz Nalgenes, and the fact that this was the ONLY coach who actually called right at the time he said he would. You wanna know what being nervous does to you when you have to pee? It makes you have to pee even more. Longest 20 minutes of my life.

Moral of the story: if you’re the one being called, don’t schedule phone interviews that coincide immediately with the end of practice and don’t drink anything 30 minutes or so beforehand if you have a small bladder. If you’re the one making the call, go to the bathroom right before, even if you feel like you don’t have to go. Trust me, some day you’ll remember this advice and you’ll thank me for it.

Spend a minute or two before you make the call (or five-ish minutes if you’re the one being called) to get prepared.

I usually give myself an extra few minutes if I’m the one expecting the call because very rarely do people ever call when they say they will and you never know if they’re going to be a few minutes early or late. I have a routine that I like to go through to relax and get myself focused that’s actually kinda similar to what I do on race day. I stretch (all I do is stand up and reach my hands up towards the ceiling and then roll out my shoulders to shake off some of the tension), sit on my couch, go through the questions I have, take a couple deep breaths, and remind myself that it’s just a phone call … I’m not launching rockets or anything so there’s really no reason to be nervous.

Give off an air of confidence, even if you’re nervous.

Fake it ’til you make it, right? Speak clearly with good diction and appropriate volume, ask direct questions, and actually engage in conversation. Don’t give one word responses or let the person you’re talking to control the conversation. During one of my in-person interviews the coach I was meeting with commented on how he could tell I was a coxswain over the phone because of how I spoke (clearly, concisely, with confidence, etc.) and it made me laugh because I admitted to him how uncomfortable talking on the phone makes me. He said he never would have guessed which actually helped a lot with future interviews because I recalled him saying that and that alone made me feel more sure of myself and less nervous overall.

College Q&A Recruiting

Question of the Day

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Hello! I am attending a “business casual” open house this weekend at a college that I am strongly considering. I want to make a strong impression, I was just wondering, as a coach, what do you think would be appropriate to wear? I want to look nice without looking silly or too glitzy. Thanks in advance!

Long after you’re gone, the coaches are going to be remembering you, not your outfit. Looking nice is obviously a given but don’t forget that what’s going to leave the strongest impression is your personality, interest in the school, and what you feel you can bring to the program.

Pro tip though, don’t overthink what you’re gonna wear. The key is to pick something you’ll be comfortable in since that’ll help you project confidence in whatever situation you’re in.

I usually wear similar iterations of what’s above to job interviews or other business casual-ish events (rowing related and otherwise) and dress it up or down as necessary, either by swapping the top for a blouse and jacket or the shoes for a more casual pair of flats or sandals. I’d probably dress up a little more for schools like Harvard than I would for somewhere like Miami but it’s your call based on the environment you’ve seen when you’ve visited previously.

For shoes, stick to flats or, if the weather’s wet, snowy, etc., a pair of tall boots. If you wear any jewelry, try to keep it simple and not too flashy, noisy, or in your face. If you wear any perfume, try to keep it toned down too. You don’t want that to be what announces you when you walk in a room.

For guys, you really can’t go wrong with a button down and a nice pair of slacks or chinos. I wouldn’t completely rule out jeans as long as they’re a darker wash – anything lighter looks way too chill for something billed as “business casual”. If nicer shoes are deemed appropriate, just go for a pair of dress shoes or boots. Do not wear tennis shoes and don’t forget a belt.

College Coxing High School Q&A Recruiting

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Hi there! So long story short I’ve been rowing for my high school team for the past 3 years (I’m a junior this year) and my novice year we needed a coxswain for one of the novice boats, so I both rowed and coxed that year. My coach that year told me I was a natural coxswain and I was really passionate about it. Unfortunately, I’m a little on the tall side for a coxswain (I’m 5’5″) so when I got to varsity under a new coach she found other coxswains that were smaller and so I just became a rower full time. Fast forward to today and unfortunately my erging times have not gotten as fast as I would like them to be :(. However, I really want to row/cox in college and it’s looking unlikely that I could row for any of the schools I want to go to. I would be interested in coxing again for either men or women in college though. My current coach just doesn’t see me as a coxswain for some reason, and won’t let me start coxing again even though I’m one of the slowest rowers on varsity and our men’s team is in need of a cox. Last year, one of our rowers on the girls team got injured and became a cox for the guys, so I just don’t see why I couldn’t at least try coxing again. Anyways, do you have any suggestions on how I could convince her to let me cox? Also, would it be too weird for me to email college coaches from schools I’m interested in and tell them I’m interested in coxing for them even though I haven’t coxed very much since freshman year?

I would say that if the guys are in need of a cox then you should talk to their coach and see what you can work out. Explain to him that you’re interested in rowing in college but with your times and being on the shorter side (for a rower), you feel like you’d be a bigger asset to the team as a coxswain. You don’t need your current coach’s permission in this case (at least in my opinion you don’t…) and if she’s already said she’s not going to let you cox, it’s probably not worth it on your end to try forcing the issue.

I don’t think it’d be weird. You have rowing experience so you’re not inexperienced with the sport itself, just the coxing aspect of it. I wouldn’t try to be recruited though. Walking on is your best option in this case. I’d say what I said above in regards to talking to the men’s coach of your current team. Start by saying that you’ve been involved with crew for three years, started out as a coxswain before transitioning to a rower, and now that you’re looking at colleges you’re interested in coxing again. You don’t have to say anything about your height, erg scores, etc. since that’s all fairly irrelevant at this point. Plus, you don’t want to bring up something “negative” when you’re trying to highlight your positives, if that makes sense.

College Coxing Q&A Recruiting

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My coach talked to the coach of my top choice university and, even though they had coxswains go on official visits, they might not recruit one this year! He suggested I call them and try and convince them to take me. Any tips on how to go about this phone conversation without seeming pushy or pleading?

I wish more coaches would recruit coxswains, I really do, but I also understand why they don’t. If you’ve already got good coxswains on your team and have enough for all your boats, it does seem redundant to waste a valuable recruiting spot (and $$$) on someone who isn’t contributing any horsepower to the boat. I don’t 100% agree with it but I get it. Having an abundance of coxswains is pointless if you don’t have any rowers for them to cox. Knowing that inevitably you’ll have a walk-on or two that you can turn into a coxswain if you need to also plays a part in it. Them deciding that they might not recruit a coxswain probably says more about their current needs as a program than it does about the quality of people who are trying to be recruited, if that makes sense. Keep that in mind.

I don’t think you should try to convince them to take you because that alone will sound desperate. There’s a big difference between “convincing” and “making a case”. You want to make a case for yourself while keeping in mind that there are a lot of things that go into recruiting an athlete that the athlete is typically unaware of (because they have nothing to do with them).  I think you should give the recruiting coordinator/assistant coach a call and say that you’d heard through your coach that they might not be recruiting coxswains this year so you just wanted to call and reiterate your interest in the school/program, give them one or two reasons why you think you’d be a positive contribution to the team, and finish it up by asking if they do decide to forgo recruiting a coxswain and you do end up going to this school, what are the options for walking on to the team.

I don’t know what other coaches/programs are like but I know that I would probably give a bit more consideration to an athlete who asks what the options are for joining the team if they aren’t one of the “chosen ones” because it gives me the impression that they are really in it for the rowing and the team, not just the financial aid or being able to say “I was recruited”. Someone who decides “oh I’m not going to go here now if you’re not going to recruit me” strikes me as someone who isn’t a team player and also as someone who probably wasn’t that interested in the school to begin with. I’m not trying to discount being a recruited athlete because it is pretty great but it’s also overrated.

Anyways, back to the phone call. Keep it short, no longer than 10 minutes or so if you can manage it. Be concise, make your point, reiterate your interest in the school, and thank them again for inviting you on an official visit (if you went on one).

College Coxing Novice Q&A Recruiting

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Do colleges ever recruit novice coxswains? By the time recruiting happens I won’t have done any races so is it still possible to get recruited?

Nooo. Being recruited is something that only those who have been at it for at least 3-4 years should consider. Two, maybe, if your erg scores are off the charts but for coxswains, definitely 3-4. It is very, very unlikely that those with two years or less of experience will be recruited, although there are some anomalies (pretty much all of whom are rowers). No coach though is going to consider someone that doesn’t have race experience, since that’s obviously one of the best, easiest, and most available ways to gauge someone’s skill level. Plus, coxing at the collegiate level is tough – way tougher than high school. You really need those three or four years of learning about the sport and gaining the technical knowledge and leadership experience in order to get off on the right foot in college. There’s a lot of pressure because the coaches have extremely high expectations of you, especially and even more so if you’re a recruit. They’re not unattainable, just very high. It’s rare enough for coxswains to be recruited as it is because the coaches want to save the scholarship money they have for the rowers.

If coxing in college is something you’re thinking about, you should consider walking on, which anyone can do. Typically walk-ons make up at least half of the overall team and can be people who rowed/coxed in high school but didn’t go through the recruiting process or people who had never touched an oar before coming to college. Once you’ve been accepted and everything you can email the coach and say you’ve been coxing for a year or however long it’s been and that you’re interested in joining the team once you get to campus. They’ll give you some information and let you know when to show up at the boathouse.