Tag: college

Question of the Day

By readyallrow January 16, 2013

Hi, I’m a sophomore in high school and I really want to get my name out there for colleges. I’m only 5’1 and I row now but for college I don’t think my times would be good enough to row. How can I get my name out if I just want to cox in college? Also would you need coxing experience or could I join the team and learn later?

It depends on the schools you’re looking at. Division 1 schools usually prefer coxswains who have a few years of experience but they do hold walk-on tryouts for those who have never rowed or coxed before (or those who have participated in crew but aren’t sure if they want to row or not yet) so that’d definitely be an option. If you went to a school that has a club team, you could probably still row if you wanted. The typical “rower’s body” doesn’t really exist at the club level – all but one of the rowers on the team I coach now had never seen an oar before they came to college and they definitely don’t look like your stereotypical rower. Most of the girls (and guys) are between 5’3″ and 5’10”, if I had to guess.

For someone who has never coxed before and assuming you won’t cox before going to college, getting your name out there probably won’t do much for you. If you really want to cox in college and don’t think that rowing would be an option for you, I would make the switch to coxing now while you’re still in high school. If I was a college coach and you contacted me about coxing on the team, I’d probably be a lot more interested/excited if you said you have two years of coxing experience vs. four years of rowing experience, even though you knew ahead of time that rowing probably wouldn’t pan out due to your erg times or whatever.

College Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow January 15, 2013

Hi, I’m on a novice crew team and I’ve enjoyed it, but I want to quit. My team will have enough girls to fill an 8 but how do I let my coach know? I’m an engineering student and my schedule is too demanding for this sport. I know I’ll miss it but I need to focus on my schoolwork. Any advice?

I’ve been in a similar position before so I understand where you’re coming from. School does come first so it’s good that you’re recognizing where you need to focus your time. If you have a good coach hopefully he/she will understand although I won’t make any guarantees about them, at the very least, not being annoyed. As long as you tell them sooner rather than later, you won’t be leaving them high and dry which will make it a lot easier on you since you won’t have to face the ire of your entire team.

When you talk to your coach, I would sit down with them in their office and explain that while you’ve really enjoyed being on the team, you’ve realized over the past semester that the amount of time you were spending with crew was taking away from what you should have been spending on school. Knowing that your schedule is only going to get more intense from here has led you to the decision to remove yourself from the team so that all of your focus can be on your classes. Thank them for the opportunity to be a part of the team and throw in something in particular that you really enjoyed. Coaches always like to know that even if you can’t stick with the team, you at least got something out of it during the time you were with it.

College Q&A Recruiting

Question of the Day

By readyallrow January 15, 2013

Hi! I’m a junior in HS and I have a few colleges I’m interested in and I’m thinking of emailing the coaches. As a coxswain, what should I say? I also don’t have an SAT score yet so I’m not sure what to do. Can I just ask them what the requirement would be for SAT/GPA? Am I even allowed to email coaches yet?

Check out the “contacting coaches” tag – there’s lots of info in there about how to reach out to coaches, what to say, etc.

There are rules and such surrounding communication between coaches and prospective student-athletes but they pertain more to when the coach can contact YOU, not the other way around. Getting in touch with them now as a junior is fine (they can reply to your emails and stuff) but they can’t reach out to you directly until after July 1st of your senior year.

Not having your SAT scores yet shouldn’t be a big deal, especially since you’re a junior. Assuming you’ve already taken the test or are scheduled to take it sometime in the next few months, you can include that information in your email – something along the lines of “I recently took the SAT in December 2012 and am currently awaiting the scores. When they arrive, I will forward them on to you.” Simple and sweet. Not only does it tell them that you’re on top of this stuff but it also gives you the opportunity for follow-up communication in a month or two. In my opinion, I think the follow-up is more important than the initial contact. Anyone can make the initial contact but only the really interested people follow up.

I wouldn’t ask the coach what the SAT/GPA requirements are simply because you can find that stuff out on your own by looking at the admissions website. You can ask them in comparison to the admission standards where do the athletes usually fall but the basic parameters are all laid out pretty clearly online.

College Coxing Novice Q&A Rowing Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow January 11, 2013

Our novice team has been shrinking by the weeks! There’s only 7 of us left. All but one rower and me are bent on quitting before trying to make varsity. One of the rowers who has high school experience was saying that our coaches don’t really know how to properly prep the varsity team for spring even though we’re a D1 team. 2x6k test today sounds more like a fall test strategy to me, but being a novice cox I’m not about to diss our coaches, you know? Help?

Has your coach not noticed or said anything about the drastic drop in numbers? What have been the other rower’s reasons for quitting? Why do the girls still on the team want to quit? If you know that your goal is to try and make varsity, don’t let the decisions of the other girls, no matter how legitimate they are, affect your decision. It sucks that your team is dwindling like it is but there’s really nothing you can do about it.

I wouldn’t say a 2x6k is entirely abnormal for winter training. If they’re still having you do 2x6ks after spring break, yea, that might be a little out of the norm. As far as not knowing how to prep the team for the spring, as a D1 team that sounds … odd. Has your coach been with your team for very long or is he/she new to coaching? I feel like winter training is pretty straightforward so there shouldn’t be any confusion surrounding how to go about setting up a training program. I get what you mean about not wanting to question them, but there are ways of going about it without sounding like your interrogating them. You could just ask out of curiosity, since you are a novice, and inquire as to what the benefits of long steady state pieces like this are and how they prep you for spring. Assuming your coach didn’t just pull a 2x6k out of his ass, he’ll be able to give you his reasoning. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with questioning your coaches as long as you’re respectful and conversational about it.

Like I said, if you’re intent on coxing the varsity, stick to your guns unless you have a good reason not too. Everyone else quitting isn’t a good reason … although I would offer up the argument that it is a reason, assuming they all had a legitimate team or coach-related reason for quitting. I would see if you could sit down and talk with your coaches or even with some of the varsity coxswains and get an idea of what the spring season is going to look like and what role you will play in it. Getting a grasp on the bigger picture can sometimes help make sense of how things are now. As far as everyone else that’s quit … it does suck, but you have to let it go and focus on the people who are still on the team.

College Coxing Q&A Recruiting

Question of the Day

By readyallrow January 1, 2013

As a coxswain are you treated differently as a recruit to a D1 college as opposed to a varsity cox who walks on the team? Or is it rare to have someone walk on a crew team who coxed through high school?

I don’t think it’s rare to have a 3 or 4-year coxswain walk on to the team. If they’re not 100% positive that they want to cox in college, they might forgo the recruiting process and go to walk-on tryouts to get a sense of what the team is like, what the commitment is like, and whether or not it’s something they really want to pursue. I think as a recruit you might be given slightly more “responsibility”, for lack of a better word, because the coach already has a sense of your abilities whereas with walk-ons, depending on where the need for coxswains is, you might be lumped in with the rest of the recruits or you might start off with the walk-on rowers as they learn how to row. Every team approaches it a little differently.

This is also why I always recommend that coxswains email the coaches if they’re thinking of walking on, that way they can at least introduce themselves and give them an idea of their background, skill level, etc.

College Novice Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 31, 2012

How hard is it to just start rowing in college, especially at a D1 or Ivy League school?

It’s hard but the degree to which it’s hard is largely determined by you. The biggest adjustments don’t come from learning a new sport, because regardless of what sport you try to pick up, it’s always going to be tough at first. The hard part is adjusting to waking up early several days a week, having practice six days a week (sometimes twice a day), and just learning how to manage your time better. Even if you’re a rock star at time management and self-discipline, joining the team will seriously test those skills.

If you have a demanding course load, it can be tough finding a good balance, especially if you fall behind earlier and have to spend a few weeks/months playing catch up. Once you find the balance though, it gets easier. You learn where your time needs to go and personally, I think, makes you a better overall student. If you have a hard time managing your time and/or you’re not very disciplined when it comes to getting things done, rowing probably isn’t the sport for you.

A lot of rowers pick the sport up in college – just look at the number of people on the national team that were walk-ons as college freshmen. It can be done but like I said, how tough it is is going to be determined by you and how disciplined you are at managing everything else in addition to crew.

College Coxing Novice Q&A Training & Nutrition

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 30, 2012

I’m 5’2 and weigh 153lbs. I can pull 1:58/500 m for a 30 minute test. I’ve been trying to lose weight but the nutritionist has essentially told me that my only option is to lose muscle (because of weight) or actually get bone removed through surgery (which I think is against NCAA rules). I was a walk-on to the crew team and want to row or cox but I have no idea what to do. My coach has told me I would make an excellent cox but I don’t know how to lose weight/approach this situation. Thank you!

One of your two “only” options is to have bone removed? That’s your nutritionist’s weight loss suggestion? Um…

The only way you would lose muscle is if you started starving yourself, which obviously no sane person recommends. You’re a good height to be a coxswain but maybe too short to row depending on how competitive your team is. The minimum for coxswains is 110lbs if you’re coxing women and 120lbs if your coxing men. You typically want to be as close to the minimum as possible (while still being healthy) to avoid adding unnecessary weight and drag to the boat. Coaches will typically give you some leeway though as to how far you can be over before they start nagging you about your weight (and nag they will). The best way to lose weight is pretty simple – diet and exercise. Substituting unhealthy foods for healthier options, eating several small meals a day, and adding in at least 30-45 minutes of exercise 3-4 times a week is a good way to get started.

Just something to keep in mind too … 153lbs is a pretty high starting point if you want to cox. If you’re at a competitive program that expects their coxswains to be right at or very close to racing weight, you’re looking at having to lose 25lbs at least. Not that that’s not possible but just be realistic with what you decide to do.

I would search the “weight loss” or “weight” tags on here because I know I’ve answered similar questions from both rowers and coxswains that will probably help you out.

College High School How To Q&A Recruiting Rowing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 29, 2012

What’s a good way to get the attention of college coaches? Everyone keeps telling me that with my times and progress “the offers will roll in”. I really just want to be proactive in my college search to be sure that I’m choosing the right school. Is it as simple as shooting coaches an email saying that I’m interested or is there some secret step that I’ve been missing?

Rowing isn’t like football and basketball … the offers don’t just “roll in”.

First thing I’d suggest is checking out and making a beRecruited profile. This will allow coaches to get a general idea of who you are as a rower and what you’ve accomplished so far. Second, attend camps at universities you’re considering and get to know the coaches. This can be a good initial way to figure out if this is a coach you might be interested in rowing for.

Third, fill out the recruiting forms on the athletic websites of the schools you’re looking at. Coaches are gonna ask you to do this anyways so you might as well ski the step of them asking you to do it and just get it done on your own. Fourth, go to CRASH-Bs (and do well) or ID camps if you can. They look great on your rowing resume and let coaches know that you have the potential to be an asset to their program. Fifth, visit the schools and see if you can meet up with the coach to tour the boathouse and learn a little bit about the team.

Check out the recruiting tag as well as the “contacting coaches” tag too. There’s lots of questions and information in there that might help you out.

College Novice Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 27, 2012

I guess this is more a social life outside of rowing kind of question, but I’m in university rowing and there are a lot of socials which a lot of people attend. But, being in the UK, it’s all about getting drunk and partying etc, and I don’t particularly enjoy that so most of the time I feel left out and only go to the bigger ones (like Christmas ball) and have one glass. But I’m also a novice and want to meet people/seniors which is hard if you just go to practice. Do you have any advice?

When you go to the socials, try not to focus so much on the fact that you feel left out – instead, try and join in on some conversations if you see any happening, as well as look for anyone else who looks equally bored. There’s almost always someone else who is uncomfortable or feeling left out too that you can strike a conversation with.

If parties aren’t your thing, that’s OK! Take the initiative to try and organize something more low-key – maybe a team dinner at one of the senior’s apartments at the start of the year/season to get to know the new team members or a team activity to raise money for charity (an ergathon, triathlon, etc.). You’d be surprised how well you can get to know someone when you have to be on an organizing committee with them. You could also have once-a-month team get togethers … ideas for that could be each boat brings their favorite board/card game to play and you spend the night playing games, going on a restaurant crawl (drinks at one restaurant, appetizers at another, entree at another, desserts at another), etc. You could also look on Groupon or similar deal-sites to see if they have any good deals on stuff like rock climbing, laser tag, spa days & massages, etc. that you and some teammates can do.

Don’t be afraid to admit that parties aren’t your thing. If there is an upperclassman that you know fairly well, ask them for their advice … just say that parties aren’t your thing but you don’t want to seem anti-social or like you don’t want to get to know people, because you do. They might have some ideas for you too!

College Q&A Recruiting Rowing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow December 20, 2012

Do recruiters look at certain clubs more such as Marin or CRI?

I don’t know for sure, but I’d think they would look more closely at someone who came out of the more prominent programs vs. someone from a lesser known program, simply because of the exposure and reputation they have. It’s kind of like players going to the NFL – guys from Division 1 programs have a better shot compared to someone from a D3 team.

You also have to assume that someone who rows for a program like that carries the same values of dedication, hard work, excellence, etc. that helped raise it to prominence in the first place. Stuff like this really catches the eyes of coaches, especially when they know those programs are frequent contenders at regattas like Head of the Charles, Canadian Henley, Club Nationals, etc. It’s definitely something that I think could give you a bit of an edge but it’s not like, the defining quality when they look at recruits.