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Crew College Recruitment

Get educated on the process
Gather necessary academic information
Gather necessary athletic information
Register with NCAA Eligibility Center
Give coaches something to look at
Complete recruiting questionnaires, portals and emails
Stay organized with mindful and mannerly coach contact
Financial Aid considerations
Final thoughts…

Welcome!

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Crew College Recruitment

Get educated on the process

Thanks for being here to gain more information!
College athletics are very demanding – time management is critical

Parents won’t be there to do laundry & feed you
Usually can’t study abroad, can’t rush sororities, etc…

Be honest about your reasons to commit to the recruiting process

Do you truly want this or do your parents?

THIS IS YOUR PROCESS - USE YOUR VOICE – PARENTS: LET THE ROWERS DRIVE IT!
Gain as much information as possible about yourself
Organize all of your pertinent data
Research potential colleges & universities

Majors
Regions
Rowing schools – Title IX – big football schools

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Crew College Recruitment

2. Gather necessary academic information

College coaches love high academic achievers

Be high achievers in high school
Take classes that take you on an upward trajectory and distinguish you from other applicants (AP, Honors)

Work with college counselors to get unofficial transcripts

Know your GPA

Take SAT/ACT early and often: even if not “required” it can help!!

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Crew College Recruitment

3. Gather necessary athletic information

ERG SCORES

2k, 5k, 6k
Thresholds vary by program
Sparks Rowing database
Ask coaches
Weight adjusted

Summer between Junior and Senior year is important to work on ergs and get scores down
Club rowing in the summer? Sculling and rowing both sides is advantageous, but not at the expense of a good erg score

Coaches can teach technique but show them you already have an “engine”

For some sports, club programs are a necessity (lacrosse) - not rowing where erg scores usually trump summer club participation for some collegiate teams

Races you’ve participated in

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Crew College Recruitment

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Crew College Recruitment

4. Register with NCAA Eligibility Center

Requirement & necessity throughout the recruiting process
Get (and save!) your NCAA Eligibility #
Sometimes mandatory field on recruiting questionnaires
Required PRIOR TO going on official visits
Go to https://web3.ncaa.org/ecwr3/ You are probably Option 3 and it costs $100

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5. Give coaches something to look at

Work hard at practice and deliver results on erg test days
Make sure you understand coach feedback and make needed changes
Ask coaches/managers to take videos to show your technique

On water
On erg

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Crew College Recruitment

6. Complete recruiting questionnaires, portals and emails

Every school has a recruiting tab within their rowing page
Complete as many recruiting questionnaires as possible

Keep all of your profiles organized for each team (spreadsheet)

Enter data into recruiting portals…

Rowingrecruitportal.com, sparksrowing.com, ncsasports.org, sportsrecruits.com

May receive email contact from coaches

Prepare for phone interviews (try mock interviews to prepare)

Send brief introduction emails with some stats & upcoming races

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Crew College Recruitment

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Crew College Recruitment

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Crew College Recruitment

7. Stay organized with mindful and mannerly coach contact

Parents let your children be responsible for this!
Be prompt and honest with responding to coaches’ emails

Coaches are looking for reciprocity – match making
“I’m humbled by your response, but I’m not interested in your school because you don’t have my intended major or not in my preferred region, etc...”
“Thank you for your amazing offer, but I have decided to take my academics and rowing in another direction”

Be persistent with your favorite schools

Keep them abreast of some stats & upcoming races

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8. Financial Aid considerations

Discuss college budgeting as a family
Varies by school
Title IX

Big football schools usually give out more money so women’s sports can be on par with big football budgets (ex. Louisville, Clemson, Alabama)

Usually academic and athletic monies can be combined
Usually the better the grades, the bigger the “reward”
Some schools will increase athletic scholarship as athlete’s progress improves

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Final Thoughts…

Begin with the End in mind: Curate your choices!
Starting with academics (do they have your major?)
Setting (urban v. rural, big school or small)
Team size & stats (large roste or more intimate? Will you be immediate impact athlete or a part of larger machine?)
Team dynamics & coaching style (take the visits; meet the team; observe a practice; BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF)
Find the school that feels like “home” and your odds of success go way up