XC Kid want to switch to crew. Advice?

[Anonymous]

He’s a rising 9th grader and has been running on the cross country team for two years. Said he’d like to try out for crew this fall. Any advice I should give to him?

[Anonymous]

Don’t fall out of the boat.

[Anonymous]

You can take the man out of the city but not the city out of the man?

[Anonymous]

Support him = he can always move back to XC

[Anonymous]

Contrary to popular belief, you can’t actually run on water.

[Anonymous]

My DH rowed D1 crew for one of the more competitive programs. He says don’t do it!

In all seriousness though, 9th grade is still a good age to switch sports, and XC is a good sport to come back to if he doesn’t like rowing.

[Anonymous]

start lifting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:start lifting

This. Strength training is non-existent in cross country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can take the man out of the city but not the city out of the man?

Thanks. This will be the only advice I’ll give him. -OP

[Anonymous]

Isn't it typical that all the crew kids run to the boat house prior to getting on the water?

FWIW, I knew a girl that actually did both for the very reason above...she told her XC coach she was running to the boat house each morning (which she was doing) and the XC coach trusted her to treat those like training so she could skip most XC practices.

She did get recruited to row at Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't it typical that all the crew kids run to the boat house prior to getting on the water?

FWIW, I knew a girl that actually did both for the very reason above...she told her XC coach she was running to the boat house each morning (which she was doing) and the XC coach trusted her to treat those like training so she could skip most XC practices.

She did get recruited to row at Harvard.

Run to the boathouse from where?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn't it typical that all the crew kids run to the boat house prior to getting on the water?

FWIW, I knew a girl that actually did both for the very reason above...she told her XC coach she was running to the boat house each morning (which she was doing) and the XC coach trusted her to treat those like training so she could skip most XC practices.

She did get recruited to row at Harvard.

Run to the boathouse from where?

From home or school...this was a kid at a DC school and kids lived relatively close to one another. They would run from upper NW down to their Georgetown boat house. If they had a post-school practice, they would run from school...if a 6am workout, they would meet up at a central spot in upper NW and run down.

[Anonymous]

OK, I have kids who have done both sports.

The transition is actually pretty smooth/logical. The technical aspects of crew can be taught, but only by those who know what they're doing. A kid who shows up in shape, with a good work ethic, is halfway there.

There's a LOT of running at crew practice ... it looks like an upper-body sport, but leg strength is so important. Encourage your kid to gain some upper-body strength, be a good listener, and a good teammate. Hope he loves it!

[Anonymous]

It costs about 2K to participate in crew. That's how much I remember I had to pay for my DC as part of the McLean HS crew. The team also does mulch sale to raise additional fund.

[Anonymous]

Let him do it.