rowing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not too late. Kids at our public get into HYP for rowing, and started in 8th/9th. Being tall helps!

So this doesn't happen.

Most rowers are from top privates with few from public schools. There are a few public school exceptions for kids from some wealthy NY/CT (or CA) suburbs who rowed at elite clubs. Rowing is the ultimate white DEI sport.
Most recruited rowers at HYP are European and competitive at the national level.
Being tall doesn't just help, it is a prerequisite. 6'2" for men and 5'10" for women except for coxswains (who typically do not receive recruiting support).

Overall rowing is not by any means a easier path to admittance to a top school.

At the Stotesbury Cup for HS students last year, all the competitive public HS boats were blown out of the water by elite private school boats.

We found out some of these private schools have their own lakes / rivers right on the private grounds of their schools. Also found out they start rowing in middle school and practice all school-year long. Some of them recruit for high school. They had privately-catered chefs prepare lunch for their athletes, while all we had was an EZ-up, a few folding chairs, and some homemade sandwiches.

It was eye-opening.

Very interesting. Multiple family friends recruited for rowing were from TJ.

Really? Where are they? There is not a single TJ rower that I know of at an elite school.

Agree. The TJ heyday was almost 20 years ago

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My advice to current HS Junior parents is to be realistic about your child's ability and have them commit by the end of March. There's a lot of shuffling in March and by the end of April the pool of spots is much smaller. Unless your kid is a superstar, then they'll bump someone else for your kid.

Coaches will cast a wide net, but move on if your kid isn't offered an official visit and an offer by the end of the visit. Ivies especially will keep talking to kids all the way until the end, without moving it forward to a visit and an offer.

Figure out whether your kid needs an athletic scholarship or just admission into the best school they can get and you can pay. Then narrow the scope of schools based on that.

Good luck everyone!

When did your DC start the process of engaging with schools? Were they contacted by schools, or did they reach out to the schools with times/etc.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most rowers don't actually start until high school (or late middle school), often through a learn-to-row summer camp. Be forewarned, though, high school rowing can get eye-wateringly expensive.

Interesting. What's so expensive about it?

It's like alot of club sports in high school, and there's travel involved.

Plus the equipment is expensive. Teams need to own boats of various sizes (an 8 is typically 60' long), transport those boats to regattas (via a trailer), oars (for sculling and sweep), launches for the coaches to coach from, and maintenance for all of the above.

g

…and waterfront real estate. You forgot the Boatshed. 💲💲💲

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most rowers don't actually start until high school (or late middle school), often through a learn-to-row summer camp. Be forewarned, though, high school rowing can get eye-wateringly expensive.

Interesting. What's so expensive about it?

It's like alot of club sports in high school, and there's travel involved.

Plus the equipment is expensive. Teams need to own boats of various sizes (an 8 is typically 60' long), transport those boats to regattas (via a trailer), oars (for sculling and sweep), launches for the coaches to coach from, and maintenance for all of the above.

g

…and waterfront real estate. You forgot the Boatshed. 💲💲💲

Most high schools just pay rent to a Boathouse where lots of schools and rowing clubs also pay rent.

It’s an expense for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most rowers don't actually start until high school (or late middle school), often through a learn-to-row summer camp. Be forewarned, though, high school rowing can get eye-wateringly expensive.

Interesting. What's so expensive about it?

It's like alot of club sports in high school, and there's travel involved.

Plus the equipment is expensive. Teams need to own boats of various sizes (an 8 is typically 60' long), transport those boats to regattas (via a trailer), oars (for sculling and sweep), launches for the coaches to coach from, and maintenance for all of the above.

g

…and waterfront real estate. You forgot the Boatshed. 💲💲💲

And salary for the coaches. That's $$$ at the top teams.

[Anonymous]

There are so many kids who row these days in the DMV it's really only a hook for the Ivies and Stanford if you are crazy tall and also athletically gifted. but the local rowing clubs are happy to take the money from hundreds of families a year and they run 8-10 boats of kids who have no shot at elite rowing post high school. these kids all fund the rowing of the handful who are elite kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My advice to current HS Junior parents is to be realistic about your child's ability and have them commit by the end of March. There's a lot of shuffling in March and by the end of April the pool of spots is much smaller. Unless your kid is a superstar, then they'll bump someone else for your kid.

Coaches will cast a wide net, but move on if your kid isn't offered an official visit and an offer by the end of the visit. Ivies especially will keep talking to kids all the way until the end, without moving it forward to a visit and an offer.

Figure out whether your kid needs an athletic scholarship or just admission into the best school they can get and you can pay. Then narrow the scope of schools based on that.

Good luck everyone!

When did your DC start the process of engaging with schools? Were they contacted by schools, or did they reach out to the schools with times/etc.?

There's a specific date the summer before your Junior year when coaches can talk to your kid. After that date, have your kid go to the college team websites and fill out the recruiting questionnaire. Then the coach will reach out to your kid.

The typical sequence is coach emails the kid to set up a phone or zoom call. If the assistant coach takes the first call, then they might schedule another one with the head coach and/or a couple team members. Then they offer your kid an official visit after the call/s. Then at the end of the visit, the coach makes your kid an offer.

If any of this doesn't happen, then move on. Coaches cast a very wide net and want back ups in case they need them. Don't think an offer is imminent just because your kid is still talking to a coach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are so many kids who row these days in the DMV it's really only a hook for the Ivies and Stanford if you are crazy tall and also athletically gifted. but the local rowing clubs are happy to take the money from hundreds of families a year and they run 8-10 boats of kids who have no shot at elite rowing post high school. these kids all fund the rowing of the handful who are elite kids.

This goes back to the erg metric used for elite programs. If you're not close to national team mark, you can forget about the elite schools. But between the elite schools and the schools that have rowing programs, there is a lot there where you don't necessarily have to worry about being a recruited athlete to secure a spot at that school. Most likely, if you have decent grades, you'll get in regardless of whether you're a rower or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are so many kids who row these days in the DMV it's really only a hook for the Ivies and Stanford if you are crazy tall and also athletically gifted. but the local rowing clubs are happy to take the money from hundreds of families a year and they run 8-10 boats of kids who have no shot at elite rowing post high school. these kids all fund the rowing of the handful who are elite kids.

This is so, so true. Teams need lots of rowers to pay the bills.

That said, it's a lifetime sport for many kids. They can still row in college even if it's not HYPS, and enjoy the sport for decades.

[Anonymous]

Nobody has mentioned that the vast majority of Div I schools don’t have men’s school-sponsored rowing. A lot of bigtime sports schools (like Michigan) have school-sponsored women’s rowing teams but only club rowing teams for men.

Apparently it’s a Title IX thing…because there are so many scholarship players on football teams, they can support large women’s rowing teams, but not men’s.

Bottom line: it is much easier for female rowers to get recruited get scholarships than male rowers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not too late. Kids at our public get into HYP for rowing, and started in 8th/9th. Being tall helps!

So this doesn't happen.

Most rowers are from top privates with few from public schools. There are a few public school exceptions for kids from some wealthy NY/CT (or CA) suburbs who rowed at elite clubs. Rowing is the ultimate white DEI sport.
Most recruited rowers at HYP are European and competitive at the national level.
Being tall doesn't just help, it is a prerequisite. 6'2" for men and 5'10" for women except for coxswains (who typically do not receive recruiting support).

Overall rowing is not by any means a easier path to admittance to a top school.

There is a place on a college team for just about any female rower with experience. I have a kid who honestly isn't that fast, rowing at a DIII school. She would not have made the cut for HYP or Williams, but you can row in college if you want to. She likely would have been admitted to this school on her academic record but we had a decision in August and knew what the merit aid offer was. It made for an easy fall. Also, we are from a DMV public. Jackson Reed is extremely good, BCC girls are very good, as is TBC (private club) and DC National. There are a whole bunch of public school clubs in NOVA as well.

I think the whole point is that OP is trying to link college acceptance to being recruited. And it's great that your kid is rowing at a D3 but if you're having to make it on the merit of your application and you would have made it anyway, I honestly don't know what the "recruited" hook is buying you. It's not like you got a place in Ivy, Ivy+ or the top SLAC for rowing. I also agree that it's incredibly expensive. For Mclean HS, it's over 7K for a spring semester of regattas and a winter session of erging.

She was recruited and went through the whole process. It just so happens that the school would have been a target for her. Still a top 50 school and she had the benefit of knowing that she was in by August.

[Anonymous]

Many colleges have week-long summer rowing camps where they teach kids the basics.

Our kid was tall & athletic but had zero experience in rowing, & went to summer camps during high school at Michigan & Penn. Those were enough to let him get a feel for whether it was a sport for him.

There is certainly some technique to learn, but if kid is tall & mentally & physically tough, the technique can be learned fairly quickly. In other words, you don’t have to learn it when you’re a toddler, like tennis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the Mom’s freaking out, our family friend just got recruited D1 crew and she’s about 5’5.

Real crew or lightweight?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most rowers don't actually start until high school (or late middle school), often through a learn-to-row summer camp. Be forewarned, though, high school rowing can get eye-wateringly expensive.

Interesting. What's so expensive about it?

The boats themselves are very expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nobody has mentioned that the vast majority of Div I schools don’t have men’s school-sponsored rowing. A lot of bigtime sports schools (like Michigan) have school-sponsored women’s rowing teams but only club rowing teams for men.

Apparently it’s a Title IX thing…because there are so many scholarship players on football teams, they can support large women’s rowing teams, but not men’s.

Bottom line: it is much easier for female rowers to get recruited get scholarships than male rowers.

Important note & quoting for attention.