How to Get Recruited

 Here is some helpful advice for recruiting:

Make a recording tape

Have a variety of things on your tape such as a sprint race and a few different practice pieces.  This is the time to showcase your best stuff…and you get your best stuff by recording yourself all the time.  Recordings also allow you to playback and recall your race/practice so you can dissect what you can improve on.  A coach or older coxswain can also help you with your recording.  

Send your recording! 

Check out the athletic websites for the schools you are interested in.  Look for a staff directory to get the e-mail address for the head coach AND assistant/recruiting coach.  Most likely if you’re going to get a response it will be from the assistant/recruiting coach.  Email these coaching with a link to your recordings and a brief coxing history.  Let them know you’re interested in their schools and ask for any information they can send you.  

Fill Out Recruiting Questionnaires

When you’re on prospective school’s athletic websites look for a button for a recruiting questionnaire.  Most schools have these as a way for you to easily input your rowing/coxing information for recruitment.  Please, please, please be honest when filling out these forms!  Please do not waste these coaches time/money/effort by exaggerating your 2k time or your accomplishments.  

Take Your Official Visits

If you are interested in the school and the coaches’ offer to bring you on an official visit you should definitely take advantage of that opportunity.  If I had never gone on official visits I definitely would have mistakenly chosen the wrong school.  Going on an official visit lets you get a good idea of what a typical athlete’s life is like at that school.  You get to sleep in their dorm, eat the cafeteria food, and sit in on practice.   Take full advantage of this opportunity and ask lots of questions!  Trust me – the athletes want you to!