3 Things to Know BEFORE Starting the Recruiting Process.
What’s up Everyone!
May is here, and I hope you’re excited for the start of the championship racing season! This is the best time of the year for high school rowers, and I can’t wait to watch some incredible racing over the next few weeks!
With that, we are a few months out before rising juniors (current sophomores) will begin thinking seriously about the college rowing recruiting process…
Today’s newsletter is all about helping Aspiring College Rowers feel better prepared entering their recruiting journey…
Below are 3 Things to know BEFORE jumping into the college recruiting process… (also be sure to check out the ATT Podcast to learn directly from dozens of top College Coaches!)
Before we get to today’s recruiting considerations, we know that the recruiting process can be overwhelming. However, oftentimes we make this journey way more complex than it needs to be.
Athletes have different goals… different motivations for why to pursue college rowing… they are at different talent and experience levels, etc… thus everyone’s recruiting timeline is going to look different.
For current sophomores, who are about to embark on this journey and begin talking with coaches for the purpose of continuing your rowing career for four more years… this process can feel very emotionally daunting (on both the athlete AND the parents).
For that reason, as we close out the spring season and head into the summer, below you will find a few considerations to keep in mind that should hopefully ease some of the “weight” you’ve been stacking on your shoulders.
3 Recruiting Considerations to know BEFORE talking with coaches…
The ACTUAL Recruiting Timeline - You may have heard it before, but June 15th marks the “official” start to the recruiting process for the class of 2027 (rising juniors). College coaches are not able to engage with recruiting prospects in the class of 2027 prior to this date. The reason this date is important is because no matter what outreach you make to coaches between now and June 15th, they CANNOT do anything about it other than place it in an email folder and wait till the summer (more likely, probably the fall) to potentially respond.
With that, to me (and other college coaches), the “unofficial” start to the recruiting process, meaning the time college coaches are really shifting their focus from the class of 2026 to future classes, is in the fall season (or more specifically, think Head of the Charles). Most of the seniors will have already committed to their respective schools, and now college coaches have regained the mental bandwidth to begin prioritizing the next class.
Why is this important? Because it means YOU HAVE TIME. You don’t need to have it all figured out come June 15th, because no offense, college coaches are not thinking about you yet.
The Journey Is Longer Than You Think - The process of finding YOUR school should be fun and exciting. However, over the years I’ve seen countless athletes put all this stress and expectation on themselves to “feel” like they need to come out of the gates firing on June 15th… only to finally commit to their school 12 to 18 months later. And don’t get me wrong, I’d rather see an athlete over-prepared, than not prepared at all. This shows they truly want to take that next step and row in college.
But the problem is the expectation and stress athletes often put on themselves so early into the process, and that emotional tax is often not lifted until summer/fall of the NEXT YEAR (senior year) when they finally get “recruited”! Stress isn’t bad, but channel it elsewhere, and in some ways it will only help your recruiting journey over time. The feeling of expectation doesn’t need to be centered around college rowing… yet. It’s a long process, and you don’t want to burn yourself out before it even begins.
You Are NOT DONE Getting Faster - Realize now, as a sophomore/rising junior, you have SO MUCH TIME to develop as a rower. Every good college coach knows this. Who you are today is not who you will be walking in the door of your future college program.
Don’t get caught up in “I’m not fast enough for that program”, or “I have a friend who got recruited their and she was 20 seconds faster than me”, etc. With a full summer ahead, and even a full fall, and actually (wait for it), a full winter training as a junior… there is no reason to believe you won’t get faster, more confident, and become a more viable recruit in the eyes of the coaches you want to engage with.
Your rowing resume is nowhere near complete. You have time to drop that 30 seconds on the erg, to get your grades up, and do the things you need to do to better position yourself for the college process.
And for the rowing… that’s the easiest part. If you love rowing, you gotta love rowing *training*. Commit to that training grind. Be a student of the sport. Erg… a lot. And fast forward 3-6 months and the entire narrative with coaches could completely change. Channel your focus (NOT stress!) on training and becoming a better rower, and you will be able to sit up tall and communicate enthusiastically with any college coach you want to talk to!
Lastly, one piece of advice that has been echoed by most of the college coaches I’ve had on the ATT Podcast… 1) you have to be passionate about the sport, and 2) you have to fall in love with *training*.
These are the two prerequisites I would advise any sophomore to continue to develop over the next 3-5 weeks of their racing season.
If you ain’t passionate, and you don’t like to train… you may get recruited… but what’s that journey look like once you're there…?
Train hard, enjoy every aspect of this sport, and develop in a way that will set you up for long term success.
With that, let’s have a Fast and Competitive MAY, and Keep Steppin’ Into It!
Kevin
