<p>Hi,
Does anyone have any information pertaining to coxswain recruitment at a D1 school or just any tips for a novice coxswain? I love crew and I hope to row at a D1 school in college. Please let me know what I can do to get recruited and when I should start contacting coaches, ect. Also- if anyone has any advice-from a rower, coach, coxswain, or parent- I would greatly appreciate it! I really am passionate about the sport and want to be a great coxswain!
Thanks.</p>
<p>Trying to keep this board alive…</p>
<p>Crew Crew Crew</p>
<p>Also- if this helps, I have a 4.0 and am taking all Honors/AP course available to me.
All advice is appreciated.</p>
<p>I know there are rowers out there.</p>
<p>Okay, I’ll bite although I was college class of '78 so this info is dated.</p>
<p>I went to the UW-Seattle, a rowing powerhouse and was a cox there. Back in the day, there wasn’t so much recruitment because not so many kids had rowing opportunities in HS. The whole program was set up to building rowers (and coxswain) from the ground up, day one. The coaches were looking for kids who were athletes before, in pretty much any sport although for the rowers a certain body type (tall, with proportionate muscles) is appreciated and for the coswain (small, light weight.)</p>
<p>To be a good cox, you’ll need to blend in well with the team, but also be a leader. Probably the best way to do this is to work your _ss off doing the land work. Also, learn how to row, too. In this way, you’ll be in shape, keep your weight down and instill confidence in the crew when you need to call a power ten, asking them to give their all.</p>
<p>If you can, work extra with the coach to learn on water strategy for giving commands. Be gracious when your teammates throw you in the drink after a winning race, even if there is a snow dusting on the ground. Be a core part of the team and try to socialize with the rowers, help them out with classes if you can. Realistically, you will be the brains in the boat and they will be the brawn but do not lord it over them.</p>
<p>Do something special for your crew. Bake them cookies. Really deocrate your megaphone (well, I guess they come with microphones now so that’s a throw back so maybe decorate your hat or something. Do what you can to create cammaraderie within the team.</p>
<p>That enough?</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your advice; it really helps! I’ve been erging with the team and I’ll be sure to do something special like bake brownies/cookies or decorate my headset/cox box/get some cool spandex :)</p>
<p>If you don’t mind me asking, are there any good motivational tools you would suggest?</p>
<p>A cox has three main responsibilities:
- steer
- motivate the crew
- communicate on/off water</p>
<p>The completion of all of these things makes you a good coxswain. It’s the special sense of knowing exactly what to say at the right time during a race that makes a great coxswain. Obviously, rowers cannot talk during a race, so it’s up to you to figure out what can be improved to make us win. You need to be authoritative and aggressive without being annoying or whiny. It’s imperative that you figure out beforehand what the crew wants to hear and what they don’t. Some crews want their position relative to the course, others are more interested in their position relative to the other boats. It’s things like these that you need to find out beforehand. </p>
<p>A good cox also needs to be supportive of the rowers off of the water. Attend every practice and workout and offer to help out in any way possible. You need to be connected to the team, rowers should feel like they need you there. Its impressive when coxswains research techniques and ideas. My cox shared a website created by Mary Whipple (cox for US’s Olympian 8) called theninthseat or something like that. I was blown away by the amount of care and dedication that she displayed.</p>
<p>Any more questions PM me or something, I can talk about rowing all day.</p>
<p>So I am a current D1 coxswain, so hopefully I can help some. I started emailing coaches during my junior year of HS, and most schools have online recruiting surveys to fill out. Let them know you are interested in the school, some of your major accomplishments, and height and weight. On that note, weight is very important in D1 coxing. As someone well under weight in HS, I find it a struggle to be at 110lbs now, despite the fact that I am quite thin for my height. Keep in mind you will have to find time between classes and water practices to get workouts in, in order to stay at weight. My coaches weigh us in 2 to 3 times a week, and compare everyone to one another, so it’s pretty cutthroat. If you really think this is for you though, contact coaches, show interest, and tell them you may want to visit the school. Getting your name out there is important, but with cox’ns it’s hard to evaluate ability, so I would suggest attending a USrowing identification camp, even if you aren’t interested in national team stuff, because it’s a good way for coaches to hear about you and something good to say that you have done (it shows you are always trying to improve). You may not get much scholarship money your first year (or any at all), but if you perform well and work hard, that can be increased from year to year. If you are invited to come on official visits by any schools (these are paid for by the school, and you are allowed to do a max of 5, per NCAA rules), coaches will most likely discuss scholarship options and let you know where you stand in the recruiting class. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Also, just remembered, coxie.com is a great site for getting general coxing advice. Their message boards have some good ideas for motivational topics and race strategy.</p>