To learn more about this series and see the topics we plan to cover, please visit the Youth Coaches Corner's index page. Youth coaches are more than welcome to contact row2k to get involved in future columns.

This week, the answers we received to the first of two questions we asked about Multi-Sport Athletes.

Do you look for multi-sport athletes to join your program, or do you prefer a focus on rowing only? Do you see pros and cons to each approach?

ED FELDHEIM - FAIRFIELD PREP - MEN'S HEAD COACH

It's good to have both. You need athletes that take ownership of the rowing and sort of act as your foundation. If you have that, then you can mix it with multi-sport athletes and they learn from the rowers on the team.

The multi-sport athletes come in fresh, eager and fit. I'll never understand the push to have high school, or younger, kids focus on one sport year round. It's just so bad for them mentally and physically that it makes you wonder who the real beneficiaries are. If we can't teach an athlete how to row in 10 weeks, that's on us. They might not be the most technical rowers on the team, but they add an element that goes well beyond technique. It's also better for the sport the more people get involved and see they don't have to dedicate their lives to this in order to have fun and find success.

Head of the Passaic, 2022

CATHERINE STARR - GREENWICH CREW - CO-HEAD WOMEN'S COACH

We don’t get as many multi-sport athletes as we would like and I do think we are a little bit a victim of our own success because, once an athlete starts, they get tunnel vision. This is as much their social scene as it is their sport.

We are also in an area where athletes specialize very young so we have to catch multi-sport athletes in summer or as by product of injury. We did get a little baller of a basketball player once who rowed fall and spring, and then played basketball in the winter. She really stayed tough and understood what it meant to be accountable for that choice and her fitness. She was an incredible seven seat and ended up also winning a silver in the straight four at youth nationals.

It's not about the sport, it's about the athletes.

JOSH BAKER - ATOMIC ROWING - HEAD MEN'S COACH

I will never turn down an athlete that wants to row but also wants to explore other activities and opportunities, and more times than not, they are a better rower and teammate for it. While their overall rowing development and performance may suffer slightly, they will enjoy their time on the team far more and become a more well-rounded student-athlete.

VSRA Champs, 2014

WILL PORTER - ST. ANDREWS SCHOOL - HEAD MEN'S COACH

We look for multi-sport athletes in our admissions process. It’s great if kids have a favorite sport, but because we only have 160 boys in our school, they also have to play other sports or at least be willing to try other sports.

I am passionate about our system of multi-sport athletics for many reasons. In general, I think high school sports are supposed to be about having a range of experiences from which life lessons can be drawn. Being on lots of teams, forming bonds with teammates, and getting input from different coaches are invaluable experiences. Multi-sport athletes also have great body awareness and all-around fitness — each sport brings something different to the table. Time away from rowing means that when rowers come back to the boathouse, they often surprise us. Above all, our short season makes the time we do have together really fun and special.

The best crews at St. Andrew’s have always been comprised of multi-sport athletes. Our eight that made the HRR final in 2011, for example, included football players, soccer players, runners, squash players, swimmers, and basketball players. They were really good at the other sports they played and had already succeeded in their other disciplines at the state and even national levels. Additionally, many of them were captains of the other teams they were on. When they came together that spring, there was palpable joy and intensity around them.

The disadvantage to our approach is that it is getting more difficult to find multi-sport athletes because the pressure to specialize is happening even earlier than it did a few years ago. Multi-sport athletes are out there, but we also have gotten pretty good at developing them. In a school this size of St.Andrew's, talent development is as important as talent identification.

Pacific Rowing Club Novice/U17 Regatta, 2023

PARKER WASHBURN - DEERFIELD ACADEMY - WOMEN'S HEAD COACH

I encourage members of the team to participate in another sport during the fall and winter seasons. It is a valuable experience to be part of another team, contribute to their successes, continue to develop athletically, and be excited to row when the rowing season comes around. Athletes who are committed to rowing will find ways to supplement their practices out of season with some erg work or cross training.

DREW COMBS - LITCHFIELD HILLS ROWING CLUB - HEAD COACH

The pros and cons involve the challenge of running a club and what you believe is right. I encourage all the athletes to participate in multiple sports. With any of our middle school athletes, I flat out tell the athlete and families they should only row 1 or 2 seasons a year and rest should be other sports. I welcome Freshmen/ Sophomores to do other sports, and if they are not rowing they need to be in another sport. If, by Junior year, they want to row in college I do explain it is in their best interest to focus on rowing, unless they are excelling already or doing well in another sport. Most tend to specialize in sophomore year. Of course, I am always looking for new athletes to turn into rowers as well.

Youth Nationals, 2022

CASSANDRA CUNNINGHAM - POWER OF 3, LLC/P3PE - PERSONAL COACH

For my high school group who come and train at the barn, I admire, encourage, and love that they all play a different sport. I believe it builds character in a young athlete and prevents the burnout you might get by continuing to do a single sport.

I tell my youth athletes who do multiple sports that most collegiate rowing coaches look for a well-rounded, disciplined athlete who is physically, mentally, and emotionally balanced and passionate about sport.

RUDY RYBACK - LAKE OSWEGO COMMUNITY ROWING - MEN'S HEAD COACH

You could go down the rabbit hole of early specialization in sport, but that's another whole discussion. I like to think of the athletes on a gradient: the younger the athlete, the more diverse the sporting profile. As they grow older, the athlete (not the parents) should continually re-evaluate their athletic profile. Usually rowing rises to the top, and "sells itself" but if it doesn't . . . no love lost!

Having an athlete really burnout in high school is the worst. It feels like, as a coach, I failed in trying to guide them along the rowing journey.

ZACH SPITZER - NEREID BOAT CLUB - HEAD MEN'S COACH

Having an athlete that has been doing sports prior to rowing is always great. They almost always come in with body awareness, so transitioning to rowing is not too hard because they have learned how to move their hips in other sports. We don’t discourage secondary sports for most athletes, especially earlier in their career.

The only time we talk about it is if there is a Junior or Senior that says they want to row D1 but want to be high performing in another sport for half the year. For some stellar athletes that is no big deal: they can hop on the erg at any time and be competitive. For the average high school athlete, they would need to put in more time to the sport in order to achieve that goal.

We never tell an athlete they have to do anything, but we just give them advice that lines up with what they say they want out of the sport. If someone is adamant about doing a winter sport like swimming, we just build out a training plan that keeps them in contact with rowing throughout their other sport’s season.

Youth Nationals, 2018

GEORGE KIRSCHBAUM - JUNIORS COACH - AUTHOR OF 'THE DOWN AND DIRTY GUIDE TO COXING'

I am happy if athletes participate in other sports, as long as they are giving their best effort. They are going to come back with a fresh perspective on rowing, ready to give it a go, and hopefully with fewer rowing-specific injuries building up.

It really is up to the athlete and individual: if they are doing something that they love they are going to bring something positive to the team.

MATT GRAU - THREE RIVERS ROWING - WOMEN'S HEAD COACH

Our program is absolutely looking for multi-sport athletes. It is good for the individual athlete’s long term development and often can result in them bringing a few friends to try rowing.

It does become challenging when someone wants to be a multi-sport athlete during the spring water season as you really want the focus to be on rowing at that moment. I think the biggest “con” to multi-sport athletes is when their expectations for the on-water season do not match up with their attendance, but I do think the pros far outweigh the cons.

Charlie Butt Regatta, 2022