Along the lines of the Collegiate Coaching Corner series, row2k reached out to a wide swath of the junior and youth coaching community, to solicit responses on a wide range of topics both unique to youth coaching and to the profession and sport in general. Participation is 100% voluntary, and any youth coaches we may have missed initially are more than welcome to contact us to get involved in future columns.

Within the range of the responses we received, we have done our best to make each topic as inclusive and representative as possible of the many different perspectives and types of junior and youth programs across the country. If your voice or perspective of your program is missing and you would like to contribute, please join us via the contact link above.

You can see the full list of planned topics and past columns at this link.

This week, the answers we received to the first three questions we asked about Bringing Kids to Rowing:

What are some of the main ways you find and/or attract new kids to your program? What is your most effective recruiting tool or activity?

MIKE O’HARA - SAUGATUCK ROWING CLUB - VARSITY WOMEN

By and large I’ve found that building a novice class takes almost the same amount of time and energy as actually coaching the rowing stroke to beginners. Paramount to that end is making sure the kids are learning, laughing and building friendships.

Word of mouth will almost always become a massive catalyst to more athletes looking to give the program a shot. Rowing is the epitome of a “Team Game" and for so many of our younger oarsmen/women this is their first real introduction to what it is to be a part of a true team. We’ll tell the kids to bring a friend or family member visit practice as well. It’s so important that the coach make that visitor feel included without being heavy handed. I’ve seen some take the hard sell, with cult-like recruitment. That doesn’t work in my opinion and actually makes rowing seem like an intense Dungeons and Dragons club.

KIRSTEN ANDERSON - ORLANDO AREA ROWING SOCIETY - DIRECTOR OF ROWING

We have Learn to Row camps throughout the summer that really help bring in new kids. I would say our most effective recruiting tool is word of mouth. Our families sharing their love for the sport really helps get new kids along.

ANONYMOUS HEAD COACH - VARSITY WOMEN

Our school requires students to partake in a co-curricular, whether it’s a sports team or other afternoon activity, so we already have some incentive for students to join our group. However, I do try to build momentum and excitement throughout the year, as crew is only a spring sport on our campus. So, I try to have a few team gatherings throughout the fall and/or winter and encourage students to bring as many friends as they want. Whether it’s a scavenger hunt with snacks or a movie night, I try to show students what our team culture is like. This has helped to encourage students to try something new and maybe scary, because they now know some of the people involved. Basically, if new students see how much returning rowers enjoy their experience and the team, it’s pretty easy to get others involved.

PARKER WASHBURN - DEERFIELD ACADEMY - VARSITY WOMEN

Current members of the team are the best recruiting tools I have! I will speak with the seniors at the start of each year and ask them to do some on-campus recruiting. The students are much better at convincing others to try the sport than I am, so I lean on them.

KIRSTEN PRESKENIS - FARMINGTON HS - VARSITY WOMEN

Our summer programming through the town’s recreation department gets a lot of people in the door. This year we filled 100+ seats through those programs. It’s a great technique refresher for high schoolers, and introduces middle schoolers to the sport. We’ve also increased our publicity in the local papers, and that has brought in some new families. We continue to explore ways to promote our team and get it on people’s radar.

What is the key element, in your experience, to getting kids to stick with the sport?

KIRSTEN PRESKENIS - FARMINGTON HS - VARSITY WOMEN

A strong, positive, and encouraging community is everything. The boathouse is a place of learning, growth, and building good relationships. Once a newcomer feels that they are part of a community and contributing to a common goal, they’re more likely to stick around.

PARKER WASHBURN - DEERFIELD ACADEMY - VARSITY WOMEN

Progress is the ultimate motivator. Find ways to show your athletes that they are making progress. This might be fitness, which you can demonstrate with erg tests or repeated workouts, or perhaps video taken at different points in the season to show technical improvements.

MIKE O’HARA - SAUGATUCK ROWING CLUB - VARSITY WOMEN

In a word it seems to be “Team”--and all that being on a team encompasses. Getting through everything from a tough practice to a tough day at school with your teammates. These friends quickly become family because of the amount of time you spend with them. It’s great to see the kids start to let their personalities come to life because the Crew is their second home. They learn to push themselves and each other because they have pride in their new family. I’ve always said it is key to celebrate the individual while teaching them to excel the team dynamic.

ANONYMOUS HEAD COACH - VARSITY WOMEN

Team culture is a make it or break it issue, in my perspective. I have seen team cultures ruin a sport for some students and seen some great environments lead groups to find greater success than expected. If you can foster a community that is both competitive and supportive--one that will empower students to find their own strength but also laugh at themselves--rowers will continue to return season after season.

KIRSTEN ANDERSON - ORLANDO AREA ROWING SOCIETY - DIRECTOR OF ROWING

Making it fun and keeping them interested in the rowing. To do this, you must have good coaches that are willing to put in the effort to support and develop each rower.

Have you noticed any differences in how kids stick with the sport based on their age when they start?

KIRSTEN ANDERSON - ORLANDO AREA ROWING SOCIETY - DIRECTOR OF ROWING

We started a middle school program years ago in hopes that it would help with recruiting. I would guess it is about a 50/50 split of kids that stay up through middle school into high school. There are just a lot of opportunities for kids in high school and we don't retain everyone. I think that is a good thing, though: we actually should be encouraging more kids to participate in a variety of activities.

KIRSTEN PRESKENIS - FARMINGTON HS - VARSITY WOMEN

Often, the later the athlete starts, the more likely they are to stay with our program. These are typically people who are coming from other sports, but have friends on the crew team. They already understand the expectations of competing on the varsity level. They’ll often excel quickly because of that, even with the learning curve from beginning a new sport.

MIKE O’HARA - SAUGATUCK ROWING CLUB - VARSITY WOMEN

The thing I’ve notice most is that when I’m able to draw similarities to other sports they’ve played the lightbulb seems to switch on. Especially with older novice athletes. Some of the best kids I’ve been lucky enough to coach have come to us from softball, lacrosse, soccer, basketball and others (NOT because they were “Tall but can’t play anything else.”). I was able to talk with them about the “Cousins of Connection”. The FACT that driving a baseball, golf ball, taking a jumper or winging a shot at the lax net is very similar to the mechanics of driving the bow ball. Leg power passed through strong core support to fuel the upper body to complete the shot, swing or stroke. One of the things that as always infuriated me about this sport can be summed up in a t-shirt I would see sold at regattas that read: ATHLETES ROW, OTHERS PLAY GAMES. With all due respect to those who believe that…Nope. Rowing IS a game. A 2k is a game with four 500m quarters. We play offense and defense. We run moves or plays throughout the race. I feel rowing needs to adopt more of that mindset or continue to lose strong athletes to lacrosse, soccer and baseball fields. Trying to make rowing seem better than other sports or more of a sport will succeed only in making it less of one in my opinion.