Do you want to make great friends, do something completely different and have fun?!?
Do you want to be part of a committed group of students who are State Champions and nationally ranked athletes?
And just like you they never did this sport before high school?!
Do you want to get a leg up in the college admissions process? You have a better chance of rowing in college then any other sport you can do in high school.
We are looking for someone who is ready for a new challenge – someone who has the courage to try one of the most physically demanding sports in the world. Someone who is ready to explore what they are truly capable of achieving and who understands that excellence can be found by anyone who is willing to work hard enough.
Are you ready to step up to the challenge?
Who should be a rower or a coxswain? You should! Click on the videos below to learn more and then scroll through your FAQs below.
What is rowing?
Click the link below for a great video about what rowing is all about. Narrated by Olympic Gold Medalist, Mahe Drysdale
What is a coxswain?
You are NOT too small to do a sport! We are looking for people under 115 pounds (the smaller the better) who are ready to step up and be leaders.
Very few of our athletes had prior rowing experience before high school, many had never even considered it. Within a short time, however, they grew to love the beauty and power of the sport and learned how to compete on a regional and national level, and even go on to compete in college and beyond. The boathouse welcomes everyone who is willing to commit fully to the team and has the drive to do the work required by the sport.
The primary goal of Unionville Crew is to create a team where each athlete can discover their true potential. Some come to us from other sports, others are exploring their athletic side for the very first time. By the time they graduate we want all our athletes to have learned the value of hard work and understand the gifts and lessons that can be found in the pursuit of excellence. Winning is not the goal but can be the happy result as we work to chase perfection. Perfection may never be achieved but the character we build in its quest will last a lifetime.
Everyone starts off brand new! So everyone has questions:
Can I row in college?
Yes this seems like a long way off, but we get this question a lot. The answer is absolutely. In fact, rowing is the oldest collegiate sport in the country. It continues to thrive at the finest universities in the country because of the grit and leadership it produces in the athletes of the sport. We have had athletes go on to be NCAA All-Americans, row in NCAA championship finals, be elected Captains of their college teams, and even one athlete row at the Olympics! They all started rowing in high school.
Since the program started in 2014 we have had close to 30 athletes go on to row in college. Many of these athletes had their chances of getting into the college of their choice improved by rowing. We have had multiple athletes receive scholarships to row in college.
You can start a brand new sport in high school, and three years later find yourself being recruited by colleges from all over the country. You can check out a great list of colleges who offer rowing, along with the list of our graduates and where they rowed in college on our College Rowing page.
I’ve tried other sports, or I’ve never tried a sport, can i row?
Rowing is a sport like any other – athletic ability is key to being competitive. When we are evaluating new rowers we are looking for that inner athlete, that has to be there. But it absolutely doesn’t mean that you knew about that inner athlete before finding rowing.
One of the unique aspects of rowing is that it begins in high school. No one has been rowing since they were three years old. So even if other sports did quite seem to fit you as a person, rowing just might.
We have many athletes on the team who were burned out with another sport, or never found the sport they loved. As one recent graduate said “It was either rowing or color guard and now I’m a collegiate athlete!”
how important is being tall? Am I too small to row?
Being tall is a great advantage in rowing! But it certainly isn’t the only thing, and at the end of the day it is really about how much you like to grind out work. The best thing is you might not even know that you like to do that, the only way to find out is to try.
Rowing is a power endurance sport. To make a boat go fast we use three things – the power of the stroke, the length of the stroke, and how many strokes you take in a race. And most of the power comes from the legs.
The power of the stroke is determined by an athlete’s strength. That is pretty simple. But it is also about the power to weight ratio. A really big athlete who weighs down the boat better pull really hard. A smaller athlete who can generate a lot of power, even if it’s not as much as a bigger athlete, can still make a boat go fast.
The length of the stroke is largely determined by height. The taller the athlete the longer the stroke and the more leverage they can create. Thus, the ultimate rower is tall and generally lean. Swimmers, volleyball, and basketball players make great rowers.
Obviously there are plenty of not-ultimate rowers who do very well and make boats go fast. Plus, we occasionally row lightweight events, giving the lighter and smaller athletes a better chance of competing.
So if you are a lighter/shorter athlete you are more likely to be asked to consider coxing, but cranking on an oar is not out of the question. How badly to you want it?
Rower and coxswain, what are they?
There are two kinds of people we are looking for:
Rower – Rowers are usually on the tall side, but we take anyone who is ready to work and put forth an effort to get better every day. Rowers generally have strong legs and big lungs and a willingness to set aside their ego for the benefit of the team. Rowing is the ultimate team sport, there are no superstars. Additionally, there are lightweight categories for girls who weigh under 130 lbs and boys who weigh under 160 lbs.
Coxswain – If you weigh under 120 lbs you will be considered for the coxswain position. Coxing offers a tremendous leadership opportunity, and a chance for someone, who may have thought they were too small, to participate in a sport. The coxswain is responsible for steering the boat, keeping the equipment and rowers safe, and executing the practice and race plans.
Coxswains need to be confident, organized, and generally outgoing. It takes a unique set of social skills to be both a leader and a teammate.
is Rowing a varsity sport at Unionville?
Crew is a Club Varsity sport and athletes can earn varsity letters. We enjoy great support from the athletic department and all our athletes adhere to the same rules as every varsity athlete at Unionville. We have access to the weight room and to the athletic trainer. Our athletes work extremely hard and we are committed to putting boats on the water that can compete on a national level.
We do not, however, receive any funding from the school, so all our expenses are supported by season dues and fundraising efforts of our athletes and parents. We have an extremely supportive parent board and we encourage all our parents to get involved to help us go fast!
When is the rowing season?
We offer programs in the fall, winter, and spring. Many of our athletes row all three seasons, but we welcome multi-sport athletes!
Spring – The spring racing season is our regular season. The spring racing season goes from the beginning of March to the middle of May. Spring is the sprint racing season with races taking place over 1500 meters and taking 4:30 to 5:30 minutes to complete.
Fall – The season lasts from the first day of school until the middle of November. The fall is time for our experienced athletes to continue learning and for our novices to discover the joy of rowing! Training involves longer intervals in preparation for fall races which are three miles and can take 16 – 20 minutes to complete.
Winter – This season lasts from the beginning of December to the end of February. We move indoors with practice held at Unionville High School. The winter is vitally important to speed in the spring as our training begins to add in higher intensity work and weight training. There are no athletes at Unionville that work harder than our athletes do during the winter. Novices are encouraged to join us for this important training unless they are already doing a winter sport.
what are practices and races like?
Practice takes place five days a week (with one weekday off), including Saturdays every weekend throughout the year from September through the end of May. There is a short break in November.
Practice in the spring and fall is on the water at the boathouse. Athletes row on the water on most days. On a typical day the bus leaves school at 3:15, after travel and setup we get on the water around 4:15, we row for about 90′, then pack up, head home, and arrive back at Unionville around 6:45.
On the water practice takes place down in Delaware. Being away from school, in a completely different environment, is one of the main things our athletes love about the sport. Being on the water, out in nature with eagles, turtles, heron, rowing with teammates as the boat flows rhythmically underneath you can be a transformative experience.
In the winter we are at Unionville. We row on rowing machines, run, lift, run stairs, and generally get super fit and strong. Practices are usually split, with one team going right after school until 5 and the other team going from 5 – 7.
We usually race on Sundays from mid March to Memorial Day, although some races in the spring may be on a Friday and Saturday. Generally our races take place within 90 minutes of the school but most regattas require a substantial time commitment. There is plenty of downtime though, many athletes study at regattas. We also travel to some fun places in both the fall and spring.
Are you sure i can find time to row?
If you plan your work and work your plan you certainly can.
Because we do most of our practices at the river, which is about 35 minutes from school, rowing can take up more time than other sports. But we have 60 – 70 athletes every year who handle that schedule just fine. Year after year athletes tell us (and their parents agree) that one of the greatest lessons they learn is how to budget their time. It is a great life skill.
Every team has one day off each week and athletes often will get some homework done on the bus to and from practice. If you want to do it, you can do it, it is that simple. And you can excel athletically and academically. Athletes in our top boats routinely graduate in the top 10% of the class, are admitted to NHS, and are in multiple other honor societies.
Rowing tends to attract Type A driven athletes mostly because it is not about skill or individual glory, it’s all about grinding and working. It is not surprising that some of the best rowing universities in the country are also just the best universities.
Do I have to try out?
Because rowing will be new to everyone that comes out for the team, we will try to keep every athlete we can, you never know who will develop into an exceptional rower. However, rowing does require athleticism, drive, determination, and most importantly an ability to grind out work.
After a short try-out period before the fall, winter, and spring seasons, the coaching staff will determine who will be allowed to join the team. Making the team in the fall does not guarantee you will make it in the winter or spring.
do i have to row all three seasons?
No! We do have plenty of athletes who row all year but it is not a requirement. Spring is our main competitive season.
We encourage multi-sport athletes! Cross training is good for any sport you do and helps prevent burn-out. Doing multiple sports can help with injury prevention, balance, and strength. As a power-endurance sport, rowing will significantly increase your aerobic capacity and carries very little risk of injury since it is a non-contact sport.
Novices are encouraged to come out in the fall and/or the winter if not already doing a sport, so that you can be ready for the spring racing season, but we can accommodate first time rowers in any season.
Once at the Varsity level most of our athletes row all three seasons, unless they are doing another fall and/or winter sport. Fitness for rowing is a long process and we expect our rowers to lead an athletic lifestyle, and that means staying in shape year-round, whether rowing or doing another sport.
what are the attendance requirements
Crew is unique in that there are a specific number of seats in each boat and when a seat goes unfilled it can mean that many other athletes are unable to practice. There are no sidelines and there is no bench, so athletes learn very quickly that they are very dependent on each other for their success and for their ability to even participate.
It is impossible to row without the proper number of athletes and it is impossible to have someone over in the corner of the river doing drills while others scrimmage. Everyone rows or no one rows, there is no in between.
Rowing is the ultimate team sport, and because of this we have fairly strict rules for attendance, especially in the spring. Please read about those below.
Spring – During this time athletes are expected to treat rowing as their number one priority after academics. Practice is mandatory and athletes must be available to race every weekend. If you cannot commit to every practice and every race it is likely you will not be allowed to join the team. Talk to your coach. We have the same attendance requirements as all Varsity teams at Unionville, including practice over spring break.
Fall – The fall is more relaxed and participation in the fall is not a requirement in order to row in the spring. If you participate in a fall sport already you can continue that participation and start rowing in the winter or spring. Attendance requirements are more relaxed in the fall, and as long as you communicate with your coach you can miss occasional practices and races (but those are fun!)
Winter – Winter Training is mandatory for all Varsity athletes (unless participating in another winter sport) and strongly encouraged for all novices. Again, if you have a winter sport you can continue that participation and row with us in the spring. Attendance requirements are more relaxed in the winter especially because we aren’t in boats, so missing a practice only affects the absent athlete. But the more you attend the faster you will be.
can i do other activities and still row?
We want well-rounded athletes who excel on the water, in the classroom, and in life. As long as you plan ahead and communicate with your coach we can accommodate your schedule outside of rowing in the fall and winter. An activity that would keep you from attending the majority of practices would not be conducive to athlete development and would be disruptive to the team. However, the occasional club meeting, volunteer obligations, etc, can be accommodated.
In the spring, rowing will be you number one priority over all other activities – we are a varsity level sport and expect a commitment to attend every practice and race.
how do I get to the boathouse?
Busing is provided to and from the boathouse during the week or students can drive.
Transportation on Saturdays and to and from races is provided by the students or parents.
Practice in the winter is at the school.