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by Ruby Lyon

Over the next couple of weeks we are going to show you how we build our middle and high school teams – a process that takes place throughout September and early October.

Before we recruit, each team holds slots for our returning student-athletes. Middle schoolers who have moved into high school join our novice teams, returning high school students fill our varsity teams, and a handful of rising 8th graders represent our middle school cohort. These students alone do not make up a complete team, so we hit the streets of New York City, recruiting kids from over 50 public schools. A big, and totally worth it, undertaking.

The true champions of recruitment are our program coordinators, managers, and assistants. They not only recruit and select the teams, but will also share their passion and knowledge of rowing as coaches when the season kicks off.

As we recruit, we have to be ready for questions of all kinds, coming from students unfamiliar with the sport from vastly different backgrounds and varying class sizes. We must go in with the expectation that many of our audience members have never heard of rowing, let alone the wide array of benefits the sport offers. There’s also the fun challenge of conveying everything Row New York offers (from free programs, hot meals, friendships, scholarships, to college prep) all in one go. We make sure to captivate the kids with excitement and our authentic love for the program. Our recruiting videos like Because I Row (see below), also help paint a picture of who and what we are. For students who use English as a second language, a picture, or video in this case, truly is worth a thousand words.

If we’re lucky, some of our current student-athletes will share their experience with their peers during these sessions. It’s very typical for students to shy away at first because they think they are not an athlete or they are scared of the water. But, at recruitment, we assure each student that Row New York welcomes everyone, regardless of athleticism or experience. We teach everyone how to swim. We teach everyone the rowing stroke. It’s important to convey that what we are truly seeking are the students who are willing to commit and give us 100%. From there, anything is possible.

We recruit to invite students to join our family and take advantage of an opportunity. We also go because tryouts only happen once a year and recruiting is our chance to spread the word. With tryouts happening next week, we are in our final rounds of reaching potential Row New Yorker’s. Help spread the word – share these upcoming tryout dates with students you know:

Manhattan High School and Middle School Team:
Sept. 27th, 2016
4:30 — 6:30pm
George Washington Educational Campus
549 Audubon Avenue
First floor gym
Take the 1 train to 191 street

Queens High School and Middle School Team:
Sept. 29th, 2016
4:00pm — 6:00pm
Flushing YMCA
138-46 Northern Blvd @ Browne
7 train to Main Street

Brooklyn High School Team:
Oct. 6th, 2016
4:30pm — 6:30pm
Pacplex Indoor Sports Facility
1500 Paerdegat Ave. N.
Take the B17, B102, or the BM2 bus

Join us next week to learn more about the tryout process!

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