Recruiting in the United States is serious business and starts during the last two years of a prospective student-athlete’s high school career. Many International students are caught off-guard by how early the process starts, and as a result, often end up behind their American peers, simply because they have not grown up in the American system. Recruitment is considered the culmination of an athlete’s post-secondary educational career, and is considered a highly prestigious moment within American culture; thus, American athletes are inundated with content about recruiting. This series of articles is meant to provide an in-depth look at the various aspects of rowing recruiting within the United States, regardless of your home country.

Here, we’re going to cover the governing bodies of collegiate rowing; some basic definitions of the various categories of collegiate rowing in the United States; the generic timeline for the recruiting cycle; variations in that timeline and essential differences between Ivy League and Non-Ivy League Schools recruiting cycle. Future articles will expand on different recruiting topics that are crucial for prospective student-athletes, their families, and their coaches.

Due to the vast volume of information about recruiting in the United States, the process is governed by a series of rules meant to protect the potential student-athlete. These rules are established by the various governing bodies that oversee rowing in the United States. The NCAA (Women’s Openweight Rowing), the IRA (Men’s Openweight Rowing & Men’s/Women’s Lightweight Rowing) and ACRA (Collegiate Club Rowing) are the three organizations that govern rowing in the USA.

Women’s Overweight Rowing Division I, Division II and Division III use only the NCAA rules to govern their sport. Men’s Openweight, Men’s Lightweight and Women’s Lightweight use a combination of both NCAA and IRA rules to manage their programmes, with clubs using ACRA rules, but IRA & NCAA rules impacting them when it comes to recruiting.

Let’s start by connecting you with the primary resource for each of the different rowing organizations, as well as giving you some necessary information about each of the various governing bodies:

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) – Governs Women’s Rowing in the USA

Intercollegiate Rowing Association – Governs Men’s Openweight, Men’s Lightweight and Women’s Lightweight Rowing

American Collegiate Rowing Association – Governs Club rowing in the United States

• Women’s Rowing has five categorizations: Division I (DI), Division II (DII), Division III (DIII), Lightweight and Club.
  • *NCAA Division I: Athletics is a primary focus, extensive recruiting, full scholarships are more common.
  • NCAA Division II: Athletics and academics are meant to be balanced, recruiting varies by school, partial scholarships with full athletic scholarships being more rare.
  • NCAA Division III: Athletics is just part of your college experience, limited recruiting and no athletic aid. 
  • IRA Lightweight: A few schools offer lightweight specific rowing programs for women, each with varying degree of competitiveness. Typically no scholarships, whilst recruiting varies by school.
  • ACRA Clubs: Most members pay dues – clubs can be very competitive, and structure varies based on the school.  

• Men’s Rowing has three categorizations: Varsity (OW & LTWT) and Club.
  • IRA Varsity Openweight: The University Athletic Department funds the program, with rowing being your primary college experience. Extensive recruiting, with a variety of partial and full scholarships available.
  • IRA Lightweight Rowing: Small number of teams entirely dedicated to lightweight rowing, scholarships are rare, each with varying degrees of recruitment competitiveness.
  • ACRA Clubs: Funded by team dues or other sources. Recruiting varies by school; each requires varying degrees of commitment.

*The Ivy League (W’s Division I/M’s Varsity): Varying degrees of competitiveness, Scholarships means-tested, not based athletic ability. Academics and athletics weighted equally.

Women’s Recruiting:

All contact dates are dependent on your graduation year and your year in school.

Formal Recruiting starts on June 15th prior to the last two years of high school.

Most female athletes are committed to the school of their choice by the start of the last year of their A-Levels – this means that most athletes are committed to their school a full year before they start university. American’s and Southern Hemisphere athletes will start committing to their top school as early as December of their second to last year of school. The more competitive the program, the earlier they tend to either give away their scholarship money or commit their spots. Ivy League schools are given a limited number of places to be used on athletes each year. Scholarship Schools are limited to 20 full rides (generally spread out over all four years at coach’s digression) and Ivy League Schools have a limited number of supported spots (between 8 and 14 depending on the school each year).

Years 1 & 2 of GCSEs – Start filling out recruiting questionnaires – click on college websites and look for links to their specific questionnaire.

June 15th of GCSE finishing year – First date you can receive a call from a college coach (if they know about you).

Year 1 of A-Levels – September to June – Official or unofficial visits to schools depending on what Division you are looking.

Year 1 of A-Levels – Take the SAT or ACT, try to be done taking these tests by June of the first year of your A-Levels if at all possible.

Between years 1 & 2 of A-Levels – Commit to a school and start on your application through The Common Application. All American Schools use The Common Application for the college acceptance process (link in resources).

October 1st of last year of A-Levels – The first day Ivy League Schools are allowed to issue “Likely Letter/Unlikely Letter”, which state you are highly likely to be admitted to a school or you are unlikely to be admitted to this school. You can only apply early to ONE Ivy League school, meaning you can only get a Likely Letter from one school this early. Once an Ivy League School agrees to support you, you have taken one of their “spots”, and most coaches require a commitment to follow through on that spot since their spots are limited. 

November 11th of last year of A-Levels – National Letter of Intent Signing Date, this the first day that you can legally sign your scholarship offer with a University. An NLI is a legal document, and once you sign one with an athletic scholarship school, you are no longer allowed to engage in recruiting activities with other scholarship schools. You are permitted to continue discussions with Ivy League Schools as they do not subscribe to the NLI.

August 1st of last year of A-Levels – First day that an athletic scholarship offers can be put in writing, although athletes will be asked to commit to a school much earlier than this date verbally.

Gap Years for Female Rowers:

1. You are allowed to take two gap years.
2. You can be cleared for a third gap year if it coincides with an Olympic Year.
3. Gaps years are NOT common for USA athletes; they are VERY common for GB athletes.
4. You can be admitted and then take a gap year. If you plan on doing this, be very upfront with the coaching staff; recruiting is a big puzzle.
5. You can take a gap year and be admitted during your gap year, which is more common for GB athletes.

Men’s Recruiting:

All contact dates are dependent on your graduation year and your year in school.

Formal Recruiting starts on July 1st prior to the last two years of high school.

Many male athletes mature significantly during their last two years of school; men’s recruiting tends to reflect this additional time for growth in your final junior years. Bear in mind, Ivy League schools are given a limited number of spots to be used on athletes each year – usually between 8 and 14, depending on the school. Some Scholarship Schools have full rides; others have partial; this will vary by school.

Year 1 & 2 of GCSEs – Start filling out recruiting questionnaires – click on college websites and look for links to their questionnaire.

June 15th of GCSE finishing year – This is the first date you can receive a call from a college coach.

Year 1 of A-Levels – Take the SAT or the ACT. Try to get this out of the way by June of your first year of your A-Levels, if possible.

Between Year 1 & 2 of A-Levels – Narrow down the schools you plan on visiting.

Year 2 of A-Levels – September to February: Official or unofficial visits to schools, depending on what Division you are looking at.

October 1st of Year 2 of A-Levels – The first day Ivy League Schools are allowed to issue “Likely Letter/Unlikely Letter”, which state whether you are highly likely to be admitted to a school. You can only apply early to ONE Ivy League school, meaning you can only get a Likely Letter from one school this early. Once an Ivy League School agrees to support you, you have taken one of their “spots”, and most coaches require a commitment to follow through on that spot since their places are limited.

Gap Years for Male Rowers:

1. Male Rowers must enrol before they are 20 years of age.
2. You can appeal for a waiver for an additional gap year if it coincides with an Olympic Year.
3. Gaps years are NOT common for USA athletes; they are VERY common for GB athletes.
4. You can be admitted and then take a gap year. If you plan on doing this, be very upfront with the coaching staff; recruiting is a big puzzle.
5. You can take a gap year and be admitted during your gap year, which is more common for GB athletes.

Recruiting Summaries:

Women’s Recruiting Summary:

First Year of GCSEs	Second Year of GCSEs	First Year of A-Levels	Second Year of A-Levels
Do your best in school	Continue to work hard in school	June 15th (prior to start of Sixth Form) – first phone-call and email date	August – December: Apply to your top college. (Coaches will give you an application deadline – this varies by college)
Colleges can email you with a recruiting questionnaire	Start researching colleges and fill out any recruiting questionnaires	Official visits permitted	October – April: Receive likely/unlikely letters from Ivy League Schools
You can email coaches; they may not return your emails	Start gathering video footage	Take the SAT/ACT	November 11th: Fall NLI signing date
You can call coaches; they cannot return your calls	Choose strong A-Levels	Do your best to secure strong A-Level predictions	April 21st: Spring NLI signing date
	You can email coaches; they may not return your emails	Pick your top and back-up college
	You can call coaches; they cannot return your calls

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Men’s Recruiting Summary:

First Year of GCSEs	Second Year of GCSEs	First Year of A-Levels	Second Year of A-Levels
Do your best in school	Continue to work hard in school	June 1st (prior to start of Sixth Form) – first phone-call and email date	September – February: Official visits to your top colleges
You can email coaches; they may not return your emails	Start researching colleges and fill out any recruiting questionnaires	Take the SAT/ACT	September – March: Apply to your top College (Coaches will give you an application deadline – this varies by college)
You can call coaches; they cannot return your calls	Choose strong A-Levels	Do your best to secure strong A-Level predictions	October – April: Receive likely/unlikely letters from Ivy League Schools
	You can email coaches; they may not return your emails	Start gathering video footage	November – June: Scholarship Document can be sent out for signature
	You can call coaches; they cannot return your calls	Narrow down your list of top colleges

Useful Resources:

• Complete List of Schools, Divisions & Coaches Contacts:
• NCAA Divisional Fact Sheet (this covers ALL sports)
• The Common Application
• SAT Website
• ACT Website
• Khan Academy – free tutoring platform for the SAT 

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This article was written by Laura Simon, currently the lead recruiter at Yale University for the Women’s Team. To find out more about her work and story, head over to our content partners page, or read more of her work here.

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Photos by Roesie Percy and Laura Simon

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