RECRUITING

Thank you for taking a closer look at Crew at the University of Puget Sound!

Experienced Rowers

Thank you for taking a look at University of Puget Sound and our Varsity Crew program. Crew is a varsity sport for both men and women at UPS, and we are sponsored and under the supervision of the athletic department. Both men's and women's teams work closely together with the common goal of making Logger Crew the best DIII program in the nation.

As a Division III institution we cannot offer aid to admission or financial aid to student-athletes. We do offer a fantastic program both in results on the water and in the experience involved. We strongly believe in the philosophy of athletics as a complement to a liberal arts education. We encourage our athletes not to compromise in the classroom or on the water. Our athletes are both highly successful students and nationally successful competitors, and we believe the two to be complementary.

If you are looking at University of Puget Sound as an experienced high school rower or transfer, you should know a little bit about the makeup of our program. Our team for the most part is recruited on campus and is made up of those who have rowed as novice at UPS. We do have several very successful high school athletes who most often fit in quickly with the program. In most cases we have these athletes start on the varsity squad and make a judgment in the first few weeks of the fall to decide if they will row varsity or novice in the first year. We base that decision on how well they mesh with the current varsity squad and if we feel they will be able to have good racing opportunities during the freshman spring.

The advantages of University of Puget Sound Crew over like institutions in the region are many. We are a small college, but we take a big-program attitude to our rowing. As we field a team of 70+ athletes, we boat varsity and JV 8s' for men and women and in many cases may have a varsity four as well. We own four pairs and four fours to use for small boat training to complement the work we do in eights. We have 18 model C ergs in our own erg room on campus to facilitate land training and full use of the school's weight facility and gym. We also believe in maximizing racing opportunities for all of our athletes and work to get everyone boated for every regular season race.

If you are interested in the rowing experience at Puget Sound, we highly recommend that you start a dialogue with the varsity coaches. The best way to get to know the program is to educate yourself as much as possible regarding the nature of what you are looking for, and then to ask the questions that help define our institution for you. We also very much encourage you to take a long look at the school (UPS Main Web Site) as we strongly believe that is the main attraction here!

If you believe that University of Puget Sound may be the school for you, we highly encourage you to visit during the rowing season (September-October or February-May) of your senior year and to visit with the team during your stay. If you contact us in advance we can arrange for you to attend a practice and meet with the team.

We look forward to speaking with you about rowing at Puget Sound as a member of Logger Crew.

To talk to Men's team coach Michael Hagmann, e-mail him at mhagmann@ups.edu.

To talk to Women's team coach Sarah Canfield, e-mail her at secanfield@ups.edu.

Novice Rowers

If you are entering college with no rowing experience but are interested in trying it on campus - GREAT! You will join the tradition of 90% of our team who took their first strokes here at University of Puget Sound.

Both men and women have a separate novice squad and coach solely dedicated to teaching new rowers the sport. This is the standard practice in college rowing. During the first year you will practice and compete as a member of our novice team against other novice rowers who are in the same position. After this first year, you move up to the varsity squad.

We have no requirements for novice tryouts other then a willingness to try a new sport and an enthusiasm for the challenge. Most successful rowers will be taller (above 5'6 for women and above 6'0 for men) and will come from an athletic background. BUT, we do not turn anyone away without giving you a chance to prove your potential. In many cases we have been surprised by those who would not be considered "perfect" rowers on paper. If you have any doubts, we encourage you to give it a go!

We are also looking for smaller athletes (naturally under 120lbs for women and under 130lbs for men) who are interested in the coxswain's seat. This is the leadership role in the boat; in addition to body size we look for strong personalities who are smart, well spoken, and competitive.

There is nothing you need to do to sign up for the sport before arriving on campus, but we do highly recommend completing a sports physical prior to your arrival. This is usually one of the big holdups in getting the squad started with practice come fall.

When you arrive on campus, keep an eye out for our recruiting posters, our athletes sporting UPS Crew gear, and our presence at the activities fair. Within the first two weeks of class we will have interest meetings to pass on more information. Practice will start sometime in mid-September.

If you have any questions about rowing novice at Puget Sound, please contact the coaches listed below.

To talk to Men's team coach Michael Hagmann, e-mail him at mhagmann@ups.edu.

To talk to Women's team coach Sarah Canfield, e-mail her at secanfield@ups.edu, or call at 253-732-5452.