My Australian son is interested in rowing recruitment at several American universities. We do not want to hire one of the fancy consulting firms.
If his Year 11 (equivalent to junior year) begins in January/Feb (as opposed to Aug/Sept in the northern hemisphere), does he need to wait until the American schools start to get in touch with coaches? Or can they start conversing because his junior year has begun?
Thank you for your help.
I’m fairly certain that the calendar is the same - June 15 after their sophomore year, so that would be partway into your son’s Year 11. Also note that men’s rowing recruiting is, in practice, later than that - while there may be some communication earlier, the significant majority happens between spring of junior and fall of senior year (on the US schedule).
That said, I’m sure there are intricacies that I’m not familiar with around international timelines, and you may want to consult a professional, if only in a limited way.
Your son can reach out at any time, there is no restriction recruit contact, just restrictions on what type of communications and information a coach can respond with so your son initiating contact is not an issue.
Men’s Rowing is not an NCAA Championship sport so technically schools do not have any restrictions though they typically follow the regular NCAA rules. The general rule is “prior to the students” junior year so I believe that they would be able to respond without issue but others know rowing far better than I.
It’s true that Men’s Rowing isn’t an NCAA sport, but it’s not true that they don’t have restrictions. Men’s Rowing programs are members of the IRA (Intercollegiate Rowing Association), and their members are bound to a number of NCAA bylaws, including all of the Recruiting bylaws. (Source.)
And yes, your student can reach out any time, but the coaches can’t respond (“converse”) until June 15 after their sophomore year.
It makes sense to me and as I mentioned others know more about this than I do. However, it does conflict with the guidance from usarowing
“However, because the NCAA does not sponsor men’s rowing as a championship sport, NCAA rules have not been written specifically for men’s rowing. Nevertheless, most varsity status men’s programs follow most of the NCAA rules for their recruits.”