Rowing team has call-out meeting

The opportunity to walk onto a Division-I team is not something that comes along often. Indiana’s novice rowing team is in the unique situation of offering girls just that.

The novice rowing team is completely made up of girls that have never rowed before, but would like the chance to be a D-I athlete.

Women’s rowing is comprised of two teams, a varsity team and a novice team. The varsity team does have some recruits, but is also contains once-novice team members.

Typically, the novice rowing team sees about 100 girls that come out to the first workout. By the end of the season, the team had 14 members.

Last year, Taylor Smith was a member of the novice team and had never rowed before. This year, she is captain of the varsity rowing team.

She described the 3-week camp the new girls attend as a chance to learn the sport and see if they are dedicated enough to continue on a D-I team.

“They have the opportunity to learn the sport,” Smith said. “Truly, anyone that is dedicated can participate.”

At the call-out meetings, the girls interesting in joining all saw a video to show a glimpse of what it's like to be involved in the sport of rowing.

Assistant coach Josh Adam described to the girls in attendance what the process of joining the team would be like.

“What is required of you is desire,” Adam said.

He sees each day as a different stage of commitment. The first days are simply learning the sport and group workouts, but later, team members learn what it really means to be a D-I athlete.

“You come the first day and, if you like it, you come the next day,” Adam said. “When you finally dive all the way in, that’s when you have made it.”

Katie Feckler is a senior who actually was recruited from high school to be on the team. She originally thought that there were only a handful of walk-ons that were on the team, but now believes it’s a great chance for new girls.

“It lets freshmen met a bunch of people,” Feckler said. “And as long as you work hard and really want it, it's possible to do.”