Want to be a Badger? Overcoming COVID-19 to build teams
July 24, 2020 | Men's Rowing, Women's Rowing, Lightweight Rowing, Andy Baggot
UW’s rowing teams take recruiting and opportunity online
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — When it comes to convincing elite student-athletes to enroll at Wisconsin, no one has a steeper hill to climb than men's rowing coach Chris Clark.
Bebe Bryans, the women's coach, might be a half-stride behind him.
Clark makes due with zero athletic scholarships while filling out a roster that currently numbers just over 70. That he's the longest-tenured coach at UW — hired in 1996 — and churned out five U.S. Olympians suggests he's done a quality job under the circumstances.
Bryans, meanwhile, has 20 scholarships to use for her NCAA-sanctioned openweight crew, but must also field a non-scholarship lightweight team (130-pound limit) and maintain an overall roster that averages around 130 members.
So Clark and Bryans have to be creatively persistent in their pursuit of talent. For years they've shared the same fertile soil known as the University of Wisconsin's SOAR (Student Orientation, Advising and Registration). It's an open house of sorts for thousands of incoming freshmen designed to acquaint them with the world of academic advising, degree requirements and campus resources unique to UW.
During each SOAR session, held at Union South, members of the crew coaching staffs seek out athletic-looking enrollees — typically with swimming and/or endurance sports backgrounds — who have an itch to compete, test themselves and, perhaps, discover talent and a passion they never knew they had for a sport they've never tried before. It's a path that's led some to the World Championships, some to the top of the Olympic medal stand and some to the UW Athletic Hall of Fame.
"If they're game, we're game," Bryans said.
"Just to offer a kid a chance to row at a high level and be a part of college athletics is an enormous draw," Clark said.
But this usually bountiful approach to recruiting has encountered a significant snag due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Incoming freshmen are participating in SOAR online, which means Bryans and Clark don't have the in-person platform to pitch their wares. That's a big deal because both programs rely heavily on this type of outreach to build and sustain their rosters.
"It's 75 percent of our team, minimum," Bryans said.
"Without it, we don't have much of a chance," Clark said.
Instead of panicking, Bryans and Clark are cultivating other options to get their word out. Both are using a series of three videos to acquaint prospects to the rowing tradition at Wisconsin as well as the first-class facilities at the Porter Boathouse, located on the southern shore of Lake Mendota. The three productions are in the process of being emailed to incoming freshmen, who also have access to online questionnaires via the Wisconsin Athletic Department website (UWBadgers.com).
Both rowing programs have roots back to the 1800s and feature proud, breathtaking resumes. They've combined for more than two dozen Olympians and won multiple national titles in the men's and women's openweight programs as well as the women's lightweight crew. Those viewing the videos have a lot to digest.
"We've done a really good job with messaging and we were able to access information on SOAR students and emails and videos and give them an opportunity to hear and see rowing even though we can't meet them in person," Bryans said. "It's really as effective as it could possibly be without being face to face."
Clark said the first two videos were well received and he hopes the third, narrated by some of the student-athletes to come through the programs, will continue the trend.
"Hopefully the same thing will happen," he said.
Clark said he also relies heavily on an annual letter-writing campaign he began in the early 2000s, one that targets high school athletes primarily in Wisconsin and Minnesota by way of their school's athletic director. The hope is to connect with as many potential prospects as possible because you can never have too much interest in rowing.
"That has helped a lot," he said. "Many of the kids that are probably planning on giving rowing a shot already at least know about us."
Clark said SOAR continues to be a major resource even though the total payoff in terms of prospects has changed in recent years.
"The pure SOAR guy is someone who never got a letter and shows up by virtue of their interaction with us at SOAR," he said. "They're becoming fewer and fewer, but believe me, they're not unimportant. They're often some of the best guys.
"We want to minimize the kid at SOAR who's never heard of us, so we at least feel like we have a pre-existing relationship. Nonetheless, it's big (to have direct access to SOAR). We talk to anybody."
Clark said he was optimistic that not having direct contact with the SOAR crowd "will not be a huge hit."
Bryans said her definition of recruiting success is unchanged from the moment she took over as women's coach in 2004.
"It's the same as it's always been, which is providing opportunity," she said. "Making sure the incoming students know that we exist, that they can try out for this sport even if they've never done it before — especially if they've never done it before. That remains our goal.
"If we cast a broad enough net, we're going to snag Olympians. That's just the way it's panned out. The broader that outreach is, the more likely we are to bring in an adequate number that fall in love with the sport and our program and help us maintain an elite status in the competitive world."
For example, Bryans mentioned Sophie Vitas, a 2017 graduate from Franklin, Wisconsin, who was a strong contender for the U.S. team that would have competed in the Tokyo Olympics this summer had the Games not been postponed by the coronavirus. Bryans also referenced senior-to-be Isa Darvin, a Madison West High School product, as a "rising star" who was invited to the U.S. Under-23 selection camp last year.
"She's the real deal," Bryans said.
Not only does Clark not have scholarships to work with, he competes against powerhouse schools that do. Still he's created an environment where Beau Hoopman can become an Olympic gold medalist and UW Athletic Hall of Famer, while twins Grant and Ross James can become two-time U.S. Olympians.
"Ideally you're going to find a couple guys who are just studs, but you don't know right away," Clark said.
"You hear this phrase all the time in sports, but especially in rowing: 'You're only as strong as your weakest guy.' Hell no. We're only as good as our best guy and that's true of any team. You're always led by the tip of the spear, not the other way around.
"You can have a team of fairly average people, but if you have one super stud, then everybody's game is raised and that's what we're always looking for."
Bryans had major concerns in March and April when COVID-19 put most everything in pro and college sports on hold, but hope abounds despite a new recruiting strategy.
"We're pretty confident," she said. "We were really, really worried about it, obviously. But I think we're going to be OK."
Players Mentioned
