Dismantling
false myths
Education for performance athletes is in our DNA. We would like it to be possible at a decent level in Romania as well, but outside ofsome examples, we don't know many athletes who end up doing performance sports and school for real here.
We're here to debunk any preconceived notions you may have heard about going to college on an athletic scholarship:
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"I don't feel up to school...I'd like to, but I'm not for HARVARD"
FALSE
Keep calm, it's normal to have impostor syndrome. We all had it when we went there, but we'll make sure you feel ready when it's time to go. Right now, your duty is to try (admission is not guaranteed anywhere)!
Many of the top programs count year after year Olympic rowers and national team members from the Netherlands, UK, USA, Italy, etc. See here just a few examples.
"There the level is not so high"
FALSE
There is no reason not to have a chance at the national team if you come back prepared and eager to perform. Don't forget we are activists as well as mentors and we will set the federation on fire for any athlete we believe is wronged just because they chose education, along with sports.
"They will not accept you back to the lot, you will be excluded"
FALSE
Leaving for studies does not mean emigration.
"If you go there, you have to compete for them, you give up Romania"
FALSE
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🤦🏻♂️ No.
"Isn't it ok here if I stay to study? Nea Caisă takes me from the federation to ANEFS to university Y, I don't even have to go through there. That's what Gicu did, and now he's driving a prepared BMW from 2007!"
NO.
One of the most popular sports in Romania, rowing is also one of the sports we focus on for college admissions. We are proud to have shaken up the traditional-conservative scene of Romanian rowing a little and managed to guide and send the first rowers to college in 2022.
ROWING
One of the most popular sports in Romania, rowing is also one of the sports we focus on for college admissions. We are proud to have shaken up the traditional-conservative scene of Romanian rowing and managed to guide and send the first rowers to college in 2022.
Dear athletes,
You are rowing in Romania, you are in the national junior or youth team, and you have probably heard about this thing about going to university...but you always thought that it is not for you. It sounds interesting but…intimidating at the same time, and besides, it's not clear to you what it can do for you.
Dear coaches,
Our unique perspective, persistence and access to national team and federation channels of communication put us in a special position to facilitate contact with top rowers from all over the world.
That's why we're here
the organization that first took Romanian rowers to university in the USA:
We have mentors and collaborators who graduated from Harvard, Yale, UCLA, Oxford, TCU, WSU, Drexel, etc., played sports there and can guide you in making the best decision for your future, balancing all considerations: personal, financial, sports, academic, cultural.
We are the organization that for the first time took Romanian rowers to university in the USA.
We have relationships with most of the coaches from the top schools and we will always prioritize the good of the athlete, because that is our mission.
You are rowing on the national team, you are in juniors or youth, you have probably heard about this thing about going to university, maybe you have been approached by coaches in the past but... you don't know where to start,keep reading!
Men's rowing
Men's rowing is the oldest intercollegiate sport in the US (Harvard vs. Yale, 1852) and among the oldest in the UK (Oxford vs. Cambridge 1829).
In the US, collegiate rowing is divided into lightweight and heavyweight and is overseen by theIRA.
The top programs in rowing (aka "crew") are (yesCLICK on each to learn more):
Women's rowing
University women's rowing appeared in 1971 and since 1996 is affiliated withNCAA.
At Division 1 varsity teams, we have 89 rowing programs that can award up to 20 full athletic scholarships (which can also be split) for rowers. On average, a team has about 45 athletes.
Obviously not all will get scholarships, the competition for them is between the top rowers in the US and around the world.
The top programs in women's collegiate rowing are (daCLICK on each to learn more):
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DartmouthCollege
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Wellesley College (Div III)
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La Salle University
KEEP IN MIND...
Each program has an allocated number of scholarships it can award, either full or partial, to top rowers.
To be able to receive the scholarship you must:
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have had decent grades in high school (each school has its own level of demand) - we can't help you with that.
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to know English decently -we can help you with that.
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to have participated in international competitions (if you also have some notable results, that's great!)
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have good times on the ergometer
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to contact the coaches -we can help you with that.
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to make the application on time -and we can help you with that.
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still be age eligible
* At Ivy League universities, in theory, scholarships are not actually awarded for sports, you must meet the academic requirements, but practically, with the help of the coaches, you have a much, much better chance than the average applicant.
POLO
Dear athletes,
The professional path after sports of a performance polo player in Romania is relatively limited.
With no chance of a world or Olympic medal (so no chance of a life annuity, as in other sports) and with jobs in public positions at Steaua or Dinamo increasingly rare, the sources of income of someone who practices performance polo after ends their activity are limited: coaching, initiation, other sources of income.
During the active career, the contracts at Romanian clubs are close to 2000-2500 euros net monthly on average,
but that's only at Steaua and CSM Oradea, the rest of the clubs paying relatively little. It should also be noted that the average is not always representative of the distribution of contract value, and 18-22-year-old polo players (the relevant age for university studies) usually earns slightly less than the team average.
Salaries abroad are generally low, and players from Romania are no longer bidders from a value point of view. It thus becomes essential to be able to keep up with school, in parallel with polo.
You do performance polo: you want to go to university, but also to continue playing polo at a high level.
In Romania, unfortunately, this is not possible due to the lack of coordination between the training programs and the courses.
Dear coaches,
Our unique perspective, persistence and access to national team and federation channels of communication put us in a special position to facilitate contact with top rowers from all over the world.
That's why we're here
the organization with the most former polo players who have extensive ties to US college polo:
Men's water polo
In North American college polo, the distinction is made between two major categories of college teams:
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University of California teams,where polo is one of the most popular sports and where 100% of NCAA championship teams have historically come from.
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East Coast teams,some belonging to universities with very good academic prestige and in continuous growth from a sporting point of view.
California
The Dominant 4
The teams from Dominant 4 have won all but one national title since the inception of the NCAA Championship to the present.
Other UCs
The University of California is one of the most prestigious public universities in the USA, and in addition to UCLA and UC Berkeley, the most famous and largest universities in the UC constellation, there are also the following universities with polo teams:
Private universities
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Pomona-Pitzer College (Div III)
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Cal Tech (Div III)
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Cal Baptist University
State universities (non-UC)
East Coast
Ivy League Schools
Other private universities
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Bucknell University
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Fordham University
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Johns Hopkins University (Div III)
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MIT (Div III)
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St Francis College
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Wagner College
FENCING
Fencing
In North American university fencing, the distinction is made between 4 geographic regions:
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Mid-Atlantic/South
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Midwest
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Northeast
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West
The top 5 schools where there is the most competition are:
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Harvard
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Colombia
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Princeton
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Penn State / Ohio State
Qualifying for the NCAA Championship ("Final Tournament") is done as follows:
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Each region has a qualification competition ("REGIONALS")
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Each year the maximum number of athletes per region for the championship is determined
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Each school is only allowed to qualify 2 athletes per weapon
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To go to regionals, each athlete must:
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participate in a minimum of 21 raids in that season
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to have a 25% win-lose record that season
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Mid-Atlantic/South
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Penn State University (girls and boys) - DIV I
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University of North Carolina(girls and boys) - DIV I
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Duke(girls and boys) - DIV I
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NJIT(girls and boys) - DIV I
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Stevens Institute of Technology (girls and boys) - DIV III
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Drew (girls and boys) - DIV III
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Lafayette College(girls and boys) - DIV I
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Haverford College (girls and boys) - DIV III
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Temple University(girls) - DIV I
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Wagner College (girls and boys) - DIV I
West
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Stanford(girls and boys) - DIV I
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US Air Force Academy*(girls and boys) - DIV I
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University of the Incarnate Word(girls and boys) - DIV I
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UCSD(girls and boys) - DIV I
*Possible eligibility for athletes registered at CSA Steaua, MApN club.
Midwest
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University of Notre Dame(girls and boys) - DIV I
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Ohio State(girls and boys) - DIV I
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Northwestern (girls) - DIV I
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Wayne State (girls and boys) - DIV II
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Denison (girls) - DIV III
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Lawrence (girls and boys) - DIV III
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University of Detroit Mercy (girls and boys) - DIV I
Northeast
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St. John's (girls and boys) - DIV
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Colombia (girls and boys) - DIV I
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Long Island University (girls and boys) - DIV I
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Cornell (girls) - DIV I
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Brown (girls) - DIV I
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Vassar College (girls and boys) - DIV III
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Tufts (girls) - DIV III
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MIT (girls and boys) - DIV III
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Boston College(girls and boys) - DIV I
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Wellesley College (girls) - DIV III
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Hunter College (girls and boys) - DIV III
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The City College of NY (girls) - DIV III
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Sacred Heart University (girls and boys) - DIV I
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Yeshiva University (girls and boys) - DIV III
SWIMMING
Next...Stay tuned!
TENNIS
Next...Stay tuned!