The year women’s rowing gained varsity status at UCLA,
coach Amy Fuller Kearney didn’t go on recruiting trips or
make phone calls to prospects.
Instead, she would stand out on Bruin Walk, seeking out tall,
athletic-looking females to fill out her roster.
Fuller Kearney, who took over the program once it was adopted as
a varsity sport in 2001-2002, attracted over 100 women for the
team’s first practice, but four years later, only five
remain.
Seniors Emina Ong, Monica Grova, Jessica Rogers, Elizabeth
Felter and Lauren Hamann have all been on the team since UCLA
adopted it as a varsity sport in 2001-2002, helping the program
develop from its infantile stages into one of the top 20 in the
country.
The seniors learned on Tuesday that they will be headed to the
NCAA Championships for the first time, after the Bruins earned an
at-large berth.
“It is amazing how all five of us were walk-ons to the
team,” Ong said. “And we’ve still been able to
lead the team with only four years of experience.”
Though none of the seniors had any rowing experience prior to
entering college, they all have earned at least partial
scholarships since joining.
The NCAA limit for full scholarship in women’s rowing is
20, but because the sport is so new at UCLA, Fuller Kearney only
has six at her disposal. But that hasn’t stopped the Bruins
from registering impressive victories this season over Loyola
Marymount and Texas and winning the Miller Cup.
“We’ve been building the program little by
little,” Fuller Kearney said. “The goal is to become as
fast as possible with little money.”
For the five seniors, joining the team was a leap of faith.
Grova was an all-league basketball and volleyball player in high
school. Felter swam and played water polo. Hamann competed in
volleyball at the junior Olympics. And Rogers was an outstanding
triple-jumper in high school.
“We have such a unique situation because rowing is one of
the only sports you can start at college and be successful,”
Fuller Kearney said. “You have to have been competitive in
athletics in high school to make it in rowing.”
The fact that Fuller Kearny walked onto the rowing team during
her second year at UC Santa Barbara and went on to excel in the
sport at a national level confirmed her convictions about
recruiting on campus. Although the team had six athletes sign
letters of intent a year ago and five this year, she still sees
walk-ons as the backbone of the program.
“We have amazing potential walking around on our
campus,” Fuller Kearny said. “It is an invaluable
resource to tap into, and it has served us very well.
“We will never give up on recruiting walk-ons.”
Ong, who stands at a mere 4 ft., 11 in.,, is thankful for that
because it helped her find her niche as the coxswain in the Varsity
Eight boat. Thinking she would be laughed away when she approached
the coaches on Bruin Walk her freshman year, she was surprised to
find that even she could find a position on the team.
“It has been neat to find a position in a sport that fits
me because not many do,” Ong said. “I didn’t fit
the typical rower mold at all, but I went to the meeting
anyway.”
“I’m glad I did.”
The difficult transition to rowing was different for Grova, who,
as a basketball and volleyball player, was accustomed to
traditional team sports. It was difficult for Grova to assess her
own performance in a race because rowing results are collective,
not individual.
Grova, a team captain, has discovered that in rowing, faith in
teammates is just as important as faith in herself.
“When you are rowing a race, feeling like you are going to
die, you have to trust that the others on the boat are doing the
same thing and feeling the same way as you,” Grova said.
“If not, it’s all wasted energy on your
part.”
The opportunity to become a member of the renowned UCLA athletic
community is usually available only to the top athletes from around
the world. However, rowing is in a rare position as it is a
relatively unknown sport.
“Rowing will unlikely become mainstream anytime soon
because it is so expensive and so inaccessible to many,”
Grova said.
Because of this, students unable to impress recruiters during
high school have the chance to become successful in a collegiate
sport. And although athletes with previous rowing experience are
becoming more common in the program, the walk-ons are the ones who
still carry the team.
“Most stars on the team, we recruited on campus,”
Fuller Kearney said.
With each passing year, the Bruin rowers continue to raise their
own expectations. And when considering that the varsity program
only has four years under its belt, and UCLA is already heading to
the NCAA Tournament, it appears that the rowers are meeting their
lofty goals.
“Being a part of the greatest collegiate sports program
has helped motivate us as rowers,” Grova said. “We feel
like we need to be up to par with such a great program.”
And when the Varsity Eight competes later this month at the
National Championships, the Bruins will have yet another
opportunity to show how much they’ve grown.
“Every year the standard is raised,” Ong said.
“Each year we set goals.”
And so far, they’ve achieved them.