Growing up, Devin Fay, assistant rowing coach, got a taste of almost every sport – from ice hockey to rowing to wrestling. His parents taught him the principle of staying active and being part of a team.
“I played a whole load of sports: ice hockey, rowing, swimming and diving, soccer, a little bit of gymnastics, as well as wrestling,” said Fay.
Sports continued to play a big role in Fay’s life throughout college. He was very active in sports and dance, pretty much anything that would keep him active. He earned his bachelor’s degree in drama from Ithaca College in New York, where he was born and raised.
Fay’s passion for helping people and his joy of teaching led him straight to coaching. He always knew that he wanted to be in a place where people wanted his feedback.
“For me, it’s about helping people learn how to use their bodies, just doing things with what they have,” said Fay.
His experience with coaching began during his junior year of college when he coached his former high school’s rowing team for a year. After college, Fay moved to Pittsburgh and became the head rowing coach at Taylor Allderdice High School for four years. He also taught dance.
Fay decided to pursue a master’s in exercise and sports science at Smith College. While working on his master’s, Fay coached rowing for the first time at the collegiate level as a graduate assistant coach.
To gain more experience, Fay interned at Cornell University as a lightweight rowing assistant coach. His next coaching job was at Bates College in Maine.
The past year was a big turning point for Fay. After deciding to move closer to his girlfriend in Minnesota, he thought that he was done coaching and worked as an industrial distribution manager. That was the case until he learned about a coaching opportunity at NSU.
“When I moved to Minnesota, I consciously knew that that was it for coaching because there’s really no rowing out there,” said Fay. “Then I applied to a few positions and found out about the NSU position late this summer. I was lucky. It’s a great opportunity.”
Outside of coaching, fitness remains an important hobby for Fay.
“I definitely do CrossFit, and I really enjoy it. Dance is also something I do every once in a while; nothing formal, but I’ll just go into one of the rooms and turn some music on,” said Fay. “I also do origami, but coaching takes up a lot of my time, and I don’t have enough time on my hands to do what I like to do.”
Fay hopes to become a head rowing coach at the collegiate level someday. Where and when this will happen depends on Fay’s significant other, who’s also a coach. His girlfriend is an assistant coach at a Division II volleyball program in Minnesota.
“I certainly plan to keep my job here. Fort Lauderdale is a great place and there are a lot of opportunities down here,” said Fay. “We just need to find a place where we can both do what we want to do.”
When it comes to coaching, Fay doesn’t like to break things down a whole lot for the rowers. His coaching style consists of a brief demonstration followed by application by the rowers. He believes that a lot of insight on how to do things right comes from doing them wrong.
“I like them to just do it at first. They may be miserable at it, but they’re doing something. I’m not one of those coaches that’ll demonstrate for a really long time because then they’re sitting around not doing anything,” said Fay.
The athlete’s ability to handle constructive feedback is just as important to Fay as hard work and practice. The high level of commitment that comes with rowing requires constant daily improvement.
“I give both positive and negative comments. It’s important to let them know what they’re doing wrong, but it’s more important to let them know what they’re doing right,” said Fay.
In the end, coaches can only inspire their player so much. Fay believes that their main motivation should come from within.
“It all comes back to asking them, ‘Why do you row?’ and that’s really important. They have to have incredible intrinsic motivation, and part of my job is to teach them how to tap into their intrinsic motivation,” said Fay.
While the athletes are inspired by their coaches, Fay’s inspiration comes from observing people learn something for the first time.
“Winning and losing are not everything. I get inspired when I see people learning things. It’s very rewarding,” said Fay.
Fay’s advice to athletes who want to pursue coaching in the future is to spend as much time with different coaches as possible.
“Steal as many ideas as you can from other coaches. Coaching is not like a big secret. Just reach out and steal their ideas,” said Fay.
Photo Credit: E.Canal
