Crew’s pathway is short and steep: nothing before middle school, novice at 13-14, varsity speed two years later, and a college recruiting market that rewards a tall kid’s erg score over a decade of anyone else’s tournament travel. Families coming from baseball or soccer keep waiting for the pay-to-play trap doors, and crew mostly doesn’t have them. The club fee is real; the rest is showing up at dawn.
The watch items are the back, the ribs, and the weight talk. Handle those three and rowing gives back more than it takes.
For the actual shopping list, the crew gear guide covers the unisuit, the layers, and what the club provides so you don’t buy anything twice.