BOSTON – Northeastern men's rowing head coach Alex Perkins announced that Steven Sparks has joined the staff as an assistant coach. Sparks spent the previous three years at Holy Cross, including the 2025-26 campaign as associate head coach.
 
"We are excited to have Steven back with us at Northeastern," Perkins said. "He returns to Northeastern with three years of coaching experience at the Division level and is well set up to help our program take the next step."
 
A native of Simsbury, Conn., Sparks rowed for Bates College as an undergraduate before transferring to Northeastern for his final season of eligibility in 2022-23. With the Huskies, he competed in the second varsity boat that earned victories over Penn, Boston University, Stanford and Wisconsin, among others.
 
"I'm very excited to return to Northeastern," Sparks said. "The program gave me so much as a graduate and helped me get my foot in the door as a coach. The current team is showing signs of something special come this spring, and I'm looking forward to fostering more bottom-up pressure."
 
Before his elevation to associate head coach at Holy Cross, Sparks served as assistant coach for the previous two seasons primarily focusing on recruiting, coaching the third and fourth varsity boats, and helping develop the team training plan.
 
Prior to his time with the Crusaders, Sparks served as a volunteer assistant coach at Tufts University, focusing on the development of rowers and coxswains, and as an assistant juniors rowing coach with the Cambridge Boat Club. With Cambridge, Sparks assisted with on-the-water coaching while also handling regatta coaching, travel and logistics, and boat safety and maintenance.