How to get a sports scholarship in the USA

Every mother dreams of a healthy, happy child and a good education. In America, the first and last points can be combined: by giving a child to a professional sport, from childhood he can prepare for free education at a prestigious university. ForumDaily collected all the necessary information for those who plan to offer a sports scholarship.

First you invest, then - in you!

In the United States created ideal conditions for sports. On average, in fifty states can count almost 100 thousand schools for training athletes - both professionals and amateurs. Schools are paid, and the cost of monthly classes is from $100 and above. But parents are ready to invest money in sports, setting clear tasks for themselves.

Svetlana Sikora, who moved to California from Russia 12 years ago, has a firm belief that in America, sports are a business: “First you invest, and then they invest in you,” says Svetlana. – My son, who is 10, has been practicing judo for 5 years, and my daughter has been doing gymnastics since she was 4 years old. Over these 5 years, we have invested about $20 thousand. Here you have to pay for everything, starting from registration in competitions and ending with sports equipment. Although, in my experience, it is in the States the lowest in the world prices for sports equipment. Even a family with not very high incomes will be able to buy everything they need. ”

Someone, like Svetlana, relies on the fact that there will be a return on sports, while others do not aim at professional sports, but still carries the child in the section. American children are sorely lacking in daily physical exertion.

According to Presidential Council on Fitness, Sport and Healthy Diet, about 70% of children under 14 years even walking Pass significantly less than the recommended minimum - 10 000 steps (5 miles) per day. As a result, they are increasingly suffering not only obesity, but also depression. The refusal of sports activities has a negative impact not only on health, but also on intellectual development.

Play and you will be noticed

While the child starts to show the first results, 7 pots will come down from both the athlete and the parents. Parents should not only take their children to trainings, go to all competitions, having spent, as a rule, weekends, but also pay for participation in tournaments, housing and food.

Irina Lekarev’s son plays football. When his mother took him to his first training sessions, she did not know that this could help when entering a university. “My son has been a fan of football since childhood, and I saw how his eyes lit up when he entered the field,” recalls Irina. “I supported him in every possible way and took him to all competitions. And this is not a cheap pleasure. For example, for a season at a club you had to pay from $3 to $5 thousand. Plus by $30 – for each private lesson.” Irina then did not make plans for the child’s sports future and did not even know that there were sports scholarships. “Vlad played very well and always stood out in games,” says Irina. “One coach noticed him, then another, and then we started receiving invitations to study for free at universities.”

Irina recalls that for the season the club had to pay from 3 to 5 thousand dollars and for 30 dollars - for each private lesson. Photos from the personal archive

The advice that Irina can give to parents is that in order for a child to be noticed, he needs to play in high-ranking teams. It is precisely at those tournaments where such teams play that recruiters come - coaches who are looking for potential student players for their educational institution.

No privacy

First, Vlad Lekarev studied at ButlerUniversity (Indiana). There he was immediately offered to compensate for 100% of studies and still paid a stipend. "Even in the year I received $5 thousand as a refund for studying,” says Vlad. – True, I studied there for six months, because the coach who called me went to another university, and things didn’t work out with the new one. Then I transferred to Bowling green university, which is in Ohio. The difference between universities is that the first is private, and the second is public. It is for this reason that the return for the scholarship was 2 times less. I lived in a hostel for 2 years and then rented an apartment. And I didn’t pay a penny for housing. Plus they gave me food cards and Walmart cards for $400. True, I saved all the checks and then handed them. Of course, all sports equipment was also offered to me for free. My friends who played American football, after a good game, received expensive gifts from the team's sponsors. Laptops, for example. "

Vlad Lekarev says that just being a good athlete is not enough, you need to fulfill your “sports” plan and receive only good marks. Photos from the personal archive

According to Vlad Lekarev, just being a good athlete is not enough: “It was a bit difficult to honor the contract. You had to train every day and fulfill your “sports” plan and get only good grades. I worked very hard. For example, at 6 am I had a workout, after that I studied, and then I had another workout or a trip to the library. By the way, in the first year of study you must work in the library 8 hours a week, the second year - 5 hours, and the remaining 2 - 2-3 hours each. We coached the kids every Friday night and had meetings several times a month where the coaches discussed our performance on the field. And the main rule in the contract is no crime! For any violation of the law, the scholarship is taken away.”

Trained even at night

Nature itself told Alexander Skryagin what kind of sport to engage in. His height is 2 meters 1 centimeter, and he received a sports scholarship thanks to basketball. He made his first successes in his native Nizhny Novgorod and was invited to a 3-week training session in New York with the famous basketball agent Boris Karebin. “Coaches from schools and colleges became interested in me, but I returned to Russia to finish school,” says Alexander Skryagin. — After 17 years, I myself contacted an Italian coach who was looking for players for his team, and in the summer of 2012 I came to Italy, where I studied and played for the Tigullio Sport Team for a whole year. I trained even at night and achieved my goal: a colleague of my coach appreciated my skill and invited me to study at an American school. In August I already transferred to Faith Baptist Christian Academywhich is included in 100 America's best schools. The team had an 3 American, an Englishman 3, a Serb, an Estonian, and an athlete from Venezuela. I got a scholarship on 70%. In this school, I learned six months, then transferred to Las Vegas, in Trinity international school and there already was fully supported. ”

Alexander played under the number 19. Photos from the personal archive

Who can apply for a scholarship

Universities are interested in talented children who live not only in America, but also in other countries. On the payment of sports scholarships American universities spend more $1 billion per year, which are distributed to more than 450 thousands of student-athletes. About 100 thousands are citizens of other countries.

A sports scholarship can be full or partial. The first category of scholarships covers all student expenses, from accommodation to meals. The second one compensates only part of the costs.

In order to qualify for a scholarship, a candidate must not only play sports at a professional level, but also comply with all academic requirements of a particular university.

Here is a list of documents that need to be collected.:

• Summary. It must specify the physical data, the history of their sporting achievements, information about the coach and information about your athletic career. If you are engaged in team sports, you should add footage of your game to your resume. The video must be the audience! There are many such subtleties, so before you apply to a university, study this question from beginning to end. See examples video resume on Youtube.
• Education documents translated into English and notarized.
• A transcript is a document listing and describing the courses completed, the number of hours listened to and grades. In America, it is called СRF (Сumulative Record File), Academic Transcript or Sollege Transcript.
• Pass SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) - A standardized test that must be passed on admission to US higher education institutions. The interesting thing is that you can take it up to 7 once a year. Specialized centers for SAT in Moscow и in Kiev.
• If you graduated from school in the US, you will have to pass TOEFL - language exam confirming a certain level of proficiency in English. True, some universities accept students without it.

You can apply to the maximum number of universities that suit you. If no luck, then you can try to enroll in Team 2-year college. In such institutions, the chances of income increase, because the requirements are much lower. After graduating from an American college, the chances of studying at a university are increasing. Some universities immediately enroll students in the third year.

19 Thousands of Fellowships per million footballers

In the US, about 138 of thousands of sports scholarships are issued annually. The average scholarship is $10 400. Americans themselves saythat the chances of getting a scholarship are quite small, and the figures are cited: about a million boys play football professionally, but football scholarships are only 19 500. Approximately 603 of thousands of girls are professionally engaged in athletics in high school, and scholarships for them are only 4 500.

An important nuance - in the United States there are only 3 sports whose representatives can be offered full funding: football, basketball (men's and women's) and women's volleyball. The NCAA is trying to attract more talented athletes, so if a football coach is awarded 10 scholarships, he has the right to split the amount among 15 players. This tactic increases the chances of entering a university, but also reduces the amount of payments.

Those who have distinguished themselves in other sports can count on partial coverage of the cost of study.

Be persistent

You should start searching for a university approximately 2 year before your expected start date at university. there is Databasefor which you can find exactly the sports scholarships and programs that you need.

First, determine which universities offer participation in competitions for your sport based on a sports scholarship, and what percentage of the tuition fees it makes. In this list, determine which higher education institutions offer a major subject of specialization that you would like to study. Choose yourself a few dozen educational institutions and submit an application to each of them. The longer the list, the greater the chance that you will be answered.

Using the Internet, find the name of the head coach of the university, no matter what kind of sport you are doing. Most educational institutions of America have on their sites section called "Athletics". Remember that in the US this word includes all sports, not just athletics. Prepare a letter of recommendation and forward this information to all the coaches you find. Remember - the best coaches will not know about you until you declare yourself.

If you do not receive an answer, write a brief reminder about yourself and that you are still interested in learning.

What's next?

After finishing their studies at the university, most athletes stop their sports career and realize themselves in the discipline that they studied at the university in addition to sports. Football player Vlad Lekarev, who graduated from university with a degree in Business and Management, says that 1 in 10 continues their sports career after studying at the university. This is due to sports injuries. Now Vlad is planning to open his own business in America. Basketball player Alexander Skryagin also left sports and has been doing business for several years now - he is a representative of the company ProFuturoSports (PFS) in Russia.

For those who remain in the sport, the project follows Fantex- These are brokerage services on the sportsmen's income exchange. On the project’s website, users are offered to buy shares of athletes and receive a portion of future income.

Depending on the success of an athlete, his “market value” will rise or fall, as on a regular stock exchange. Brokers remind potential investors that their shares should not depreciate at all with the end of an athlete's career, because the object of bargaining is not the athlete and his career, but the brand associated with his name, or advertising contracts and other types of earnings. The first athlete on this exchange was american football player arian foster. Fantex paid the athlete $10 million for receiving 10% of its revenues in the future.

See also:

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