Engaging in the Recruitment Process:
High school student athletes in the US are somewhat at an advantage to international students hoping to obtain a
sport scholarship as they will likely have had some level of exposure to college and university coaches at local,
regional and national competitions. Coupled with the fact that their coaches may have contacts within university
programs and university scouts may be tracking their progress in the news or at competitions, engaging in the
recruitment process to pursue their sport at the collegiate level can be somewhat more straightforward, and will
certainly start earlier, than for an international athlete. However, every year talented international students are
successful in receiving scholarships in a variety of sports at a wide range of US universities every year. The important
thing to remember, whichever avenue you choose to engage in the recruitment process,
is that the earlier you start
and the more time you put in, the more likely you are to achieve your goal.
International student athletes have a few options available to them once they decide that they would like to be
considered for a sport scholarship to study in the US:
The first option is the ‘do-it-yourself’ approach, contacting university coaches directly to inform them of your
interest in their program and of your talent. To get started, you may wish to follow the steps outlined below:
1) Visit the NCAA website (www.ncaa.org), or that of one of the other athletic associations mentioned above,
to view both the list of universities that offer your sport at the varsity level and the eligibility rules for being
considered for a sport scholarship at their member universities. Determine whether you meet the eligibility
criteria and make a list of universities to consider.
2) After identifying which universities offer your sport, you should then do some research into whether or not
that institution provides scholarships for athletes and what the criteria for selection are, both of which
should be readily available on the athletic department’s webpage for each university. At this point, it is also
very important to do some research into the qualifications and reputation of each coach as you want to
ensure that you will be well-supported and receive good training within your sport during your four years at
university. You may also wish to consider other factors that are important in choosing a university to help
narrow down your list (see the Undergraduate Study in the US – www.educationusa.state.gov).
3) Compile a list of contact information for the coaches at each university in which you are interested.
4) Draft a sports CV that includes all of your accomplishments within your sport. Be sure to include teams
played for and number of years, tournament results, championships participated in, and/or
records/times/scores held.
5) Write a letter to the relevant coach at each institution that explains both your academic and athletic abilities
in terms that can be identified by him or her (this is where the sport CV comes in as an easy reference tool
for athletic accomplishments).
6) You may want to include a reference from a current or former coach in your correspondence with university
coaches. (Make sure to provide the name and status of the coach providing the reference in your cover
letter.)
7) If you are applying to a university that is a member of the NCAA, register in the NCAA Initial-Eligibility
Clearinghouse. This is an agency that provides initial eligibility certification for prospective NCAA athletes,
but is not a placement agency. It provides initial eligibility certification results to colleges and universities
that request the information.
8) With luck, you should receive responses from universities within a few weeks.
Some may invite you to
submit a video of you participating in your sport, and others may send a recruiter to see you participate or
invite you to visit their university.
9) Receiving notice of a coach’s interest in you is a great start, but you still need to apply for admissions to the
university through the same channels as other students. So you will need to register for and sit the SAT
exam, as well as submit all required application materials by the deadlines set by each institution.
10) Throughout the process, keep in mind that students who are interested in pursuing sport at the varsity level
in university should focus on the recruiting process towards becoming a university athlete rather than as a
source for funding through a sports scholarship. Sports scholarships are often offered only late in the
recruiting process. Furthermore, many universities cannot give athletic scholarships, but still boast top
sports programs. This includes the Ivy League and many NCAA Division III universities. Additionally, because
receiving a sport scholarship is extremely competitive, you will also want to look into other sources of
funding and have fallback options for your undergraduate education,
should you not receive a scholarship
from the universities you’ve selected, or choose to attend a university that cannot offer a sport scholarship.
In addition to contacting universities directly, you may also wish investigate the opportunity to promote your
sporting talent to university coaches via online recruitment sites (see the Additional Resources section below for
some relevant links). For free or for a small fee, you can create an online profile for coaches to view that could
include your sport CV and photographs and videos of you playing your sport. In his Wall Street Journal article ‘The
Do-It-Yourself Athletic Scholarship’ (18 December 2008), Matthew Futterman, explains that ‘…coaches have grown
more willing to scout talent on the Internet, especially since the sites don't charge them to view the profiles.’
The second option is to work with a sport scholarship agency or placement service to connect with US universities
actively seeking international student athletes and offering scholarships.
These organizations will charge a fee for
their assistance, but generally offer a comprehensive service that can make navigating the often complicated
recruitment process clearer. Students that choose to use an agency typically view paying their fee as an investment
in their expertise and university contacts and, given the guarantees of scholarship offers, the savings made by
obtaining a scholarship more than makes up for the initial out-of-pocket expenditure.
Additional Resources:
For Do-it-Yourself Promotion
www.berecruited.com
www.prepchamps.com
www.trupreps.com
www.ActiveRecruting.com
www.Collegecoaches.net
www.SportsWorx.com