University sports in America are at the highest level in the world, so universities carefully select promising candidates for their sports teams, and even more carefully for those students whose training they will finance.

Athletic scholarships in the United States are awarded by universities for outstanding athletic and academic achievement and in most cases must be confirmed annually. Sports Scholarship - an opportunity to fully combine study and training.

Athletes who study at US universities receive:

-     shortened in time, but complete in terms of the volume of knowledge, training program

-     at least 20 hours of training per week

-     an individual study schedule, taking into account the training and competition plan

-     training with the best coaches and regular participation in competitions

Thousands of educational institutions in the United States offer talented students to play for their alma mater, and instead of receiving a salary, they receive a scholarship that will cover the cost of training. At the same time, the level and the scale of university sports in the United States are not comparable to any other state in the world. Golfer Tiger Woods, tennis player John Isner, basketball player Michael Jordan, and soccer player Mia Hamm began their careers as college athletes.

Step 1

Find out what you need for admission. To qualify for a sports scholarship in the United States, you must:

  • have outstanding athletic performance;
  • motivation letter 
  • pass the SAT / ACT / GRE tests, subject tests, at the level of entrance requirements;
  • have good grades i.e. GPA, at the level of admission requirements;
  • demonstrate discipline, high motivation, and excellent knowledge of their sport.

Step 2

How to look for an athletic scholarship.
Several large organizations in the United States collect and/or manage sports scholarship information. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has over 1200 organizations representing 23 sports. You will find a large number of sports scholarships on the organization's website, so start your research on how to get an athletic scholarship here. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) runs small sports scholarships in 21 sports. More than 250 colleges and universities in the United States participate in it, and during its existence, sports scholarships were issued for $ 500 million.

Step 3

Using the resources listed above, carefully read the section/points "Eligibility" and check if the scholarship of interest is suitable for foreign students from your country, and then see if you can meet these requirements.

Step 4

Start looking for suitable options for about 2-3 years before applying. Remember that the conditions for awarding scholarships can change significantly once every 5-10 years, so subscribe to the newsletters on the topic and always stay tuned in this area.

Step 5

Think about what is most important to you in the university, and the specialty you want to study, and clearly define the criteria by which you will add universities with scholarships to the list of options.

Step 6

Consider options without reference to geography, and avoid bias against universities (a university may not be included in the world tops, but have a prestigious sports team).

Step 7

American sports scholarship experts also strongly recommend that athletes make a high-quality video of themselves and their achievements, upload it to YouTube, and add a link to the cover letter. This will help the coach to understand you faster and more fully.

Step 8

Find out the details of the application and the full list of documents at the college that provides the scholarship and be very careful when registering and sending it to several places - the requirements for documents can, and most likely will be, somewhat different.

Step 9

You must be extremely punctual, despite your busy schedule and time difference, quickly and promptly respond to letters and requests from the university and the coach - this is perhaps the most obvious indicator of your discipline and motivation.

Step 10

For an athletic scholarship, it is important to have outstanding academic and athletic performance and to make the right impression on the university coaches - after all, they are the ones who award athletic scholarships. Competition for sports scholarships is very high, so as an athlete, you will need to demonstrate maximum discipline, motivation, energy and drive to win, as well as an excellent knowledge of your sport, outstanding athletes, and their achievements.

Sports Scholarships 2024

Here are some sports scholarships you can try applying for:

Conclusion

The sports scholarship is a great opportunity to continue your sports career and at the same time obtain a foreign diploma. The American government has a stake in attracting promising young people to the country, so talented, disciplined, and motivated athletes have every chance of winning.