ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT COLLEGE SOCCER
College soccer is an opportunity for students to play the sport they love while pursuing a degree at the same time. In the United states of America, this opportunity is available to foreigners because soccer (football) is a sport very popular outside North America and a lot of college soccer coaches use that to their advantage and recruit a lot of international students.
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Scholarships are given to students that demonstrate a high level of academic, soccer and athletic ability. There are many forms of scholarships but Imole Foundation focuses more on placing our athletes with academic and/or athletic scholarships. We do not provide the scholarships ourselves, instead, we connect our athletes to the right college based on their needs, budget, major/ course of study. We constantly have colleges contact us for players because the need for players is always present.
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Scholarship amounts vary, it can cover anywhere from 10% of the colleges fees to 100% of the fees. Our aim is to get our athletes the best deal possible. We currently have two athletes who have their entire tuition paid for through scholarships. We urge prospective clients to understand that will not always be the case, the scholarship amount awarded to athletes is based off the coaches digression.
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At 4 year institutions, once athletic scholarships have been awarded, they renew every year on the basis that the athlete is passing all his classes with at least a 2.0 GPA. International students have to maintain a minimum of 12 credits which normally translates to 4 classes each semester. Athletic scholarship can be revoked if a particular athlete starts to fail classes, stop showing up to practice, games and team events or breaks any school rules worthy of suspension or expulsion. An athletes scholarship will also be in jeopardy if he/she is involved in gambling. Academic scholarships also renew automatically as long as the athlete maintains a certain GPA given by the institution/college.
COLLEGE SOCCER BODIES & COMPETITIONS
In the US college sports system, there are three main institutions. They are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) , National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The NCAA and NAIA have only 4 year institutions competing withing their divisions while the NJCAA is for junior colleges and community colleges. Within those three institutions, there are 3 divisions where colleges compete in; division 1, division 2 and division 3.
Division 1 is the highest level of competition and is for elite level athletes. This division mostly comprises of athletes who aim to go pro in their given sport. Division 1 teams tend to have better athletic and school facilities and resources. Division 2 is the second tier and is also a high division to compete in. The main difference between division 1 and 2 is the hype around the colleges, the amount of Majors/academic programs offered, the size of the school and their athletic budget. Asides that, there isn't a high gap in the skill level of their athletes. Both division 1 & 2 are able to offer athletic and academic scholarships. Division 3, 80% of the colleges here are private institutions. They focus more on the academic side and are not able to offer any forms of athletic scholarship. They are tied strictly to academic scholarships. The competition level at division 3 is not as high as division 1 or 2 however its no low; there is also a good amount of international student-athletes competing at this level. NAIA teams do not compete against NCAA or NJCAA colleges during the regular season. The only time teams from different institutions go against each other is during pre season or off season (spring semester).
The soccer season starts in the middle of August to start of November for its regular season and then starts its playoffs and championships in November and goes through to December. Based of performances during the season, student-athletes get recognized withing their schools, state and nationally. The NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA also give out awards to best players, scholar athletes, recognize athletes with GPA's over 3.0 and also create team of the week on a weekly basis to motivate athletes to keep working hard.
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Each athlete is given 4 seasons of eligibility to compete in college sports, just enough time to compete while earning their degree. It is possible for one to play more than 4 seasons but that is with the addition of waivers and permission given by the NCAA or NAIA.
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Transfers happen a lot in college soccer. A lot of our athletes have transferred before. The process can be tricky and have many punishments if not done right. One can transfer within the different institutions,