Before a relative embarked on a US College football sports scholarship, a friend who works as a senior academic stated that the subjects studied would extrapolate to Aussie universities.

Even though there were concerns about the academic quality of the specific institution compared to Australia, the subjects studied will be credited towards an Arts/Law degree at an Aussie tertiary institution.

It is certainly a bonus. On balance NSR scholarships may have benefits.

All four US football scholarship recipients from this state, in a two year period, are now back in Australia, probably for different reasons.

One disadvantage though is training at a very amateurish level in football compared to a US college when returning. That is even if the style in the US was often very physical and direct.

It would be interesting to hear Silvergale's views on this.







Edited by Decentric: 10/2/2012 01:41:52 PM

Hi Decentric

I certainly intend to provide an update when my Daughter goes over but she doesnt leave till late July for an early August start.

Funny enough she will be doing Art as her main

She is fully signed but we had to go with the cheapest option as we dont have bucket loads of cash.

For the critics of NSR, we have had about a dozen offers, only a few affordable.

If anyone wants to know more on the NSR system I would consider myself an up todate expert and happy to assist anyone who wants to know more.

Personally, cant wait for her to go and she is super excited, great life experience

Have had a mate go over and caught up with him on his break back home and he told me the standard was was higher over there both technically and physically. He said all the speedy mexicans were a nightmare to play against lol.

The US has also done a similar thing to us in the fact that they have a formation and style of play (433) that all youth teams are recommended to be playing.

They have done a similar thing to us by bringing in one of the masterminds behind the German system to head there national footballing department not to mention the fact they are training 5 days or so a week.

One of my friends is playing soccer in the U.S in the university. He got a full scholarship to a D1 school. That is really good because he gets free education. On the other hand the level in U.S soccer is not like in Europe. U.S focuses more on speed and strength kind of like the Premier league. But the good thing from all of this is the College experience. The experience and friends you will make in a U.S university will be for life.

Exactly the point I have been trying to make to the negative people, not every person is doing this to try and make their kid a superstar, the pricing isnt bad if you intended to go to an Australian Uni and the experience itself is what we take most value from.
If you get a win out of the soccer portion then thats the bonus, not the reaosn to go.

True.

Yeah , my friend tells me that he loves it. Pre-season is very tough but that always comes with soccer.

A dozen offers is very good.



The problems we had were communication between the coach, NSR and the academic wing of the college.

The coach and NSR said that journalism scholarships were available. We never received a credible reason why our relative missed out after applying for one. She was being marked at masters level in the institution, even at undergrad level.

With one of the other Aussie recruits, they were excelling academically in all areas, receiving easily the top marks in all classes they attended. Yet the journalism department didn't respond. A scholarship would have won $2 000 per year. On what criteria was she deemed to have been inadequate for a scholarship?

The sports side took precedence over the academic side. Journalism was supposed to be an option. When the relative went to the college, she couldn't pursue journalism because football training was on at the same time as the football programme each day. This should have been sorted out between the coach and the journalism department before the relative left Australia. Journalism was supposedly an option because the institution had no law faculty.

The coach constantly recruited new domestic players. Assurances meant nothing. The college over-achieved and over-trained, winning the second division and then kept going to higher levels with no chance of being promoted permanently to a higher division.

Some US teammates were considered good enough for the Matildas. Yet the question was posed - why were the still playing at this level? NSR said it was easy to change institutions because scouts were out everywhere. Yet these very good US players weren't playing at the highest college division.

The relative having played with and against some current and former Matildas in Australia, thought the calibre of these US teammates would have assured them playing as some of the better players in the W League if they were Australian. Yet they were playing in the top team in the second highest college division.

This team beat the winners of division one in play-offs, for the state. But the question was asked - why weren't these players good enough for the US pro league? If these players weren't good enough then almost nobody was!!!!!!

Then if the education degree was the fall back position, many instititions weren't as good as there Australian counterparts. The best US tertiary institutions don't offer sports scholarships. Changing to other institutions wasn't as easy as NSR had emphatically stated it would be.

All in all though, it was a worthwhile life experience. There were a number of issues though.









Edited by Decentric: 17/2/2012 06:41:38 PM

Personally, I feel a little indifferent to the whole thing, but I know 3 people who have done this/is currently doing this.

1 was home after a month. I was told that the living conditions were atrocious and the team was no better than local A-Grade here. In saying that, the team still kicked ass, but their region must not have been strong.

Another was home after a couple of months. Apparently the team was hopeless in another weak region. Baffling coaching decisions contributed to him pulling the plug on it all, apparently.

The third absolutely loves it.

Seems like the experience varies from city to city.

and how good the parties are !

It also varies from uni to uni.

There are two other points for the likes of prospective scholarship holders.


1. NSR claimed that work could be obtained working on campus, such as working in college libraries. In reality at this specific insitution they were highly sought after and difficult to obtain. These jobs, when US residents don't qualify for a work permit, only pay $6-10 per hour.

2. Twice a week scholarship holders had to coach kids for 3 hours per session. This equates to 6 hours per week. This raised money for the college soccer programme, but certainly not the team players. This was not laid out before the relative left for the US. It should have been.

The soccer programme took up 30 hours per week. That is a lot more than EPL clubs!!!!! That is a lot of time and energy taken up to study full time uni as well.


So to cut it short, the relative had access to a greater range of courses at her local uni, just a few kilometres away. It is also much more internationally recognised with rigorous courses.

The relative can also work earning up to $20 per hour in Australia.

The relative can drink alcohol legally in Australia. It is illegal for under 21 year olds in the US.




A highlight of a scholarship was meeting people from other parts of the world.

The standard of football was much, much higher than any split state league club in this state. Probably more like a W League club. Football training is disappointing back at home, particularly given the poor coaching at the particular club she is associated with here.

Yes the parties in the US were good!!!!

Hey Decentric & MM

I am sure that things will work out different from college to college as far as both of you have made comment, we knew our choice was safe as we knew two girls who has already attended the same college.

Bad living conditions sounds a worry though, you think this day and age all of that would be good enough.

One thing though as soon as we have had contact from the college NSR did not contribute any further to the negoitations or the arrangements that are/were needed. This has all been between us and the college which hasa better chance of avoiding any confusion.

I look forward to passing on our experiences later in the year, hopefully all good

PS Midfield, If you didnt hear, Broadmeadow dumped the Womens Premier League team at the end of last year (Typical Males again). Majority of the team is now with Adamstown who have been the cellar dwellers last few years. Expect them to go 1st or 2nd this year!!!

Thanks for the update, Silvergale.

I really hope it all goes well, as by the sounds of it, the WPL sounds like a basket case of a competition.

Hi MM
The basket case is actually the males running the clubs. Every year one team is left high and dry by the clubs. Broadmeadow are just the latest to dump a premier league womens team. The team basically ran itself and the reason that came from these males are total crap. This team in the last 3 years made every grand final, lost two and won one. They were dumped beacuse they didnt support the male teams, funny thing I never saw any Males supporting our girls.

Lake Maquarie join the comp this year and have stacked their side with Ex Australians and W League players from the Jets Girls

The comp will survive but we can certainly do without this happening as like you said it doesnt look good. No matter were you go the same shit keeps happening, I was hoping Newcastle would be different but.....

I'm posting as someone who actually took a soccer scholarship and went to a US College for 3 years and much that you all have said is true, but some of you have got the wrong idea.

First of all, i always had aspirations to do this, ever since i was about 10 years old i wanted to play college soccer in the USA and so i had a long time to prepare myself. I didn't go through a recruitment company, i did all my recruitment myself. If you know enough about the system, and have well prepared yourself then it isn't hard to get yourself out there. All these companies do for international students is have a database of players that colleges use a search engine to rummage through. I know this because i worked as an assistant for women's team and did this A LOT. Despite what they tell you NSR will take on board anyone who is willing to pay their $5000 fee. You're paying $5000 for them to make an online profile of you and throw it among their database with 1000's of other players. This means that if you're not either a standout athletic (soccer ability) or academic (grade point average) student then you won't come up in the database often, therefore receiving fewer 'offers'.

As for the standard of soccer, it varies WIDELY.
- Men's Soccer has 1,317 colleges that play competitively across 7 Divisions.
- Women's Soccer has 1,512 colleges across 6 Divisions.

They strongest of these Divisions is the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division I, which has 204 men's teams and 322 women's teams, so you can imagine the difference in quality in that division alone. Although, because teams are put in divisions based on the size of the university and the number of athletic teams it has and not the strength of each individual program playing, often is the case that Top 25 ranked teams in the NCAA Division II and Top 10 ranked teams in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) are of a better standard, the schools are just a lot smaller, and in more rural areas of the country.

Different school's will offer different scholarship options, NCAA Division III schools are prohibited to give athletic scholarships, so they're primarily academic or international student grants and small, rural schools.

As i did and i assume many others want from going to the USA is the 'college experience'. What you see on the movies about the parties and the lifestyle they live is somewhat accurate for the major universities, not often the ones that are very good at soccer. All their athletic budget is spent on Football and Basketball.

What im trying to say is, if you do your research on the academic side of things (knowing what subjects are required to be eligible to play) and athletic side of things (standards, sizes and locations of schools) then you will be a lot better off directly emailing coaches of specific colleges that you hand pick yourself so that you won't be disappointed or not knowing what to expect when you get there. www.collegeboard.com is a perfect website for you to search the exact college that you want want to attend through their 'college matchmaker'.

I had the time of my life in the US, it was 3 and half of the best years of my life, i made amazing friends that i'll have forever, i learnt a lot in life as well as my subjected major at the university. Whether you're going there to try and become a professional player, or taking advantage of the fact someone will pay for your university for you to do something you would be doing (and paying for) anyway here in Australia, I believe Its perfect for a young man/woman to do if you can find the right uni that you can afford and will enjoy.

If you want any more information, or any help with recruiting PM me, i am more than welcome to help.

Great read. Deejay. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Did you gain a degree in the three years in the USA?

What disturbed me is that a mate of mine said he realised his four year degree in the US would have only taken three years here. To me it is a year wasted.

When my relative went to the US, first year involved doing very easy work. Now the same relative is attending the local uni here in Australia. The work is much more difficult and a bit more of a cognitive challenge since completing HSC in Australia. At least the study is taking pace is at a well recognised uni.

I now know 8 football scholarship holders who have gone to the USA. Most are back in Australia. None have completed degrees in the USA for a diversity of reasons. About half of these players are pretty capable academically and would be recognised as excellent students here. They would also be capable of qualifying to study at very good unis in the USA, not quite the Ivy League, but close to them.

One cannot work easily in the USA. It is difficult to obtain a Green Card. Immigration is shocking. The US Embassy in Australia is abysmal to deal with. I can quite happily cope with that because I may never visit the US again!

Of course all soccer scholars have acquired great life skills from living in another country. I posit a different position. It may be better to study here and travel after getting a degree. Or study in the UK with much better average tertiary institutions. Of course the soccer programme in the US is better than most scenarios in Australia, unless one is in the elite of the elite.

Then again read the article about the disintegration of Fury and life for pro footballers when a clubs breaks up may not be that promising.

The only benefits from US scholarships is the quality of football training and experience living in another country. In many parts of Australia quality of life is decidedly better.

Slow learner, aren't you.

I gave you this (sage) advice before you wasted your money sending your daughter to the US. But nope, you didn't listen, 'cos you had a dream to fulfill.



Edited by judy free: 19/3/2012 10:51:30 PM

No problems.

I did earn a degree, i left a graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology, minor in Psych.

As you said, a lot of internationals don't finish their degrees over in the US.. a lot get sick of it, miss home, or its not exactly what they had expected and just throw in the towel.

US institutions aren't exactly known for the quality of their degrees and i found that out when applying for post-graduate degrees just very recently... I haven't started my post grad degree yet so i can't comment on whether or not i find it more difficult than in the US.. i am expecting for it to be a lot harder and a lot more strenuous, partly because of the previous education in the US and partly because its more specified post-graduate work.

I hope to eventually return to the US to work in my field, so i hope my experiences with the Australian Embassy are a little better than yours.

I really doubt whether that staying in Australia to get a degree is beneficial more-so than undertaking a sports scholarship. it is very difficult for young people to be so far from home and their friends, i know from experience, but with knowing exactly what to expect by having all the info on where you (or your children) are getting recruited, you're not getting thrown into the deep end and end up wanting to come home before you are able to graduate.

I'm going to add more info on this topic.

I tend to advise anyone offered a scholarship not to go to the US, if , they are capable of gaining a degree here. The colleges offering scholarships are usually suspect acaedemically compared to Aussie unis. All capable students from here have found studies easy in the US compared to local Aussie unis.

The good US institutions, and they have the best in the world, often don't offer sports scholarships.

From another angle, after having professional coaches in America, players often feel frustrated with the quality of coaching they receive when they return to Australia. The US college football programme is usually much better than here.

It even extends to elite levels. One player, currently in the US, now thinks that the National Training Centre (Institute) coach in a state programme was vastly inferior to the training the player is now getting at a US college.

We are comparing like for like, because both are full time programmes.

Which is the best football college in the USA?

I know of other college scholarship holders having gone to the USA college system for soccer this year.

Some of the players had already studied in Australia at uni. The academic standards at the USA colleges are again very, very disappointing and quite frankly are very low. This is a recurring theme.

Another student who has gone this year isn't as academically inclined. The player is finding the coaching to be very good, even compared to elite level in Australia.

Aspersions have again been cast about NSR.

It would be interesting to hear from Silvergate.

Hi Decentric & All

Wow, not long back from a fantastic 1 month holiday in the USA.

The main aim going there was to drop off my daughter and have a holiday with the wife and overall very happy
We got to spend 4 days in the area she is in and meet all the other girls as well as the coach. 12 Internationals in her team as the rules in California are different than the rest of USA. Attended a couple of training runs but wasnt around for the first game (In Vegas losing money by that stage)
Coach is full on but also a really nice bloke, very unique and brings a brand new program together this year as the college didnt field a team last year due to the old coach leaving. Teaching attack attack attack and not the boring style of soccer that we all watch too much of.
As a brand new team, never expected them to be "world beaters" but they have gone well only losing 3 from 8 (couple of draws as well)All games have been road trips as well!!
Conference play starts in approx 2 weeks and after checking the other teams in her conference they may do well.
Education isnt that hard for the first year and she seems to be getting through her stuff pretty well, actually made comment that her soccer assignments are harder than her college ones. She is studying a graphice arts degree. Heaps of the other girls just doing general studies for the first year.
Yes thats right, soccer assignments!! Its full on, training every day and other work on top of that.

The girl if definetly having to adjust to the coach, the style of coaching and the commitment but all is good.
Loving it all the way and she sounds so happy every time we talk.

Again Im not going to attack NSR as this is brilliant but at least costing us 20K for the first year, more like 10K second year. If you are going to do it and have the money, highly recommend it. Again I offer my knowledge to anyone who wants to no more!!

I will give you more updates as the season progresses

Silver

Also forget to mention how serious it is in regards to discipline. In the first 4 weeks, 1 girls was suspended for two games and last week one girl completely kicked off the team. They dont take any bad attitudes or people simply not putting in 100%. This isnt a holiday so any future people wanting to go need be aware of this.

Cheers

Thanks for the updates, Silvergale.

How much game time is your daughter getting?

100% game time, he loves her. Playing left back which she hasnt really done much off since she was younger but shes solid and he needs good defence. Competing well but lack goal scoring ability.
They beat the 11th rank team in the state last week 1 nil and I guess he figures the best way to win with what he has is to not let any in.
Tomorrow they play the 17th rank team and then the team they lost 1 nil to in the first game of the year which will show their improvment I hope. After that its serious time, conferecne games start.
No huge expectations being a new team but still wont stop my hoping

Will update via this section in this topic early next week

Silver

Here is the coaches comments from the two games they had Frdiay & Saturday (Road trip)

Hello just a brief update. We played on Friday against a really good team. Their record has been ok, but they were a really athletic and gifted team. I was looking for some follow-through after our last game, but we didn't get the result. We played hard for 45 minutes and just shut them down. That was the best this team has played all year. No doubt they came to play, but they did what young inexperienced teams do and they let up to start the second half. The defense let a long ball get behind them and they scored on a breakaway 3 minutes into the second half. We had about 10 opportunities on goal and missed everyone of them. High shots, breakaways kicked straight to the goalie, and a comical missed shot in front of the goal with no goalie! We then had a goalie mistake where she allowed a deflected shot to go between her hands, and that was the game.

I really lost it with the team for the first time after a game and let them have it (my language was colorful and animated). I told them that it was unacceptable and that we would not allow that to be the norm. We cant continue to play hard against good teams and lose games on mistakes and the inability to score easy goals. You can guess what the mood was like. I made them all get in the van and then instructed them to put all of their gear back on and we had a two hour practice on just shooting and finishing. We were well into the dark before we finished and got something to eat. I made it clear that it was not a punishment but a training session to fix a glaring weakness. They agreed and we pushed on. During dinner I had small meetings with the defense, offense and midfield to go over the mistakes and to get back on track.

Saturday was a different story. We started with breakfast at 7 and everyone had a great positive attitude. During the game we scored within 5 minutes and had a 3-1 lead at half. 5 minutes into the second half, Corinne executed a beautiful corner kick and our goalie Beth who was playing on the field scored on a beautiful header. It was the most beautiful header I have seen as a coach off a corner. The team went wild and dog piled on her. A few more goals and we finished 6-1.

It is an inside joke with the team that when we go to restaurants I don't allow them to order dessert, a few have tried to sneak it in, but I always confiscate it and they literally hate me for it, I mean they bring it up out of the blue as to how mad they are. (Nothing like depriving a woman of her chocolate) I have made a deal with the team on three occasions that if they won, that I would buy them all dessert. On Friday after the practice, I told them that if they won the game by 5 goals, I would buy them all dessert the next day. The score was 5-1 with 10 minutes to go and they were killing themselves all over the field like I have never seen them before trying to get that last goal. Well they didn't quit until they got it and well you know the result. They have never lost a game with dessert on the line and the joy of having to see their coach buy it for them. I am just completely puzzled by this, but I thought you might think it is funny as well.

League starts Friday!

Coach

Sorry mate, only just saw your response.

Your big institutions will always have the best programs, in terms of quality and especially facilities.

Colleges like Maryland, North Carolina, Wake Forrest, Akron, UCLA, Indiana, and Notre Dame are all renowned for their excellent soccer programs.

Hope that helps

What college does your daughter go to if you mind me asking?

Sent you a PM