Let’s clear it up. Full scholarships. Do they or don’t they exist? What’s the crack?

Full scholarships do exist. BUT!

They exist in those five main sports or six main sports that we’ve talked about. Really everything except junior college division three, and even the NCAA division three don’t have athletic scholarships. But they can give full academic scholarships.

At a division three school, they may not call it an athletic scholarship, but with great grades, you may qualify for a full tuition scholarship. And then maybe a housing grant, which basically puts you in a better position at that school that could offer you a fraction of an athletic scholarship.

“Can you get a partial scholarship if you’re a state league player or a local Basketballer or average tennis player? The answer is yes!”

Even schools that are in divisions that can’t give athletic scholarships find ways of helping people decrease costs. However, to receive a full scholarship, you need to either be the best student, or you need to be the best athlete.

Are you going to get a full scholarship if you’re a state league soccer player or a local league Basketballer? No, you won’t. Especially as a male player, probably not. Female you’ve got a better chance.

Can you get a partial scholarship if you’re a state league player or a local Basketballer or average tennis player? The answer is yes! That’s a lot more likely. Which is why I think we do a good job preparing families for a financial outlay. Understanding how the system works, which I hope our podcasts help you to understand.

An inexperienced athlete from overseas entering into the United States as a first-year athlete with zero experience and wants a full scholarship, well you better be playing for your country and at high level.

“You’ll see people on large scholarships from Australia.”

You need to be representing Australia, not on a tour that went through Europe. Like the AIS, best in the country, in your sport. The most elite as well as have the grades to back it up. You need to be at a super, super, super high standard. You’ll see people on large scholarships from Australia. It’s about understanding where Australia fairs in the world of full scholarships within each particular sport.

Essentially where a coach is going to look first for an athlete in that sport, to simplify it. Where Australia dominates and is very high level in particular sports. Your national sports swimming, field hockey, rowing, track and field. Those are the sports that you guys are dominant as a country in.

AFL and cricket, sorry. Not many opportunities in the US. They’re not over there, although they are building the largest cricket pitch in North America, in Houston, Texas.

Think about it from a coach’s perspective. If a coach has all this money to go and find a soccer player, and is going to give a full scholarship to a soccer player? A coach will not be seeking Australians first.

They will be going to go to Spain, Argentina to the Netherlands, Germany, Brazil.

“These coaches have a budget that they can spend however they want it on athletes from wherever they want.”

Because those are the best countries in the world for soccer. You have to realize you’re dealing with something on a world scale. It’s not just from Australia to the United States. These coaches have a budget that they can spend however they want it on athletes from wherever they want.

They can spend it on athletes from anywhere in the world. And look if I’m a swimming coach and I want some dominant swimmers, then yeah I might come to Australia. If I need some field hockey girls, guarantee I’m going to Australia. You guys are killing it on the world stage. If I need a Basketballer, I’m going to go to the local high school in the United States because the United States dominates basketball.

Look Australia does well. But it’s different. Rowing and track and field, those types of sports. If I need those types of athletes, then yeah, Australia might be a great choice. But if I need a soccer player and I’ve got a bunch of money to spend and I want him to be the best soccer player in the world.

Sorry my first stop isn’t going to be in Australia. Even if that kid plays for the national team. Where does Australia fit in the world of football? Because that’s the topic here, right?

“If I want Baseballer’s, I’m not going to go to Australia”

You barely qualified through Asia. You’re playing against Kazakhstan, a bunch of countries that I can’t even pronounce. Right? But if I want the best players, I’m going to go to the countries where football and soccer is predominantly the number one sport, which again, I’m looking in Spain.

Which is the same for every sport, If I want baseballer’s, I’m not going to go to Australia. I’m going to recruit heavily from the United States, or Cuba because it’s their national pastime.

If I need an ice hockey athlete, I’m going to go to Canada. I’m going to go to Russia.

You don’t think automatically. “Oh, I’m going to Australia to find some ice hockey athletes.” Although we do have a couple that are good.

Figure out where in the world does Australia ranks in that particular sport? And then, think about that ranking being the best in this country. And then figure out where you fit in. And then that’s how you have to think about the US system.

“you need to understand the way you’re competing at in your own country”

If you’re an NPL kid that’s playing for the U18 team at South Melbourne or wherever else, you’re not going D1 full scholarship, or D2 full scholarship. You just won’t, unless you go to the US and you work your way through that system, and you eventually earn yourself a full scholarship by scoring 46 goals in another competition.

So essentially, or basically you need to understand the way you’re competing at in your own country within the sport that you’re playing, what level, what standard are you playing out here? And then take that the world scale and understand where Australia as a whole fits into that scale because US coaches are recruiting from everywhere.

From every country in the world. And they’re going to bring the best athletes that they can bring from, doesn’t matter where in the world they are. They want the best athletes in their programs. And again, in those sports where Australia is dominant. Women’s basketball, a lot more regular than any other sport. Field hockey, lot more regular than most other sports. And that’s on the women’s side. Women in general, you’re getting more scholarship than men.

“You do not get served on a silver spoon. When you go to the United States, you earn everything.”

Yes, Full scholarships do exist. Are they easy to find? Are they easy to get? No, they’re not. They are earned. They are earned, earned, earned. Nothing is handed to you. You do not get served on a silver spoon. When you go to the United States, you earn everything.

There you go. Full scholarships, unicorns and are as common as bigfoot exists. But partial scholarships are a lot more common, partial scholarships are everywhere and many partial scholarships are very affordable and don’t need full scholarships to get through college.

You just need to go into the process with the understanding of how it works and if you need a full scholarship, then don’t bother looking at this particular opportunity because there’s always costs. Even if you are on a full scholarship.

“Well you still got flights that you got to pay for to get over there.”

Let’s say you are on a full scholarship. They pay for your tuition and fees. They pay for your room and board. They pay for your books, they pay for your insurance, and they pay for everything. Well you still got flights that you got to get over there. You still have SAT costs to sit the exam, costs for a VISA.

You still have spending money and socializing money. There’s always going to be costs out of pocket. No matter if you’re on a full scholarship, or a big partial scholarship, or on no scholarship. There’s always affordable options everywhere, but it’s all about you understanding how this system works and how to figure out for yourself what you might be up for, and figuring out, I want to know where bigfoot is.

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