The Truth About the U.S. Scholarship

Every athlete seems to chase after it, and some get it while others come up short. Some go down south and end up back home a year later. Some go down there and become All- Americans; others never even come close to how good they were in high school.

You have hated coaches, hated head coaches, horrible teammates, nasty food, disgusting dorm rooms, and shocking environments. You have the people who leave home and become the party animal; you have the high school superstars who forget what got them the scholarship in the first place.  There is the lying coach, who sells you a dream that you see is false once you get there. You have training rooms that only know how to use stim and ice, therefore you’re never able to stay healthy. The list goes on and on.

The Experience

The experience can be rough and here is why. From the second people leave their home country in to the great U S of A they are expecting the world to be given to them like it was in high school. They expect to get there to a coach who loves them and tells them everything they want to hear, and to a team of athletes trying to sell a school to them… Just like their visit.  When they get there it is nothing but hard work. Seriously hard work, they call you a student- athlete, but in reality it is the other way around. You handle your sports first and then when that is done you better make sure your grades look excellent.

I have seen or heard of literally every problem when it comes to going to the states. No school is going to be perfect and because of this it can make day to day life extremely hard for many people. I do not care if you go to the biggest school in the country or the smallest one they all have their disadvantages. With big schools you have the pressure to perform. End of story. Performance is a must and many people lose sight of that or they cannot handle the pressure of being a student-athlete. While small schools usually do not have the budget the bigger schools do, the smaller schools have their own ways of doing things.

The Culture

Let’s face it what makes Canada a great country is the fact that we have so many people from all around this planet. My mother is from Barbados, and my father is from England. Yet I am from Canada and for all my friends there parents are from totally different places.  It gives us a diverse culture we are very open to new things and visiting different places. For example, the FIFA World Cup in Toronto was huge! You could drive around and see just about all the flags of the teams involved on peoples cars. People from all over the world and it is a great thing to see and live in. This brings in food, different religions, thoughts, ideas, ways of life, and oh did I mention how it brings in different types of FOOD.

It is far from this in the states though everything is American born. Americans love their country and they are not open to new places as most of them have never even left the country. This is a shock to many Canadians when they get down to the states.  For me personally it was not as bad because I knew this going down there but for some reason this is one thing that can drive Canadians right back home. They miss their culture too much, they want diversity back in their life.

The Sunlight in the Dark Cave

Did you think I would sit here writing this article saying all bad things with no positives? Hell no, or else I would be another one on that list of people heading right back home after a year. No matter what situation comes up when you are down south, AND THEY WILL COME UP. What you realize is that there is no one to help you out with it. You have to grow up and learn to truly fight for yourself. You will complain for a little but after a while complaining gets old and complainers never get anywhere.  You have to step up to the plate and handle things in the correct manner. This is HUGE, because some people do not learn how to do this until they are fully grown with 4 kids and a spouse. That is because they have been coddled like a baby their whole life.

It is so simple but so necessary in life. The ability to realize there is a problem, and not just complain about it but do something about. Seek change, in other people so you can be happy but most important of all you have to find a way to seek change in yourself.

Networks

Being down south allows you to build a network of people that can expand all over North America. If you lived and went to school in Canada for a while, chances are you have already built a contact list of people.  The great thing about life sometimes is that you never know what position someone will be in 10 years or 20 years from now.  You do not have to be best friends but if you are the type of person who is always pleasant to be around and helpful than you may have yourself a contact that can help you a great amount in the future and vice versa.

When down south you build contacts in so many different ways. You have your teamattes, you have all the students you meet in classes, you have athletes and students you meet when travelling to other schools, and lastly people who you just meet around the way in your 4 years. It is a great way to get that contact list up.

Competition

Never mind the fact that the competition in the NCAA is better than anything we have here in the CIS there is no argument to that. They have more people in the country, and way more schools. Therefore, they have way more athletes and way more superstars in every sport. You know that when you are doing well in their system you have a good shot at being able to become a pro athlete.

They Live Sports

Where I come from in Canada we do not live sports.  We live hockey, but all around the US you can find passionate fans for every sport, especially football and basketball. Everyone knows this and where the advantages come is when football teams bring in all the money that athletic departments use to finance everything else.

When you add up how much money a scholarship can be worth over 4 years, it is already a lot of money that many athletes do not have.  It does not end there though. Throw in the money the athletic department spends on you to travel around the country, shoes, clothes, meal money, hotel money, money for when you stay for school breaks and it can end up being a lot of money. I am in the middle of the pack of the athletic budget as my school is far from a small school as we are in the Big 12 conference. We are also in no way a huge house hold name school.

So What…

If you are going down to the states do not expect a bumpy free road. Expect to be challenged as a student and athlete, expect that tough times will come.  Also understand that the victory in life is when you overcome those problems. Anyone can run away from their problems, and trust me I have thought about running far away from them. This is life, it is unfair, it rarely goes the way you plan it too, people will try and bring you down and so on, but it is not just college where that happens. It is LIFE.

If you need more advice on what it is like being down south I found plenty of athletes willing to help. All are Canadian athletes who play either football, soccer, or they run track and field. Listen to what they have to say, all their advice is very interesting.

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Canadian Athletes

Troy Seivwright-Adams

Division II

Sport: Football

School: Northeastern State University

As a Canadian athlete playing south of the border, I am faced with many new challenges but with every challenge, an equal or greater opportunity has also been presented. Fortunately for myself, I have taken advantage of these opportunities and have had a successful career thus far. With that being said; success hasn’t come easy. A lot of hard work, perseverance, dedication and the ability to adapt has allowed me to get to where I am today.

Here are my top 5 pros and cons:

Pros

• Free schooling beats paying for school any day of the week. An athletic scholarship allows you to go through school without having to worry about being in debt once you complete your degree. I’m sure parents would agree that FREE is the way to go.
• Fresh start: No one really knows you. You have an opportunity to put your best foot forward right out of the gate. Whether it is in the class room or athletics, you have a chance to reinvent yourself for the better. Second chances are few and far between. This is a great second chance opportunity to make a first impression.
• Performing on the big stage is one of my favourites. School spirit, college media & the level competition at which you’re performing against, greatly surpasses that of any Canadian University or rep leagues.
• “Broaden your horizon”. Meeting new people from different places with different backgrounds is always good. Not to mention you get chance to destroy every typical Canadian stereo type that they may believe.
• Living independently gives you that freedom that you rebelliously searched for as a teenager. Come and go as you please, create your own schedule (around your sport of course) and just live on your own terms.

Cons

• Home sickness. Mom, Dad, family & friends are far from being within arm’s reach. There will times when you just feel like fixing something with your pops, having a random conversation with moms, messing with your brother/sister or kicking it with close friends but you can’t because they are not with you. Just flat out miss home.
• Managing a busy schedule. You have very little “me time”. Class, studying & athletics keep you more than busy. If you’re a person who is use to a lot of leisure time, managing this new schedule can be extremely difficult.
• You’re Canadian. Americans are some of the most nationalistic people in the world; coaches included. You really have to work that much harder than the American born teammate to earn respect or even a position on the team. If you and another person are comparable in any way, chances are the American will be favoured. Not fair but that’s life.
• A whole new world. Everything is different. People talk different, listen to different music & have different attitudes and personalities which you are not accustom to dealing with. For some people this is the first time you’ve ever been “the odd man out”.
• Food!!!!!! No matter how much salt, pepper, or hot sauce you add to the food in the cafeteria it will never ever come remotely close to mama’s cooking.

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Jarrett Hamilton

Division I

Sport: Men’s Soccer

School: Oral Roberts University

Pros

• I get to play soccer at a high level
• Possibility of being noticed by professional coaches to further my career
• Get my education paid for while I play a sport that I love

Cons

• At times I miss home
• Going to school and playin a d1 sport can get very difficult to time manage
• Lastly adapting to a new social environment

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Brendan Morgan

Division: Prep School

Sport: Football

School: The Hunn School of Princeton

Pros

• better opportunities in terms of athletics
• athletic scholarships (most Canadian universities don’t provide athletic scholarships)
• gives us Canadians an oppurtunity to prove that we can compete at the same level as Americans
• publicity (athletes in America are promoted more so then athletes in Canada)

Cons

• Canadian athletes are sometimes overlooked
• An American athlete will, more than likely, recieve the benefit of the doubt over a Canadian athlete
• Canadians must work twice as hard to recieve recognition (you may be the best in Canada, but once you cross the border nobody knows or cares who you are)
• If you rely on someone else to help you, you will not get anywhere (this applies to anyone, not just Canadian athletes)

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Sherraine Pencil

Division I

Sport: Woman’s Track and Field

School: San Diego State University

Pros

• Earning two degrees while doing something I love
• Having the opportunity to compete against some of the best athletes in the nation/world
• Professional development opportunities
• Working with a coach that has trained world class athletes
• Free gear
• Travelling all over the country
• Tutors available in the athletic department if needed
• The help from athletic advisors to finalize class schedules  (if needed)

Cons

• Not having the opportunity to work on running technique
• Overtraining
• Competing most weekends in at least four(4) events
• The lack of injury prevention
• Massages/Chiropractic treatments something I had to pay for and  became very expensive
• It took awhile to adapt to a different culture- track/community
• Fighting the ‘dump jock’ stereotype
• Its difficult for a coach to watch 10-15 athletics- I had to prove that I was worth watching

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Keesha Danso-Dapaah

Division I

School: Florida State

Sports: Cross-Country/Track & Field

Pros

• Great weather, awesome facilites, many interesting people come and train in the South so thats pretty cool. The school itself was incredible. Nice big campus with tons of school spirit and activities to do everyday. The name of any school far away from home is impressive I think. Support staff from academics to athletics was great with tending to the needs of the athlete.(sports nutritionist, sports psychologist, trainers were all AMAZING!) (not coaching staff though see Cons)

Cons:

• Can get caught up with the party scene because of the nice weather people tend to go out more when the weather is nicer, trying to develop a cohesive relationship with the coach was a bit to be desired. Basically if you don’t perform you get no attention and if you do perform the coaches love you. Coaches should be there for you every step of the way and try and help you get over whatever it maybe thats keeping you from performing at your best. Being an International student at any school across the border is a pain for multiple reasons: its takes longer to get stuff done like your immigration papers and filing taxes and all of that fun stuff. Another Con is being far away from home. First year I got really homesick in the dorms but I was also injured and not spending much time as a team so that contributed to it as well. But as soon as I moved off of campus into my own apartment it was much better.

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Brian Richards

Division I

Sport: Men’s Track and Field

School Long Island University, Track and Field

Pros

• No or little financial stress after completion of college
• Forces you to grow up and become more independent
• Meet a lot of diverse people from different walks of life
• It allows you to broaden your network circles by having international connects
• More athletic competition

Cons

• Some coaches may not have the athletes’ best in mind
• Depending on the school, you may have more pressure than expected
• It can be a long distance from home, so you become homesick at times.
• Hard to find people that you can trust at first
• Adapting to new environment may be hard to do.

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Shantel Llewellyn

Division I

Sport – Woman’s Track

School – Missouri State University

Pros

• different competition
• learning to be independent
• free education
• meeting new people
• learning responsibilities
• more doors opened for your future
• experience a different lifestyle other than we’re used to

Cons

• new coaching
• being away from loved ones
• between being an athlete and a good student it takes a toll on you.. mentally & physically
• overall stress from being away from home

Tagged as: NCAA, Scholarships