By Europe’s Elite
The game of American football has exploded with popularity over the past few years all around the globe. It is evident that many countries play the game of American football at the youth and pro level for both men and women. With the growth of American football happening so quickly outside of the North America, many young international athletes have a burning desire to play college football in North America. With that being said, we decided to provide our readers with some quality information.
The NCAA is a non-commercialized American association of college athletes. It regulates and deals with students from +1200 studying institutions in the USA and Canada. Moreover, the association organizes and leads sports programs in various universities and colleges in the USA.
The organization has a 3-divisions system – Division I, Division II, and Division III. Each of the divisions has specific terms and conditions. For instance, Division III cannot provide scholarships for athletes, while division 1 and division 2 can. Being a good football player simply isn’t enough to play college football. Yes, college football coaches are paid to recruit the best players in every recruiting class. But there are certain requirements that an athlete must meet in order to be eligible to play for NCAA football. For example, on top of being a good football player, athletes must prove to have competitive school grades and test score to get into a college or university.
The NCAA requires every applicant to meet some requirements – a high school graduate student needs to have a satisfactory GPA and SAT/ACT results and finish the required academic courses. Although many countries have schools systems that do not directly match the US system, most colleges have a international liaison that will assist international athletes with their academic transition. Each NCAA division also requires a student athlete to have a minimum grade point average and test score sum. For NCAA Division 1 athletes are required to have a 2.3 GPA and a 900 SAT or 75 ACT sum test score. For NCAA Division 2 athletes are required to have a minimum 2.2 GPA and a 840 SAT or 70 ACT sum score. As for the NCAA Division 3 , there are not any GPA or test score requirements, athletes must simply meet the schools entrance requirements.
Some of our female readers may ask, can girls play college football ? The answer is simple, absolutely! In fact, there are multiple examples of women playing college football in recent years. Just last year the American football world witnessed kicker Sarah Fuller become the first women to score in a D1 college football game with the University of Vanderbilt. As for an international representative, look no further than Sofia Jonasson of Sweden. In 2020 Sofia became the first woman from Europe to play college football. Sofia is a member of Judson University football team that plays at the NAIA level in the US. The NAIA is the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The NAIA is a college athletics association for small colleges and universities in North America. As of 2020 the NAIA has also committed to making women’s flag football a scholarship sport.
But many of you may still have the question, “what is a college football scholarship “. A football scholarship is a form of scholarship that one can earn to attend a college , university, or a private high school . This award is predominantly based on an athletes ability to play their sport at a competitive level. Young athletes that are seeking a college football scholarship need to begin to do their research as young as the age of 14. By research we suggest that athletes and their families begin contacting prospective college football programs that may be recruiting your desired position. Many college football coaches can be easily reached via e-mail or social media platforms such as twitter. For young athletes who may not be ready to make the jump to college football but desire to play high school football in the states, the process is very similar. Many private high school football coaches and prep school coaches can also be reached via twitter or e-mail . This can be tedious work , but it will all be worth it once you connect with various coaches. Here is a solid example of how one can set up a twitter profile and send an introductory message to a football coach.
But the key to really getting a college football scholarship lies in these two simple words, exposure and connections. In order for an athlete to be noticed by a college football coach or recruiter, athletes must do their part and maximize their opportunities of being discovered. Here are a list of ways of how to help with this process.