Introduction
The Athletic Program main target group is defined as recreational or amateur athletes. Low, average, and high athletic level student-athletes have the unique opportunity to showcase themselves to over 70 coaches. The result: Achieving the best possible athletic scholarship based on each participant talent and performance at the Program. In all cases students can achieve these results only due to ACSA professional assistance and service. ACSA works with low, average, and high level athletes providing results to all of them with the same commitment regardless of their athletic level.
ACSA maintains a 100% success rate in obtaining scholarship offers for its participants at American institutions. Both partial and full-scholarships (including room and meals) are available and offered to international athletes.
The Program's objective is to promote a dynamic interaction between international candidates and American university coaches for the purpose of exposing educational opportunities, inter-cultural exchange, and sports, with the ultimate goal of providing young people from different countries the opportunity to fulfill their dream of studying and obtaining a degree from an American university, while practicing their favorite sport.
University coaches from over 70 institutions in the U.S. attend the program in order to evaluate ACSA candidates for potential athletic scholarship awards.
This is the most effective and comprehensive program especially designed to provide international student-athletes access to obtaining scholarships to study and earn their degree from an American university. The program takes place over a two-week period in July of each year at three university campuses located in the state of Florida. Young people from over 25 different countries throughout Europe, Latin America and Asia will participate this year.
The Program in the USA (the showcase) consists of a variety of activities for the participants. From the moment the ACSA candidates fly in to the U.S. they become a part of a very stimulating learning experience. The ACSA program allows candidates to experience life on campus, take part in cultural activities and workshops, learn about the unique educational opportunities available to them, and take part in a unique athletic exposure event; which has been especially designed for U.S. Coaches to award scholarships.
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Registration Process:
After signing the contract and providing initial payment, ACSA requests all of its participants to present the Athlete Reference Form (included in this manual) in order to complete the admission into the Program. While participants with low or average athletic levels are recruited by participating college coaches allowing ACSA to maintain 100% success rate in obtaining scholarship offerings, this evaluation process is conducted to ensure the continuous high rate of success for ACSA participants.
In addition, ACSA's athletic staff provides a training plan for each participating athlete. This plan has been developed by ACSA coaches and medical staff whom will supervise and accompany the group at all times during their experience in the U.S.
Program in the U.S.A.:
ACSA organizes the Program in conjunction with Head Coaches from different universities throughout the United States. During the program, the Head Coaches are present during the participants' training sessions and matches against local teams. Based on the coaches' personal evaluation, they award partial or full scholarship to participants.
In addition to the athletic training and match experiences gained during the two weeks, the Program offers its participants various cultural, social, and educational activities in each region. These include university campus tours and presentations, including participation at college fairs, and orientation to college courses and classes presented by university professors as well as visits to cultural and historic sites in the region, recreational trips such as theme parks and professional sporting events, and musical performances.
All participants reside in a university campus setting, and stay within university premises. Residence halls are fully equipped, including 24-hour security, and computer labs. Participants have access to the campus library, swimming pool, on-site medical attention as well as all other athletic and academic facilities. The overall experience is extremely safe for all students and results in a life style similar to the one an international student would normally experience once enrolled at an American university.
The 2007 Program will take place in Florida from around July 12th to 25th. Travel arrangements must be made in each country in order to arrive and depart from the U.S. on the previously mentioned dates. Every year, ACSA communicates its participants the host institutions by April 30, after the locations and operational details are defined.
Registration Process:
ACSA provides college coaches with the opportunity of evaluating each player face-to-face and selecting talented young men or women who would fit their athletic program and institutional values. Coaches greatly appreciate the convenience of this event as they find at one place and at one time, a great number of international students with athletic qualifications, eager to continue their studies at universities in the U.S.A.
NOTE 1: Most participants receive an average of 5 scholarship offers, within a range of U$S 0, to U$S 9,000.- per year (including tuition, room and board). Also, the liberty to choose the participants enjoy, allows them to take offers above the mentioned range.
NOTE 2: Students that have done university studies in their country of origin, may transfer credits. Nevertheless, the corresponding homologation of subjects is carried out by the university, under their own evaluation, and based on their own policies.
Information to Students
Within three days after the end of the "Athletic Showcase" in the U.S., and after the ACSA staff processes all the relevant information received during the Athletic Showcase, ACSA will send a written report via e-mail to each participant, detailing all scholarships he/she obtained during the Showcase, as a result of his/her performance. Should the participant not receive this notification within the time period stated above, he/she is requested to contact ACSA via fax number (202) 429- 0027, in order to receive the information through other means.
Decision times and answers:
Students that wish to start their classes in the semester starting immediately after the Showcase must report via fax to ACSA their selected scholarship within five days after the receipt of the notification. Those students wishing to start at a later date, they should report their decision before 5th September.
Should ACSA fail to report the minimum scholarship offers according to contract, then the re-imbursement clause will automatically come into effect.
Important Dates
- Students interested in improving their English proficiency level. Fluency in English or professional experience are neither a requirement for participation or have any influence in the scholarship awarding process.
- Students interested in beginning or continuing an undergraduate career.
Requirements:
- Being between 16 and 26 years of age.
- Practice one of the following sports (only amateur athletes):
- Men's soccer, tennis, golf, & basketball.
- Women's soccer, tennis, golf, & basketball.
- Baseball, track & field, volleyball, field hockey, and softball is possible and please contact.
- Being in one of the following categories:
- Current High School students.
- High School graduates.
- Currently attending university (classes can be transferred).
- University graduate (classes can be transferred).
- Present the following.
- Signed service contract.
- Completed Program Admission Form.
- There are a limited number of participants accepted per program and per country.
Special Note:
The fact that there are different American athletic leagues ranging from lower to higher levels of playing ability increases the scholarships opportunities for all ACSA participants. There are several athletic programs in the U.S. Even in the most popular sports, participants receive multiple opportunities since most institutions have two teams (one being a development team) and they are interested in increasing their cultural diversity.
If a student's sport of interest is not available, representatives will always offer participation in the Academic Scholarships Program. In this case, the participant will receive scholarships from institutions that have the sport of interest.
Amateur Status:
In order to participate in the program, athletes need to have an amateur status. Athletes may have been involved or be currently participating in local leagues, associations, or federations. If the participant has been involved with a professional organization and has received any type of compensation, please contact us to discuss eligibility based upon the individual case.
Registration:
Spaces are reserved on a "first come-first served" basis. In other words, after the representative identifies that the potential participant is a good fit for the program, the client must:
- Sign the contract, provide the initial payment, and admission form in order to reserve his/her space in the program.
- The Athlete Reference Forms is required to complete the admission into the program. In case that ACSA identifies that the candidate does not qualify to be a successful participant at the program, the process and the contract are immediately terminated and any amounts already paid will be refunded to the participant. This helps to ensure that the program is working with serious and committed students.
Lifetime cultural experience:
Even though the objective is obtaining a scholarship, Participants visit different U.S. states and develop lifetime friendships with other participants from Latin America, Europe, East Asia and the U.S. It's a great international sporting experience, which promotes the development of amateur athletes within friendly and healthy competition. It's an outstanding academic experience, which lays the foundation for obtaining a university degree recognized at employment markets worldwide.
General Items:
- Scholarships do not cover costs related to air transportation, health insurance, fees, or books.
- Scholarships are maintained for the duration of the academic career unless there are disciplinary problems or extremely poor academic performance.
- No-risk policy for the participant. In other words, if the pre-established conditions are not met or if the participant does not receive scholarship offerings, a full refund of the amount paid by the participant is provided.
- If a university requires language proficiency for admissions, the institution will reserve the scholarship until the beneficiary achieves the desired proficiency level.
Key Benefits
- Guarantee of obtaining a scholarship at American institutions through an ongoing 100% success rate and aggressive refund policy.
- The level of exposure based upon the number of participating institutions along with the assurance of achieving results provided by ACSA is unique and has allowed international students to obtain benefits traditionally limited to American residents. Sports serve as a doorway to obtain a high-quality education at different American universities.
- During the selection process, participants enjoy a face-to-face and open contact with coaches and representatives from different universities. In other words, there are no intermediaries in the coach-participant relationship since the ACSA Staff is there to assist its participants who are the final decision makers.
- ACSA is the organization that developed this unique system of obtaining scholarships for international students back in 1997. This helps to explain why ACSA continues to be the leader and most effective doorway.
