What do I have to do to get a football scholarship for Michigan University?
Iome, Honolulu, Hawaii
Do you know anything about volleyball and which college I should play for? Are there any schools that give scholarships to play volleyball?
Glenda, Honolulu, Hawaii
If I want get a football scholarship to Stanford University what do I need to do? If I get one will they pay my flight?
Daniel, Honolulu, Hawaii
Since all of these questions had to do with sports scholarships, I combined them into one answer!
Sports at most colleges and universities in the US are run by the NCAA (the National Collegiate Athletic Association). The NCAA is responsible for organizing tournaments like March Madness and football bowl games, making the rules for each sport, and setting guidelines for things like practicing and recruiting.
Colleges are divided into three divisions. Division I schools compete at the highest level and include places like Michigan and Stanford. Division II schools are usually smaller and don’t have as much money to spend on sports. Division III schools like Middlebury are normally the smallest schools, but are mainly different because they cannot give scholarships for athletics.
Unfortunately, at the schools that do give athletic scholarships, they can be very difficult of get. Not every player on a team gets a scholarship, because each school only has so many to give each year and so you have to be a REALLY good athlete to get a scholarship for any sport. The main advantage to Division I and II schools is that if you are able to get a scholarship, your college degree gets paid for.
The biggest disadvantage to an athletic scholarship is that the school has total control over how you spend your time. If you miss practices, if your grades slip, or if you have to leave your team for whatever reason, your scholarship goes away! That means what classes you take and what activities you do determined by the rules of your scholarship.
Division III schools cannot give out scholarships for athletics according to NCAA rules. They can make some exceptions to their admissions requirements though. You still have to meet certain requirements to play once you are at the school. The advantage to Division III is that you can do other activities or leave the team whenever you want without worrying about having to leave school.
If you are interested in playing sports in college, talk to your coaches about what they think your chances are. They can help you get in touch with college coaches who may want to recruit you to play for them. Remember that schools like Michigan and Stanford have a lot of people who want to play there, so it may be harder for you to stand out. But, if you are really dedicated to your sport, there are a lot of schools out there that would love to have you on their team!!
-Ali
