Best way to get a Tennis Scholarship

Aurellian

Semi-Pro
Hi,

An ex's little brother from a Stan wants to come to America and get a tennis scholarship.

He has been to Nick Boleterri's three times and in May (2014) at 15 going on 16 the coaching staff stated he could play "middle D1", whatever that means. We toyed with the idea of him going to IMG but I think they just wanted to collect the 40k+ a year in tuition. They were willing to give him some $$ but it was no where near a full ride so I put the kibosh on that discussion immediately to not get the kid's hopes up.

I know very little about tennis, he was doing very well and winning tournaments in the younger age group, but as of late he is 2-3 when playing in the ITF under 18 events. He says that people bribe the refs, pay for easy draws, and lie about ages. Having lived there I believe it , but life is not fair and an athlete must overcome.

I could be confused about the Grades and Levels of ITF.

In any event, is it necessary to put him in an academy or can a Varsity tennis program at a good high school suffice to get him a college scholarship?

Thanks.
 
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MC86

Rookie
He doesn't need to go to an academy but nor would I recommend just playing high school tennis. He just needs to play as many competitive matches as possible, ideally against other people who are past, current or aspiring college players (the aspiring players should ideally be American). This will allow him to be able to give coaches a realistic view of his level and whether he is worth a scholarship offer or not.
 

andfor

Legend
He can get the best ranking he can in ITF and within his country. If he wants to play tennis in college on a athletic scholarship in the states there are plenty of options. NCAA D1, D2. NAIA and NJCAA all offer scholarships. He needs to get the best grades he can and score well on his SAT and ACT. The NCAA and NAIA have a thing call The Clearinghouse you need to look into. This needs to be completed so he can gain acceptance to NCAA and NAIA schools academically. Scholarships for tennis are there for those willing to take them. Good luck.
 
A few quick comments... First of all, great advice andfor. It sounds like you've been there before. As for the bribing the refs and paying off the makers of the draw are concerned, the sooner he can dismiss these excuses the better. College coaches don't care about the record of a 15 or 16 year old kid. Wins and losses are not important. Focus on development and learn how to compete harder than guy on the other side of the net.
 

goran_ace

Hall of Fame
OP, also keep in mind that there may be opportunities for partial scholarships but if the kid is looking for a full ride it's a lot tougher due to NCAA limits of 4.5 per team. Lower end teams may not even be fully funded.
 

goran_ace

Hall of Fame
College coaches don't care about the record of a 15 or 16 year old kid. Wins and losses are not important

I get what you're saying about development but I wouldn't go that far as to say that. Results in 16s absolutely matter, especially if the kid is young for his grade and might only have one year in 18s before graduating high school.
 

gully

Professional
^^
True. My kid met with numerous D1 coaches who were specific about TRN rank -- which comes only with results. There are some exceptions, such as hyper-athletic kids with decent technique but no opportunity to travel. A good record against strong competition is pretty essential, unless there are some unusual mitigating circumstances (and usually, there aren't).
 

Aurellian

Semi-Pro
He can get the best ranking he can in ITF and within his country. If he wants to play tennis in college on a athletic scholarship in the states there are plenty of options. NCAA D1, D2. NAIA and NJCAA all offer scholarships. He needs to get the best grades he can and score well on his SAT and ACT. The NCAA and NAIA have a thing call The Clearinghouse you need to look into. This needs to be completed so he can gain acceptance to NCAA and NAIA schools academically. Scholarships for tennis are there for those willing to take them. Good luck.

Interesting. When Coach Boleterri was looking at him in a semi-private work out I noticed that he was not looking where the balls landed. He was just looking how the kid struck the ball.

The Coaches at Nick's said he is middle tier D1. He is kinda small, but his dad is 6ft 2 although his mom is tiny former Soviet era player. I am hoping he has a growth spurt as he just turned 16.

Middle tier D1 is good enough for me. I would rather him play for Carnegie Mellon or Harvey Mudd than play D1 though.

It seems to me going to an Academy is not necessary and that as long as he plays tournaments against good players and wins he will be good to go.

Does he even have to play high school tennis?

Hs ITF rank is just under a 1000.
 

andfor

Legend
Interesting. When Coach Boleterri was looking at him in a semi-private work out I noticed that he was not looking where the balls landed. He was just looking how the kid struck the ball.

The Coaches at Nick's said he is middle tier D1. He is kinda small, but his dad is 6ft 2 although his mom is tiny former Soviet era player. I am hoping he has a growth spurt as he just turned 16.

Middle tier D1 is good enough for me. I would rather him play for Carnegie Mellon or Harvey Mudd than play D1 though.

It seems to me going to an Academy is not necessary and that as long as he plays tournaments against good players and wins he will be good to go.

Does he even have to play high school tennis?

Hs ITF rank is just under a 1000.

ITF under 1000 with a strong in country ranking, and depending on who he has wins against he may get some good D1 looks. There are some very good mid-major D1's to consider that are decent academically with tennis. Stetson, Stamford, St. Louis, Lipsomb, Belmont to name a few. If he's very strong academically and does not need the tennis scholarship top DIII is a excellent path.
 

Sgv10sPlyr

New User
I have two questions...

So is there a need to travel to national tournaments if your kid is from a strong section like Southern California where he/she can play against tough competition and win some matches?

If the player's TRN ranking is in top 100, is that enough to attract the attention of college coaches without having to spend money to travel all over the place?
 

Bdarb

Hall of Fame
OP, also keep in mind that there may be opportunities for partial scholarships but if the kid is looking for a full ride it's a lot tougher due to NCAA limits of 4.5 per team. Lower end teams may not even be fully funded.

BC for instance offers none to their guys side :shock:
 

Bdarb

Hall of Fame
Is he looking to go pro?

If not, why not get a great education out of his ability? There are some very strong D3 schools with very high academics. Could pay off in the long run.

Bowdoin, Bates, Middlebury, Tufts, Hamilton, Conn College, all D3 schools with strong programs and even stronger academics.
 

Aurellian

Semi-Pro
Is he looking to go pro?

If not, why not get a great education out of his ability? There are some very strong D3 schools with very high academics. Could pay off in the long run.

Bowdoin, Bates, Middlebury, Tufts, Hamilton, Conn College, all D3 schools with strong programs and even stronger academics.

Yeah, my idea exactly. And with his story he could easily get a great aid package from a top liberal arts school.

problem is that he lives in a Stan and I am not sure what kind of academic preparation he has. His English is so-so..I could not imagine him kkcing butt right off the bat in a frosh composition English class at Middlebury.

I visited Amherst, Williams, and Tufts as a kid too but ended up playing ball at an Ivy.
 

Bdarb

Hall of Fame
Yeah, my idea exactly. And with his story he could easily get a great aid package from a top liberal arts school.

problem is that he lives in a Stan and I am not sure what kind of academic preparation he has. His English is so-so..I could not imagine him kkcing butt right off the bat in a frosh composition English class at Middlebury.

I visited Amherst, Williams, and Tufts as a kid too but ended up playing ball at an Ivy.

Maybe time to double up the tutoring, and focus on that a bit before he gets serious about looking? Could be as helpful or more in his recruiting efforts.
 

jaggy

Talk Tennis Guru
Generally there is way more academic scholarship money than athletic money for men's tennis
 
I have two questions...

So is there a need to travel to national tournaments if your kid is from a strong section like Southern California where he/she can play against tough competition and win some matches?

If the player's TRN ranking is in top 100, is that enough to attract the attention of college coaches without having to spend money to travel all over the place?


IMHO if junior can play, he'll be just fine. There are plenty of kids that play college tennis that skipped the national events. Save your money.

And the coaches don't have to find you. You can find them. That's what many international kids do. In fact, many of the coaches love hearing from the player.
 

andfor

Legend
IMHO if junior can play, he'll be just fine. There are plenty of kids that play college tennis that skipped the national events. Save your money.

And the coaches don't have to find you. You can find them. That's what many international kids do. In fact, many of the coaches love hearing from the player.

True. Unless you are a 4 star and above, if you wait to hear from college coaches you may get tired of listening to crickets. Make a list of schools you are interested in. Look on their website. Coaches phone numbers and emails are their in the athletic department directory on just about every college athletics page website. Call them they might answer and send them an email with your tennis/academic resume attached. You'll be surprised how many respond. Some won't. Have the calls and emails come from the player, let them interact. Parents stand back as much as possible and take notes on what transpires to track scholarship offers and help plan visits.
 
True. Unless you are a 4 star and above, if you wait to hear from college coaches you may get tired of listening to crickets. Make a list of schools you are interested in. Look on their website. Coaches phone numbers and emails are their in the athletic department directory on just about every college athletics page website. Call them they might answer and send them an email with your tennis/academic resume attached. You'll be surprised how many respond. Some won't. Have the calls and emails come from the player, let them interact. Parents stand back as much as possible and take notes on what transpires to track scholarship offers and help plan visits.

This is some great advice...I'm the coach at an NAIA and was just at Southern 18's this week and we had the coaches time. That was one of the questions, "how to get in touch with coaches"...players should email the coaches often and tell us about themselves and ask questions about our school and tennis program. Email again, keep your name in front of us...we get tons of stuff, but that way we will see your name over and over and start "following" you and checking your results. Tell us your schedule and where you're playing. Parents, let the student-athlete email us...even with terrible grammar or goofy questions. We need to develop relationships with them and know if they want to be a part of our programs. You guys need to be a part too, but more when it comes to a visit (relationship w/ the coach) and the money side.

Ask to make an unofficial visit to the school to hang out for a Friday/Saturday with the team. Heck, if you hate them in a short visit or there's crazy drama in a short visit or they don't seem to be "like you" then how do you think it's going to be when you get there? That should be no big deal...even if you pay for it. We do it all the time...our players love it! It's a tennis party, of course my kids all live together. You just may realize that you fit in tennis wise, character wise, and a lot of other ways some other place you never expected or gave a chance early on.

I've said it in posts before, but I will repeat it - be realistic in the schools you're looking at. Just because you have been playing tennis since you were 8 and you have spent money on lessons and you feel like you should go D-1 doesn't mean that's the best, most responsible or even the most fun option for you. Don't "pigeon hole" yourself by saying I am going to "blank" state university and listing all these big D-1's on your tennisrecruiting profile page. Also something to think about at tournaments when you're wearing that t-shirt with your favorite college team on it that hasn't given you anything, but you're hoping a college coach is going to look at you. Many times, it makes a coach feel like you have decided on a school and they don't have recruiting time to waste on someone that has made up their mind. If you are a 1-star to 3-star player do your research. Look at rosters...if those players on those rosters are all blue chip players and 5-stars down to their number 8 you may be setting yourself up for failure. Many times, if you don't have an established relationship with a "big school" coach by the time you are headed into SR year the scholarship train has left the station...on the guys side there is 4.5 in D-1, 5 in NAIA, that's if teams are fully funded. A coach may know he is only going to have 1.25 to work with going into a year and so he's going to try and snag 2-3 studs with that. Yes, I said 2 to 3 studs. On the guys side, you are only going to get a partial and you need to be working hard to maintain good grades so we can "stack" academic scholarship money on top of tennis so you get a better package.

This is all in an joint effort to put together a great TEAM.
 
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