The concept behind US sports scholarships is simple; it provides talented amateur sportsmen and women with an opportunity to pursue both an academic and athletic career simultaneously.

The benefit for the university is that they get a student-athlete who will help them achieve sporting success, which is of great value in the US. The universities call for students to maintain academic achievement alongside sporting achievement and typically require students to maintain at least an academic ‘C’ grade average during their scholarship.

The benefit to the student-athlete of attending a university in the US is gaining an education to degree level – wholly or partly paid for, life experience in the US, world-class coaching and the opportunity to experience the most competitive amateur sporting environment in the world.