ICAC team.

Regards,

Thomas Hitzfield

The SAT is a mandatory test for student athletes in the U.S.  You need your SAT in order to get cleared by the eligibility center which is the organization that checks athletes academic and athletic status.

It is really important to be prepared when you take the SAT. The test covers three different sections, an English portion, writing section and math. You should early know what your strength is on the test, English or math. It is important to know because if you are not that good at English but good at math you can focus your time studying the English part of the test.

International students usually do better in the Math part of the test but there are some cases where international students do better in the English part.

There is study material available on your ICAC account, which you can go over to get prepared for your test. We also recommend you to visit collegeboard as they have very useful information about the test as well.

Academics

Remember to check if the school you are interested in attending have your degree and how good your program is. A good idea could be to check out the academic ranking (which we will put on our blog) of your school.

Athletic Program

It’s also wise to check out the universities team, what level they are, how many players they have and etc. Try to go to the schools website to check out their athletic facilities. It’s important that you like what you see because you will hopefully be spending 4 years in that school to get your degree.

Athletic Scholarship

Make sure you find out how much you have to pay every semester before you attend the school! If you will have to pay rent and housing ask how much the rent is in the schools are so you can calculate your costs prior attending. It’s not always wise to choose the school that is giving you the most in athletic scholarship. Sometimes it’s better to pay a little and have a better college experience.

So the general point is making sure you done proper research before choosing your school. There is nothing worse than going to a school and then realizing that you have made a mistake. So preparation is the key!

If you have any questions regarding college athletics or athletic scholarships feel free to join our college sports recruiting forum and ask your question

NCAA Women’s D-1

Rank      School

1              Baylor

2              North Carolina

3              Florida

4              Michigan

5              Northwestern

6              Notre Dame

7              UCLA

8              Stanford

9              Clemson

10           Duke

11           Miami (Fla.)

12           California

13           Georgia Tech

14           Tennessee (W)

15           Florida St.

16           Mississippi

17           South Carolina

18           Texas

19           Georgia

20           Southern California

21           Illinois

22           Arizona St.

23           DePaul

24           VCU

25           Arkansas

NCAA Women D II

Rank      School

1              Armstrong Atlantic

2              Lynn

3              BYU-Hawaii

4              Barry

5              Columbus St.

6              Valdosta St.

7              Abilene Christian

8              California (Pa.)

9              Rollins

10           West Fla.

11           Hawaii Pacific

12           Clayton St.

13           Francis Marion

14           Fla. Southern

15           UC San Diego

16           Northeastern St.

17           Northwood (Mich.)

18           Drury

19           Cal St. Stanislaus

20           Tarleton St.

21           Florida Tech

22           Flagler

23           Incarnate Word

24           Central Okla.

25           Cal Poly Pomona

NCAA D-I

1              Virginia

2              Tennessee

3              Texas

4              Ohio St.

5              Southern California

6              Florida

7              Baylor

8              Stanford

9              UCLA

10           Texas A&M

11           Kentucky

12           Georgia

13           Louisville

14           Illinois

15           Texas Tech

16           Duke

17           California

18           Mississippi

19           North Carolina

20           Oklahoma

21           Wake Forest

22           Pepperdine

23           Virginia Tech

24           Georgia Tech

25           Michigan

NCAA D -II

Rank      School

1              Armstrong Atlantic

2              Valdosta St.

3              Lynn

4              Ouachita Baptist

5              Barry

6              Hawaii Pacific

7              Fla. Southern

8              Rollins

9              West Fla.

10           Columbus St.

11           Concordia (N.Y.)

12           Lander

13           Francis Marion

14           Georgia College

15           Northwood (Mich.)

16           Flagler

17           Incarnate Word

18           St. Edward’s

19           Augusta St.

20           Drury

21           Northwest Mo. St.

22           Abilene Christian

23           Cameron

24           Anderson (S.C.)

25           Lees-McRae

Source: NCAA

Organizations & Divisions
Depending on what sport you exercise the season looks different. What is common is that the schools belong to different conferences and region. You can compare it with your cities and counties. If you win the Conference’s your team goes on to Regional’s. If you win the Regional you move on to Nationals. The Nationals has the very best teams / athletes to make up about who are best in the country. It is an incredibly rewarding system and it gives athletes a good chance to get to travel around and see more of the United States.

NCAA
Pronounced “NC-Double-A” and stands for National Collegiate Athletic Association. The NCAA includes more than 1280 different institutions. There are three divisions: l, ll and lll. Which division of a school belonging is not determined for how good it is sporting. It is rather the size of the school and how many sports the school sponsors. Accordance with the rules in NCAA sports scholarship is offered only in the division l and ll. If you want to go to a Division lll school there is usually other options for sports scholarship as academic scholarship called grants.

Eligibility Center
You may not have been a professional to play sports in college in the United States. Anyone who wants to play sports in the NCAA div l and ll have to go through the Eligibility Center which, in turn, examines whether you were a professional in your home country.

NAIA
With over 290 institutions of NAIA is composed of many smaller and private schools. You may not have been a professional in order to participate in sports. NAIA has no equivalent to “Clearing House” which makes the admission process for these schools more flexible.

Many of NAIA schools can match the good schools from the NCAA. The main difference is that the rules of NAIA may differ widely in level and conditions.

NJCAA

Junior College is a great option for international athletes who are not eligible for a 4 year college. Junior College is only a 2 year institutions after the 2 years, the athlete will transfer to 4 year University.

Rank      School

1              North Carolina

2              Stanford

3              UCLA

4              Notre Dame

5              Portland

6              Florida St.

7              Boston College

8              Texas A&M

9              Santa Clara

10           Wake Forest

11           Florida

12           South Carolina

13           Penn St.

14           California

15           Virginia Tech

16           Maryland

17           Virginia

18           Rutgers

19           Southern California

20           Wisconsin

21           Washington St.

22           BYU

23           Oklahoma St.

24           West Virginia

25           UCF

NCAA Women’s Soccer D-II

Rank      School

1              Grand Valley St.

2              West Fla.

3              St. Rose

4              Cal St. Dom. Hills

5              Carson-Newman

6              West Tex. A&M

7              Colorado Mines

8              California (Pa.)

9              Northern Ky.

10           Metro St.

11           Franklin Pierce

12           Columbus St.

13           Rollins

14           Cal St. L.A.

15           St. Edward’s

16           West Chester

17           Seattle Pacific

18           Bridgeport

19           Armstrong Atlantic

20           UC San Diego

21           Florida Tech

22           Kutztown

23           Quincy

24           Truman

NCAA D-1 – Men’s Soccer

1 Virginia
2 Wake Forest
3 Akron
4 North Carolina
5 Maryland
6 UCLA
7 Ohio St.
8 Drake
9 Indiana
10 Northwestern
11 Tulsa
12 Penn St.
13 Duke
14 Boston College
15 Harvard
16 North Carolina St.
17 UC Santa Barbara
18 Stanford
19 St. John’s (NY)
20 San Diego St.
21 Portland
22 Michigan St.
23 San Diego
24 UC Irvine
25 Loyola Marymount

NCAA D-II – Men’s Soccer

1 Fort Lewis
2 Lees-McRae
3 Lewis
4 Le Moyne
5 Tampa
6 Cal St. Dom. Hills
7 Charleston (W.V.)
8 Southern N.H.
9 Drury
10 Rollins
11 West Tex. A&M
12 Cal St. L.A.
13 Slippery Rock
14 Anderson (S.C.)
15 Wilmington (Del.)
16 Franklin Pierce
17 Millersville
18 Colorado Mines
19 Midwestern St.
20 Carson-Newman
21 Northern Ky.
22 Sonoma St.
23 Lynn
24 Truman
25 Cal St. San B’dino

NAIA – Men’s Soccer

1 Bethel University (Tenn.) (21)
2 Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.) (1)
3 Simon Fraser University (B.C.)
4 Southern Polytechnic State University (Ga.)
5 University of Maine at Fort Kent
6 University of Rio Grande (Ohio)
7 The Master’s College (Calif.)
8 Bethel College (Ind.)
9 William Carey University (Miss.)
10 Benedictine College (Kan.)
11 Notre Dame College (Ohio)
12 Biola University (Calif.)
13 Columbia College (Mo.)
14 Azusa Pacific University (Calif.)
15 University of Texas at Brownsville
16 McKendree University (Ill.)
17 Auburn University Montgomery (Ala.)
18 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.)
19 Baker University (Kan.)
20 Science and Arts of Oklahoma (Okla.)
21 Hastings College (Neb.)
22 Ashford University (Iowa)
23 Belhaven College (Miss.)
24 Savannah College of Art and Design (Ga.)
25 Oklahoma City University

Source: ncaa.com & naia.cstv.com

While playing college tennis I got to push myself to the limit on the court. I was lucky to be on a successful team that entered post season play each of my four years. I played at 4 NCAA National Championships and played against some of the best Division II players in the country. Nationals is an experience I never thought I would experience growing up, and each year I was so excited to be there and compete with the best. It was fun to go there and take part in the Championships, meet other teams. It is every college athletes‘ dream.

During the season we traveled a lot and I got to see a lot of new places. It was especially cool for my international teammates who have not traveled much around the country. We traveled on the road so it was a great time to get to know all of my teammates. Some of my best memories are from our many road trips.

As I finish college and move on to the next phase in my life I will take many things away from this experience. I learned many leadership skills and how to cooperate with a group. I have made friends all over the world that I will have the rest of my life. Lastly, I will always remember my experiences on the court, fighting for my team, winning, losing, and playing my best, because that is what it was all about.