Sports Scholarship in USA: American universities are recruiting Luxembourgian male and female athletes

Mostly for basketball, but also for volleyball, soccer, tennis, swimming and athletics.

The unions themselves often communicate with them or mediate through agents. They are tempted by an offer that cannot be found here in Europe. You can study, train, live and eat without your own financial investment, which means the costs will be borne by the American University. In return, one must be of a high level of athleticism and score points for the university in competitions. Contracts usually last for only one year. So it is not certain that one can complete the entire course of study in USA with the scholarship.

We asked three athletes from Luxembourg about their experiences and expectations.

Charles Grethen was at the World Junior Championships in Canada in 2010 and finished 17th in the 800 metres. Immediately, several American universities contacted him, who was 17 years old at the time, and made him an offer for an athletic scholarship. He studied for one year at Texas State University and 3 years at the University of Georgia. He completed his bachelor’s degree in finance there. He likes to think back to that time, but there are things to consider when deciding on an athletic scholarship. “The main goal for them is for me to be there for their competitions, the other thing is to reward a little bit. This meant that when I returned to Europe in the summer, they did EC and such, but that was not the focus of the season anymore.“In his view, the American university system not only has advantages, but also offers competitive athletes a study plan that integrates sports.”I think that here in Europe, more efforts should be made to bring sports and studies under one roof. In America, this is probably more of a culture, a sports culture, than it is here in Europe.“

Anne Simon is 23 years old and in her fifth year studying psychology at the University of Maine. She received athletic scholarships from several universities and chose Maine. Here she plays in the “Black Bears Maine” basketball team. In her first season in the American League, she was named the America East Rookie of the Year and last year she was named the 2022 America East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. She chose this university deliberately. “In Maine we have a lot of foreigners, and that’s also why I chose this university, because I wanted to be with players who were going through the same thing I was going through. We have player from Sweden, Germany, Slovakia, Israel, Spain and Finland in the team. This means that 50% of them are international players.“Many Luxembourg basketball players have contacted her about her sports scholarship.”What I think is good is that the new generation is also thinking about going to America. I think before that we didn’t have a lot of people my age, before my age, who were in America. And now we only have 5 pieces that have taken this step. And one realizes more and more that those who follow them also want to make the move in America. Of course, this also makes me happy, because I see that basketball is developing. It really helps to get better at basketball.“

Emma Van Elsland is 19 years old and has been playing volleyball since she was 11 years old. At the age of fifteen, she played for the women’s national team for the first time. This year she signed with Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina. You will study psychology there. An agent approached her about the possibility of an athletic scholarship in the United States and referred her there. This is her first time traveling to the United States. In addition to a lot of training and physical performance, she also thinks about food. “I think I’m a little afraid of the food, because I’ve often heard that it’s very different from our food, much more fatty and less fresh.“