Homesickness is an issue which every athlete will face. It is something everyone will face no matter what every family thinks. Every athlete will remember their family and friends at some point. They will miss them all at some point. This is a time where athletes may want to come home. It is hard when families are very close and no matter when families know this will happen they will have decide a course of action and what is best for the family. At this point we all need to understand we are asking 16/17/18 year old athletes to make decisions that older athletes some times have difficulty making. We are asking kids to make decisions sometimes Older people have a have a hard time making. The overall picture must come into focus here. This is about the athlete’s future and what they want to become. You can not quit and everyone needs to realize that it’s not about playing sports but about their education. At this point everyone can not forget it’s about their education and life choices. Hopefully the athlete will stay. At times some times it is about having to come home for a short time and sometimes that may be all it takes.
One of the issues and things that happens is the lack of understanding with Financial Advantages. People need to remember that in the United States we deal with Athletic Scholarships and Academic scholarships. We also deal with financial Aid. These three areas also include what is now called NLI money. Those funds are over and above what the athletic and financial aid provided by the school. Also important to understand is education is huge business in the United States. We also face a dollar that is of less value than that of an the American dollar.
It is because of this the high cost of an education that here in Canada that CRA and tax Act of Canada recognizes education is a total write-off. When the athlete files her return, since education is a total write-off, you can end up with a tax credit. All the money given to you can put you in a credit position. We have seen athletes save over $140,000.00 dollars and have a tax credit that number into the thousands. It is best to let the accounting experts figure it out.
In short by going to school in the United States you not only have the scholarship paying your education in whole or in part but you have the tax credit on the other side. In short a $25,000.00 scholarship could be worth as much in tax credit. In summation your scholarship almost doubles in net worth.
In summation as an example your scholarship (ie $25,000.00 US scholarship will likely translate to an equivalent combined worth of $50,000.00) We would always recommend you talk with your personal accountant to find out what would work best for your family.
A teaching degree, medical degree, nursing degree or other professional degrees as engineering are as applicable in Canada as they are in the United States and some are recognized as better than Canadian degrees. Every degree holder needs to be certified by the professional associations in Canada. Meaning teachers, engineers, any medical associated degrees even from Canada must write the entrance and qualifying exams in Canada. All teachers where ever they got their degrees must write these qualifying exams with their provinces or unions as an example. All medical degrees where ever they are from must write the qualifying exam for the Provincial and National boards that govern their professions.
Athletes and Parents need to understand where the information is coming from. They are likely schools and coaches who have to compete for your abilities. Coaches do not like competing for players so they will grasp for any information or misinformation to steer a player away looking at other schools primarily American. Athletes will graduate from US Schools and like Canadian schools it is what an athlete does with that degree that counts, not where the degree is from. There are so many good schools in the USA that players need to research those schools that may interest them. We are also here to help, ALWAYS!
The ACT and SAT are college entrance exams used by every college in the United States for qualifying students to enter into their post-secondary institutions. They are mandatory and the colleges all have minimum scores that an athlete must attain. Websites are http://www.act.org and http://sat.collegeboard.org
The best site I recommend is RichKern.com . It is a comprehensive site that has all the US collegiate programs. You can use it as a guess for the first few times then you have the option of subscribing to it.
The universities in Canada are limited in what they can provide. Presently they are limited to tuition only. Some colleges in the college system in the various provinces provide tuition and in certain instances can provide more funding. As an example the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference schools can scholarship up to a 1,000.00 from a provincial fund in Alberta.
All the universities from the United States have rules set by their governing bodies. For example : The NCAA has rules that govern the conduct and actions of their member schools. There are many different rules and their website NCAA.ORG will have a set of those rules that you can read about. The NAIA has a set of rules and they can be viewed at www.naia.org However the overall view for NAIA schools is that there are no rules for them when it comes to recruiting. The NJCAA has a governing body also and rules and those can be viewed on their website. However the Canadian Universities (USports) and CCAA have no rules when it comes to recruiting.
A verbal commitment is a verbal contract between the athlete and the school that is offering the athletic scholarship.
No. You should not break a verbal without good reason and changing schools is not one of those reasons. Furthermore if a coach is suggesting that one should realize break a verbal . Common sense should prevail, how good is the word of the person that is suggesting that?
Any person suggesting that should be asked the following : So Harvard, Princeton and Cornell are not good schools? Common sense should prevail when regarding these statements are being made by coaches trying to recruit the athlete. So much misinformation is being sent out and stated. One must do some research on their own.
Yes, we recommend you have a video. It is something all schools and coaches will ask for before they go further in the recruiting process. It is the only thing they can go on unless they see you in person. We do recommend that you edit it. Highlights are a good way to get a coaches attention.
Generally we have 25 to 50 schools attend any of our showcases. The recruiting Calendar for Division 1 and 2 and 3 have changed. Camp dates for the girls is now in January. We are expecting upwards of 50+ schools. The boys is growing and so will the coaches list.
There are many reasons why the placement rate is so high with Northern Showcase. The coaches we get have a good amount of time to assess the players more so than many other showcases. The coaches that attend here have done so for many years and many come looking for great athletes. There are two parts to the showcase. The showcase is the part where the coaches whether head coaches or assistants identify. They all have a list. For the younger athletes it is understandable that they want to be evaluated further. One of the ways the universities and colleges evaluate more is they want to see them at a skills and positions camp. We hold one of those every June following the January camp. Schools and their coaches are hired for that camp. Not every school can come but a good number do. This is where many athletes can work with collegiate coaches and see their styles and demeanor. A player or coach can evaluate each other at that time. Every year players make decisions after this June camp and the process though long is successful for those athletes.
The schools change every year but we do have a core group that attend every year. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SCHOOLS WE HAVE CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH (COMING SOON ….)
Certainly not. There are many schools always looking for players. They may not always be the Big Name Schools but smaller colleges and universities are always here to look for athletes. Camp here in Calgary (the Showcase ) can be seen as the last chance for many athletes. We try to give as many Grade 12’s the priority to be seen and recruited.