<p>Hello, can anyone help me find info on getting scholarships for College based on tennis, and/or the qualifications of getting one for college. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Division I and II colleges can give tennis scholarships. Take a look at the NCAA schools that sponsor tennis and familiarize yourself with the rules regarding recruiting. You generally have to be playing regional and national USTA tournaments in order to have a chance of being recruited to play in D-I or D-2.</p>
<p>[Men’s</a> Tennis Administration - NCAA.org](<a href=“http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/ncaahome?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/ncaa/ncaa/sports+and+championship/tennis/mens]Men’s”>http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/ncaahome?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/ncaa/ncaa/sports+and+championship/tennis/mens)</p>
<p>Also look at the Athletic Recruiting forum here (under College Admissions) for a lot more information.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>If you are a boy, they are almost impossible to get. I am a parent of a highly ranked junior tennis player from Southern California. The scholarships go to only the highest ranked players. That’s it. Getting a tennis scholarship is very, very difficult.</p>
<p>How highly ranked? There are hundred of higher education schools in the U.S. and California is a hotspot for Junior Tennis. I imagine that if he was very high ranked then it wouldn’t be too difficult to find at least a partial scholarship somewhere.</p>
<p>My son has been ranked in the top 40 in Southern California for every division since the tens (highest ranking was around 24). He has always been ranked in the top 300 nationally (national ranking was very good but not as high as it could have been due to academic schedule. He couldn’t miss class.) He was a four year varsity letterman with more awards then I care to mention. That being said, he could have had a partial scholarship (probably even a full scholarship) at a lot of places, but not the top academic institutions which is where he wanted to go. My son had a GPA of 4.8 and graduated class rank #1. He had a Blue Chip mind but not a Blue Chip game. In the end, he used his mind to get an academic scholarship.</p>
<p>Let’s put it this way. I can remember sitting in a parent meeting at the Zonals when my son was 12. The head of high performance asked all the parents in the room to raise their hand if they thought their child would get a tennis scholarship. After everyone raised their hand, he said “If you are the parent of a boy, take it down. Getting a tennis scholarship is extremely difficult. Your children need to keep their grades up.” That is my advice to you. There are so many foreign players in the mix now. The only players that get a full scholarship are usually ranked in the top 50 in the nation. Scholarships renew from year to year and are based on performance and who needs what on the team. If there is a good recruiting class coming in behind you, the coach can decide to give you less or more. This can work for or against you. If you do well, you can get more aid in the future. If not, you may not get as much and one never knows how recruiting will go. It is far more reliable to pay for college with your mind.</p>
<p>I was a competitive player. My husband played in college. My nieces are three of the best players in the country. All three of my kids played. I have been around tennis my whole life and I do have a good understanding of how it works. There is nothing wrong with shooting for a scholarship but I just want you to be aware that it is difficult to attain.</p>
<p>One other thing, I don’t know how old you are or when you are graduating, but those that are going to get scholarships are getting literature from colleges as early as their sophomore year. Their profiles are being looked at constantly on tennisrecruiting.net. They receive questionnaires from coaches around the beginning of their junior year. They are invited to participate in camps. They are contacted by coaches on July 1st prior to their senior year. They are on the radar. If you are seriously being considered, you will know. If not, write emails and get yourself on the radar!</p>
<p>[Men’s</a> Tennis Recruiting Guidelines](<a href=“http://www.ncsasports.org/recruiting-tools/tennis/Men-s-Tennis-Recruiting-Guidelines]Men’s”>http://www.ncsasports.org/recruiting-tools/tennis/Men-s-Tennis-Recruiting-Guidelines)</p>
<p>^^^ Perfect! Great link! Those are excellent guidelines. I found coaches very understanding about my son’s national ranking. They saw the conflict between academics and athletics, and my son’s sectional ranking and quality of competition was high. Additionally my son was at those national events and they saw him play. I’m sure that was why they would have allowed some leeway, but not enough leeway to get a scholarship where he wanted to go.</p>
<p>I’m a tennis player too and even if you are going to get a scholarship it’ll be very rare to get a full one unless you are just amazing.</p>
<p>Ok, thanks alot for all your replies, they have been extremely helpful :)</p>
<p>Momfirst13, your advice has been very helpful and enlightening. I’ll be going into my Junior year next year. I’ve played for several years before highschool and I know that the competition is tough (especially here in Southern California). Wasn’t Varsity on my highschool team until this past year, but almost took down the undefeated 4 year champs in league finals(3 sets, lost in tiebreak). Also got team MVP this year. My rank has fallen a bit since I have not been playing very many tournaments lately, but I plan to do some more this summer and coming year.</p>
<p>Glad I could help. All you can do is just keep on keeping on. Play as many tournaments as you can and get that ranking up there as high as you can. Play tough competition too so your tennisrecruiting.com ranking goes up. Check out different programs and see how good the roster members are. Another great thing to do is play doubles and become a talented doubles player. My son was ranked in the top 10 in doubles and coaches LOVE players who are good in doubles. The doubles point is a big deal in division I. Being a good doubles player helps you stand out. Send out emails to coaches with all your stats. Don’t forget to highlight your grades. One of the things coaches loved about my son was that he was such a good student. They could basically use their scholarships for someone else because my son could get an academic scholarship, so it would have been like getting a scholarship player for free. He had a lot of options but he just couldn’t turn down getting an education at one of the best universities in the nation… Tough decision though. I wish you the best of luck. PM me if you need any further advice. :-)</p>
<p>momfirst3, sounds like you have been through what I am about to embark upon. I have two kids in the also playing in So Cal both ranked top 20 in the open. Money is tight and lessons and gears are expensive. I really could only afford to pay for one of them to keep going with tennis. The choice seems clear and should be the girl. But I feel horrible having to choose. Both are good students and academic always come first. Love to hear your thoughts.</p>