Advice, interviews, and thoughts about junior and college level tennis; focusing on the process of getting there, enjoying your college years, and becoming the best college player you can be!
by Annette J. Broersma, M.S.
The Full-Ride Male Tennis Scholarship: An Endangered Species
Tennis players (particularly Americans) need to get a clue. I am shocked at how many parents tell me that their son really needs “a full ride scholarship for his tennis.” They go on, “We really can’t afford much. We’ve spent so much on his training throughout the juniors and were expecting it to pay off now that he is in the top-100 nationally.”
Again, they need to get a clue. Unless the player is willing to go to a non-competitive Division I or II university in a place where the weather is clearly awful . . . this is simply not happening. Now, if he is top 5 in the country (or maybe even top 10), there may still be hope for a full scholarship, but rarely at a top-10 ranked school. The other possibility is if the family actually qualifies for a Pell Grant or other need-based scholarships that can be combined with tennis scholarships (go online to get the FAFSA application to determine your level of need as a family).
So what is the norm? Who does get a full ride? Why is it so difficult?
To best understand this some simple math will help. If Division I universities are limited to 4.5 scholarships and they have 6 players on the team . . . you can see the problem. Most coaches are attempting to be fair and spread the money out evenly amongst all six players. This is about 70-80% scholarship for each. Variances occur if some of the guys are academic studs and get a good deal of financial aid based upon grades from private sources. This then allows some of the money to go to other players on the team. The same is true for those who qualify for need-based grants. So, you can see why it is important to have outstanding grades as you are ‘selling’ yourself to a college coach: he may just see you as someone who can make his dollar go a lot farther!
The full ride almost always goes to a player who will play #1 for the team fairly quickly. The best bets for college coaches on this strategy are foreign players; they are a bit older and more experienced in ITF competition where their mental side has been tested. Even then, they are often asked to come at 75% with the promise that if they do well, the following year will be covered more fully.
One should also understand that a true “Full-Ride” is really more than it costs to attend the university. The Full is calculated based upon on-campus housing and meal expenses as well as full tuition and fees. I have seen athletes put money in the bank each month when on such a Full Ride since they were living off-campus at ½ the dorm rate and the team was on the road so much they rarely ate at home. The per-diem food allotment is also more than most athletes can consume, allowing the extra cash to pay for gas, trips home, and any other incidentals. Most players would find that an 80% scholarship (living off-campus) would be equivalent to their entire cost of attendance at a public school. Private universities have much higher tuitions, so that may not be as attractive for some on tight budgets.
What about the ladies? Again, this is a math answer: fully-funded Division I universities receive 8 full scholarships for their women’s programs. So, if you are NOT getting a full ride at one of these fully-funded institutions, you will likely never see any court time (your most likely a walk-on and will remain on the bench unless there is a plague). For the ladies even Division II schools have 6 full scholarships.
Bottom line: please be realistic about how much of a ‘ride’ you will get if you are a male tennis player! More importantly, be sure to find out if you are qualified for academic and/or need-based financial aid early in your search; this will be important information to both your family and the coaches who will be recruiting you.
