American universities in the US are filled with Spanish athletes: “In 2004 there were about 25, now there are 2,300”

The García de la Mata stadium, in Madrid, is one of many soccer fields with artificial turf for fans’ pachangas. Last Thursday morning, December 7, and while many families planned getaways taking advantage of the Constitution Bridge, others focused their efforts on the child’s academic career. Around the stadium, families, scouts and onlookers mingled, in apparent harmony. The former cheered the kids who tried to do their best to impress the latter. For the former there was a lot at stake. This is one of the casting that, out of the spotlight, is organized by American universities in Spain in search of athletes to receive scholarships.

In this case, those who have arrived are players belonging to the LaLiga quarries, good granaries of footballers, but who are looking for something that exceeds what a Spanish academy can offer. The objective of these adolescents is to convince scouts from US universities that their soccer skills, together with their academic skills, deserve a scholarship that allows them to combine their sports passion with the possibility of developing prestigious studies. Being a soccer professional is secondary, the important thing is to carve out a future off the slopes that exceeds the possibilities offered by the Spanish university system.

“When we started the company in 2004, there was between 20 and 25 Spanish athletes studying in American universities. Last August, we sent there to 270 boys and we touch the thousand who are studying and practicing sports right now. We calculate that, in total, right now there are around 2,300“.

Who speaks is Gonzalo corrales, founder with his brother Alvaro from the Zaragoza company AGM, dedicated to intermediating between US universities and Spanish students and families to obtain scholarships and that has a turnover of around one million euros per year. He was one of those pioneers who in the 90’s decided to embark on an adventure practically unknown in Spain.

One fine day he found himself in the position, so common in Europe, of having to choose between his promising career in tennis and his university studies and found on the other side of the Atlantic the squaring of the circle that in our country was almost impossible to find.

Fourth country in the world

Corrales was a rarity in his generation, but he is no longer. There are around 2,300 young Spaniards studying at American universities thanks to their sports skills. A figure that already places, in the two main divisions of the system, our country as the fourth of the world exporting the most athletes to American campuses.

Canada by geographical proximity (4,242) and United Kingdom by language and culture (2,021) are unattainable, but Spain is already close to the third position that it currently retains Germany: 1,346 versus 1,364 athletes in divisions I and II of the American university system. The other thousand Spaniards in the US participate in division III, for which no comparative data by nationality is recorded at the federal level.

The National University Sports Association (NCAA) compiles statistics on the presence of international athletes and on the arrival of new students each year to its system, which is divided into three divisions, depending on the sports and academic potential of the universities and their ability to award scholarships.

The data on the presence of international athletes in divisions I and II, the two most important, confirm that Spain is a power in eight disciplines, in which it ranks as one of the five countries (excluding the US, of course) with the greatest presence: Golf, football Y tennis in both genders, basketball feminine and swimming male. In the case of tennis, the Spaniards easily lead the statistics.

Tennis players

The latest edition of the NCAA report, which analyzes the origin of athletes who are in their first year at university, shows that Spain already leads internationally two disciplines of Division I, both female: it is the country with more tennis players (35, by 28 from UK) and golfers (17, compared to 15 for Canada).

In boys, only Germany (24) exceeds 22 football players Spanish people. In Division II, Spain leads the ranking of boys tennis players (40, followed by 26 Germans), borders it on girls (22, one less than Germany) and is third in soccer players (50, far from the 93 British).

The contrast between the general data and those of the first year of 2020 confirm that the presence of Spaniards in US universities is increasing. Why? “Because now more and more families know that this is a real opportunity, not a fad, as it was wanted to sell a few years ago. All 15- or 16-year-old kids now know that being good at a sport they can have more and better options in American universities, “says Corrales.

In the last five years, again according to NCAA data, the number of Spanish athletes who are in their first year at university in the US has grown by 34% in the first two divisions of the system, going from 232 in 2015 to 352 in 2020, the latest data available.

Rahm and Aldama

The philosophy that surrounds this experience is clear. It is not about going to the United States to become a professional athlete, since cases such as those of Jon rahm or Santi Aldama they are exceptions or rarities. The goal is to take advantage of the sports skills of an adolescent with good academic resume to obtain scholarships that allow them to continue combining their training with sports, allowing them to carry out prestigious university studies without having to give up what they like the most.

“Those who go to the US are those whose priority is to get a degree, they may be able to become professionals, but the percentage of those who do is minimal, both there and in Spain. Those who go blind to be, for example, a professional footballer does not come to us. Sport does not have to serve for us to want to be Messi, Alonso or Gasoline, it has to be a tool to open opportunities. In this case, it helps you to study at an American university while you continue to practice your sport and finish it with perfect English “, Corrales emphasizes.

Rafa Martinez It’s a good example. This man from Cordoba went to the US in 2004 to study Teaching and play soccer at the University of Kansas City-Missouri. Currently, he is an assistant coach of the university team and this week he was in Madrid to check out players during three sessions organized by AGM and The league. “When I went, it was very rare to find you in the field with a Spaniard. Now it is almost strange not to do it,” explains Martínez.

Players attending the aforementioned sessions participated Fourth of ESO and First of Baccalaureate. The modus operandi of universities is to detect talent with a couple of years ahead, to later follow the boy’s evolution, both in sports and academics. Subsequently, if the university in question wishes to incorporate the footballer, it will send him an offer in the form of a scholarship.

“My brother studied Law at the University of Valladolid, half an hour from home, and my parents more expensive than my career“, exemplifies Ángela Lozano, who currently works in Madrid at Santander after having studied Business Administration in the US between 2014 and 2019. His gifts for tennis, which began with five years, served him to receive, with the mediation of AGM, a full scholarship from the University of Houston and later the Louisiana Tech.

“In January, when the competition period began, I would receive a calendar signed by my coaches and based on that the teachers would change my exam dates if they were incompatible. That doesn’t happen in Spain: if you can’t take an exam for sport, it’s your problem, “he says. At the age of 25, tennis is no longer part of his daily life, but the important thing is that he enjoys studies that have opened up more job opportunities than if he had completed his training in Spain.

The girls

The scholarships are of different amounts depending on the talent of the athlete and the financial capacity of the university. According to the data provided by AGM, less than 15% of the boys receive full scholarships for tuition, stay and maintenance … but in girls it is 60%. Why? For the commitment to equality on campuses established by law years ago by the US Government.

“Universities are obliged to allocate the same number of scholarships, in number and amount, to boys and girls. What’s going on? That American football teams are made up of 85 players and they are almost always male. This implies that universities have to allocate 85 scholarships to women’s sports, opening up more opportunities in golf, tennis, swimming … “, explains Corrales.

This has caused the percentage of girls who go to the US to skyrocket in recent years, reaching almost 40% of the total. “Their interest has grown. The boys have been coming for about ten years and the girls have become more interested in the last five,” he explains Miguel Angel Lozano, coach of the women’s soccer team of the University of La Roche from Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), which has three Spaniards under its command and which has been in Madrid this week with the idea of ​​incorporating two more.

The opportunity offered by American universities, in short, is not having to choose between sports and studies for young people who excel in any discipline. How to take advantage of it? The founder of AGM explains it in the first person: “My son is now 12 years old and what he needs is to be the best possible athlete so that many coaches can notice him; be the best possible student to meet the high academic requirements that they will ask of you; and to have a high level of English to show that he will be able to follow the classes without difficulties. “

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