Most colleges heading back into preseason soon. Any news of young kiwis heading off to their first season at US colleges?
Wests/Ole:
Noah Billingsley to Santa Barbara
Think I heard Mikey Faber might be off to somewhere in Texas
Could be others from West/Ole.
Mason Kelliher : Willamette University (NCAA Div 3)
Mikey Faber : University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (NCAA Div 1)
Harry Merz : St Edwards University (NCAA Div 2)
(Willamette University had another Kiwi on their 2015 roster: Eric Keefe (ex Wellington College).
I guess student athletes attend USA College for different reasons. eg. The standard of "soccer" (Urgh).....the standard of education....life experience etc. Some Colleges rank highly for "soccer" but not so much Academics , some rank high on both (eg Stanford) & some are more academic than sports orientated (Div 3 has some excellent academic institutions) & its about finding the best "fit" for the specific student. The academic requirements for eligibilty are also different between NCAA Div 1 & 2, NAIA.
I'm no expert so happy to be corrected but as I understand it: Institutions can choose which Division they wish to be in and must meet certain requirements of that division. eg number of sports offered, Div 3 cant offer "Athletic scholarships" etc.
Institutions do change Divisions. eg. University of Chicago previously switched from Div 1 to Div 3, Pfieffer won Div 2 last year but will switch to Div 3 in 2016.
The standard of "soccer" & the standard of education can vary quite a bit across Divisions & the Institutions ranking within their Division. If taking the MLS draft then the majority of players come from NCAA Div 1 (generally from the top 50/100 Colleges from within Div 1 ? ) but a few have come from Div 2/3 , NAIA.