Jess Tucker was the recipient of the Premier Sportswoman Award at this year’s prizegiving.   She has been a key component in the 1st XI hockey team and she took the opportunity to play as a striker for the 1st XI football team. She was placed in the senior girls’ sprints at the ECNISS athletic champs and was named in the East Coast team to take part in the NISS champs. Jess won a silver medal in beach sprinting at the national surf lifesaving champs and has recently been awarded a four-year American university scholarship.

Jess’ journey to a United States university was started in mid-2018 at Year 11. Records of all her sporting accolades from Year 9 were compiled, as the universities require as much information as possible. The US system loves statistics and academic performance and achievement are also required as part of the recruitment process.  
Jess’  performance via full-game video footage was analysed by senior NZ players who have been through the US system, before Striv3, an elite sports management company, would accept her into their recruitment programme. Jess signed up with Striv3 in October 2019. An entry requirement is the completion of the US university entry exam known as the SAT. Jess was scheduled to sit her final exam in May 2020, but COVID delayed that process until the end of the year.

Jess was introduced to the US system as a potential recruit with the release of her “highlights” video in February 2020. This is put together by the recruitment company and is the most vital tool for getting recruited. For Jess, the focus was split between hockey and academics and, instead of identifying specific universities, the family elected to set a target ranking within division one. Division one field hockey has 75 teams in the US and her target was to play for a university that ranked between 20 – 50.

After discussions with eight universities, Monmouth was identified as the top preference. Monmouth is a small private university with 6,500 students. It is located in the State of New Jersey, one hour south of New York City and is on the coast. The hockey programme has had recent success and the coaches have great experience. Monmouth was within the target ranking (23rd) and offers the courses that Jess is interested in. 
During the video call with the coach of Monmouth University, Jess was offered a “full ride scholarship”. This is effectively an athletic and academic scholarship and covers all of the student’s costs for attending. It includes course fees, accommodation and living costs, as well as costs for game-based travel within the US. Effectively all the athlete pays for is the airfares between New Zealand and the United States.
NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) controls how the Universities manage athletes, and this includes the recruitment process. The period in which you can sign a contract with a university is restricted and is generally between November and August. Prior to this date you “verbally commit” to a university at which point you advise other universities that you are off the market.  Jess signed her contract, known as an NLI (National Letter of Intent) on the 13th November. The university year starts in September, therefore Jess has until August 2021 before she is due in the United States. Congratulations, Jess, on this incredible opportunity and we wish you all the best at Monmouth.

If readers are interested in a sporting scholarship, you are welcome to read Mr Tucker’s in-depth review of the process by following the link below.

Sporting Scholarship Process
 

Article added: Tuesday 08 December 2020