To continue on what Dave has said..... In the past few years, DoDDS Europe has had two football players sign Division I scholarships, Isaiah Fleuellen (Ramstein)at Nebraska and Malcolm Lane (Hanau) at Hawaii. College coaches need a measuring stick to begin to evaluate players overseas. Isaiah was a track star in Europe (10.6 100 meters) and Malcolm attended a sports combine in Miami (ran a 4.45 40). Film from our games is useful and necessary, but it, often, does not provide a measuring stick.

Players who are talented enough and have great work habits, need to attend a stateside camp, where coaches can evaluate them side-by-side with the local talent. It would be wise to attend the camps of the colleges you are interested in.

Being talented is not enough....hunger and passion is required. I remember sending our QB at Frankfurt to Georgia Southern. He was at the bus station to go home at the end of the first week. Luckily, a coach went down to get him and talked him into staying (he became one of the top LB's in small college football).

Making it from overseas to the next level can be done. Probably, 5 or 6 from DoDDS Europe go out for football at the college level each year. Currently, we have about 8-9 that are still playing.

Make a plan and stick to it...

1. Remember to sign-up with the Clearing House (see your counselor).
2. Lift and work and study harder than you ever thought you could
3. Attend a stateside camp and get evaluated
4. Send film to your contact at the school
5. Start the summer after your sophomore year
6. Look at all levels (From D3 up)

I have had the pleasure of watching 6 of our football players go on to play at the college level in the last 20 years. It is not easy, but with some natural talent, great work habits and passion, it can be done.

Currently, our top players bench 150% of their body weight, go out for a sport each season, maintain at least a B average in school and involve themselves in many school activities. Growing the "whole" person will get you ahead of the game. A resume like this can make any student a winner!

Anyway...my two cents! Good luck to anyone that wants to play at the next level!

Marcus George
Football Coach
Ansbach HS (Germany)

Mr. Ornauer and coach George both hit the target on this subject. I am one of the four names Dave mentioned in his posting on this subject. I was lucky, very lucky. The strange route that led me to a football scholarship at the Univ. of Georgia is very different from what my teammates at Georgia experienced. For them, it was All-State, All-American this, Mr. Football that, pampered and heralded as the next coming. For me it was, much different. It was more like “Who are you? You’re from where?”

While it all ultimately worked out and I was able to be a starter and letter all four years, I would not recommend taking my path. My path required that the stars be aligned just right. I was in the right place at the right time.

In the late 80’s my recruiting experience or lack thereof consisted of a few letters from D-I schools with little or no follow up, scholarship offers from some D-II and D-III schools, suggestions to go the JUCO route and sending my self-made VHS highlight tape to some D-I schools.

The most vigorous recruiting for me was done by Mr. Ornauer. It entailed Dave trying to get the assistant coaches from Stanford (in Japan as part of a once a year game overseas) to come watch me play in the Kanto All-Star game. Dave can run down my stats from that game. But suffice to say had they come to the game, I think I would have ended up at Stanford. That’s not the point here. The point is that these coaches wouldn’t take the time to travel an hour or so to the game and they were already IN JAPAN... and Dave offered to drive them to and from the game. This is and was our predicament. Since they won't come to you, go to them.

In hindsight, I should have considered those small school offers or looked into going the JUCO route. JUCO is a huge springboard for athletes to get into larger programs. Many pro athletes got their starts at the JUCO level (Chad Johnson of the Bengals via Oregon St. and Steve Smith of the Panthers via Utah were JUCO teammates before moving to D-I). There are hundreds of schools in D-IAA (or whatever they call it now), D-II, D-III, NAIA and JUCO. All of them offer full or partial scholarships. You significantly enhance your options by “shamelessly marketing” to these schools.

Knowing what I know now I suggest following the recommendations of Mr. Ornauer and Coach George. You have to market yourself. Don’t get caught up with the size or division of the school. A degree is a degree. A degree for free is even better! My parents still thank me for that one.

To take it a step further, if you play a college sport and get a degree (with decent grades), you will become more attractive to potential employers. Corporations look for individuals who have been able to balance athletics and academics. They see college athletes with a college degree in a very favorable light. The structure, competition and discipline required to play a college sport and earn a degree says a great deal about you.

Finally, don’t give up. I was told over and over by teachers, people on base, classmates, etc… that there was no way I could make it against “stateside” talent. The competition oversees was not good enough. I was a big fish in a little pond. Blah, blah, blah. Those All-State and All-American guys I mentioned earlier. They ended up riding the bench behind this unknown kid from Japan. It takes hard work, dedication and drive, both on the field and in the classroom.

In the words of Snoop Dogg, “Get in where you fit in.” It doesn’t matter if it’s the University of Georgia, Southern Connecticut St. (DII) or Northeast Oklahoma Junior College. Find YOUR place, make a name for yourself there, get your degree and help open doors (and eyes) for other kids overseas based on the example you set.

Kevin Maxwell- ZamaDawg

As a former student-athlete from the Pacific and someone now with many contacts to both collegiate and semi-professional coaches in the US I would like to add on to the advice that Coach Burns gives in "take the best offer" both from personal experience as well as the advice that coaches here would give... in that sports is fleeting and therefore it is important for coaches, parents and student-athletes to make certain 'the best offer" goes beyond just playing time in college but extends to the classroom experience, the social life that is available at the college being chosen, and so on...

That being said, I would agree that marketing yourself wisely will help, attending camps in the US during the summers may help as will some of the other tactics suggested if getting a scholarship is your goal.

A couple caveats: most NCAA Division III colleges are not allowed to grant scholarships for athletics, but will do so for other credentials in a resume; such as GPA or SAT/ACT scores. It is wise to compare NCAA vs NAIA schools like Nabors and Gittens did as the two organizations have different compliance standards for scholarships granted, recruiting, etc....there are pro's and con's to both.

My final thought would be to wish all those pursuing their dreams of continuing in athletics beyond HS the best as they get out into the world on their own. Keep enjoying the gifts and talents God has given you as long as you can; it is well worth it.

Sorry Orny, just thought I'd add in another couple cents while I'm visiting the blog ( I only stop by every so often, but it is enjoyable trying to keep track of what's going on in the Far East since I left)...

In terms of marketing...both in coming to US camps and in videos etc... coaches are always looking for the "little things" more often than just talent. Being talented is special, but other than the D-I level most coaches can coach you to become someone.

Someone in another posting made a passing reference to the success Kadena's boy soccer program has had in recent years in getting kids onto collegiate soccer. This has been of interest to me coming from Okinawa and from an era where not as many kid's went on to find success on making the team for various reasons. However, one of the primary reason's I feel (with my soccer background both from playing on Okinawa as well as working in the soccer market here in the US) that Kadena's team those years succeeded in placing so many athletes on college teams is actually a representation of the talent of the coaches at Kadena those particular years.

Not to take anything away from the boys at Kadena, but Orny, you surely remember that one year when CAJ defeated Kadena in OT or PK's (I forget-- 2005?)... the point I'm trying to make is, it can't just be talent because then the CAJ kid's should have had done just as well at finding college's to play soccer at. (I'm now going to get flak from both the Kadena supporters as well as my friends and family at CAJ for saying this).

Rather, Kadena's coach prepared his kids to play tactically and technically in a style that is more similar to the general style of play that we see coaches adopt in collegiate soccer in the US. CAJ's style of play, which is different, is not as readily seen in US collegiate play.

Anyway, I say all that just to remark that there is more than meets the eye to getting your kid a scholarship at a college in the US both from the academic standpoint as well as the athletic standpoint... and perhaps in the near future not only will athletes from the Far East be marketing themselves, but also coaches will continually be finding ways to get better and market themselves too and in that way sport world-wide will grow not only at the HS/collegiate level, but beyond.