|
|
|
|
| ||
|
| ||
|
|
|
News and Views | |||
|
PIED PIPER OF STUDENT ATHLETES. John Hocknull, Australasian Area Director of College Prospects of America and rapidly becoming known as the Pied Piper of Student Athletes, will be visiting capital cities over the next two weeks explaining to students, parents and careers staff the options of receiving an education in America whilst competing at the highest level in their chosen sport. Mr Hocknull has been very successful in assisting some 200 student in selecting American Colleges or Universities on scholarship following an overwhelming demand from USA Coaches in 26 sports for Australian student athletes. Some of the students assisted have been World Champions, Australian or International Representatives, Australian and State Champions - but many students who have not reached this level yet and have a desire to study and compete at an extremely high level, are successfully using the services of CPOA to make their dream a reality. John Hocknull said "The opportunities for Australian Students to gain an education, an experience of a lifetime and compete at the highest level applicable to the individual is not available in Australia because of our lack of population, finance and number of colleges" "Our Service (CPOA) deals with over 1,700 institutions of the 3,500 colleges and universities in the USA" "It is pleasing to see that senior administrators and professionals in sport are utilising our service." "Being a Queensland based office also means that parents and students have a very knowledgeable contact in Australia and they are not dealing with an organisation solely operating in USA who has no understanding of the Australian education system, sporting organisation structure and the cultural differences that exist between Australia and the USA." " It is vitally important that the student has choice and that they feel comfortable with the university they are going to before they leave Australia. Past history shows that Australia is littered with many cases of disappointment and disillusioned young athletes who have found the experience in America less than satisfactory, mainly due to fact they did not have the opportunity of choice." Responding to an ever increasing demand to know more about the American College System Mr Hocknull will be addressing students, parents and staff members at various schools throughout Australia. In some cases students from grade 10 through to Year 12 and those who graduated last year will be attending. Mr Hocknull said that Australia looks after its elite athletes very well, however, those student athletes who will not get their faces on a cereal packet, or miss out on selection due to illness or the tyranny of distance, should give serious consideration to going to the USA where their talents and efforts will be rewarded with enthusiasm and resources beyond belief for the individual. eg. High school students usually do not perform well against those athletes who have been out of high school for 4 or 5 years therefore to reach that standard the student should consider going to the States, gain a wealth of experience and an education in those intervening years. Mr Hocknull said the level of academic entry levels to American Colleges and Universities for athletes has been raised in recent years therefore students must be prepared to try harder at High School in the prerequisite courses and the rewards gained should be a degree recognisable in Australia. "Having successfully completed their education in America and competed at a very high level in their chosen sport those young athletes will be able to return to Australia and inject this new found knowledge and experience in the Australian system thereby strengthening our prospects for the future." Mr Hocknull said.
| ||
 |
 |
