Your U.S. College
Roadmap

Ross & Rachel Soper

- Unknown



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# Transcript



Bianca Stiles (0:02): There we go. Awesome.

Ross & Rachel Soper (0:05): Hi dear.

Bianca Stiles (0:06): Hey guys.

Ross & Rachel Soper (0:07): Yeah,

Bianca Stiles (0:07): Can you hear and see me okay?

Ross & Rachel Soper (0:10): good.

Bianca Stiles (0:10): Okay, awesome. Um so just before we get started

Ross & Rachel Soper (0:12): Yeah,

Bianca Stiles (0:13): just to let you guys know I have added um my note taker. Um so it's just going to record the call just so I can send you guys a bit of like a summary afterwards. Um is that okay?

Ross & Rachel Soper (0:17): yeah,

Ross & Rachel Soper (0:21): yeah, all good.

Bianca Stiles (0:22): Okay, awesome. So yeah, today's kind of purpose of the chat is to kind of just talk through US College options, just kind of understand who you are as a student athlete. Um, and then kind of just work out whether or not this is a good kind of pathway for you guys. Um, does that make sense? Okay, cool. So, just for a bit of a quick introduction, so you know you guys know who you're talking to. Um, so obviously my name's Bianca Black Thought. Um, originally I am from New Zealand. Um, I moved back home last year after spending six years myself living in the United States. So, I went through the US college like a pathway myself as an international student athlete. Um, played four years captain my team in my final year. Um, and then also graduated with two American college degrees. Um, but my honest reality is that I didn't really go into the process with a clear understanding of how the US college system worked. Um, I was essentially kind of thrown into it with very little guidance um along the way and I kind of just had to figure out a lot of things a hard way while it was already over there. Um, so from recruitment, to kind of eligibility, to just, you know, truly understanding what matters to coaches um and making sure I make the right decisions for my future. Uh, but that experience is a big part of why I am so passionate about what I do at class of sports. Um, I know first hand how confusing and overwhelming this process can feel, especially for international athletes. Um, and their kind of family might to just make sure that athletes have guidance and clarity that I wish I had when I was kind of going through it myself. Um, on the other hand, platform sports has been around for about 11 years, so founded by Amari. Um, over that time we've helped place over 2,000 student athletes across 20 different sports. Um, and nearly 20 different countries. But the goal's always been the same. Um, it's about to give athletes the kind of structure, support and especially honesty that we wish we had, we were kind of going through the process ourselves. Um, but yeah, does that all make sense?

Ross & Rachel Soper (0:51): Yeah.

Ross & Rachel Soper (2:08): Yep,

Ross & Rachel Soper (2:10): yep.

Bianca Stiles (2:10): All right, well, that's enough about me. Um, I don't know too much about you. Obviously, I've kind of looked a little bit at your film that you sent me, which was awesome. Um, but tell me a little bit about yourself and your own words um so that I can kind of learn a bit more about your background of the sport.

Ross & Rachel Soper (2:26): Well, I guess I'm senior.

Ross & Rachel Soper (2:29): Um, I've been playing rugby for like I don't know, 10 years. 10 years. I'm a year 12 at Christ Church High School and I've been in the first 15 my whole time there and yeah, I'm play for the Premier Women's side at Christ

Ross & Rachel Soper (2:48): and Canterbury under-18s and that's about it.

Ross & Rachel Soper (2:52): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (2:53): What

Ross & Rachel Soper (2:54): Rugby leader Rugby leader at Girls High. Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (2:54): was

Bianca Stiles (2:58): awesome. Um and why do you specifically what's kind of spark this interest even want to be on a consult with me today?

Ross & Rachel Soper (3:06): I don't even know to be honest. No, she We We're looking at who are going to UC here, University of Canterbury. Um and she has had a couple of girls in her pre-women's team that were here on the Crusaders. academy, international academy.

Ross & Rachel Soper (3:26): Um and so they have talked about they suggested you know look overseas. It should be

Ross & Rachel Soper (3:34): a good you know a good opportunity for here. She then went to the careers advisor at the start of the week and her careers advisor also suggested you know look into it which is what started me contacting you guys to see

Bianca Stiles (3:47): Awesome.

Ross & Rachel Soper (3:48): how that would look, what that looks like, what what would be needed and if that is something that would be suited for her, I guess.

Bianca Stiles (3:54): Yeah.

Ross & Rachel Soper (3:55): And if they would be interested in here in that way, yeah.

Bianca Stiles (3:56): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (3:57): Yeah, that that totally makes sense. There's usually around three different reasons as to why athletes choose this pathway.

Bianca Stiles (4:05): First reason being the sporting pathway, so it's kind of like training and playing in that professional environment. Second reason is academic pathway, so kind of earning a degree that does hold weight globally. Not many places around the world where you have your sports and you have your academics and you're being able to kind of level those up at the same time especially within the US system it's very integrated it's very connected the way you're studying compared to the way you're playing it's all you know trainings are around trainings are around academics as well as academics around trainings it's basically all integrated third reason is kind of like the life experience of kind of being able to have the independence being able to travel and kind of had that personal growth especially outside of you know little old new Does that all make sense?

Ross & Rachel Soper (4:40): Yeah.

Ross & Rachel Soper (4:50): Yeah, and that's sort of part of the reason I think

Bianca Stiles (4:52): Mhm.

Ross & Rachel Soper (4:53): like seeing her um

Ross & Rachel Soper (4:58): she wants to play Canary FPC and ultimate goal is obviously to be a black phone. Our ultimate goal is for her to be a well-rounded

Bianca Stiles (5:01): Mhm.

Ross & Rachel Soper (5:06): athlete as well as human. So for us um the academic side is just as important as the sporting side and she could still go and do all that and then potentially still come back and still chase her girls back home once she's had that sort of growth mindset and

Bianca Stiles (5:22): Mhm.

Ross & Rachel Soper (5:23): you know rather than forcing her into it at a young age.

Bianca Stiles (5:24): 100

Bianca Stiles (5:26): Mhm.

Ross & Rachel Soper (5:27): Um yeah because we've seen a lot of the girls sort of being picked up at her age in there and it's a lot of pressure on them straight off the bat.

Bianca Stiles (5:29): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (5:34): Yeah, 100%.

Ross & Rachel Soper (5:34): Yeah. Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (5:35): I think it's also important to be able to kind of protect Sienna and just kind of you know as these you know professional opportunities these big opportunity start to kind of come in play.

Ross & Rachel Soper (5:43): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (5:43): Um, so that totally makes sense.

Ross & Rachel Soper (5:45): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (5:45): Um, did you guys have any questions regarding kind of how the US college landscapes um did you understand all that information I sent via email?

Ross & Rachel Soper (5:53): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (5:54): Did you have any questions regarding any of that?

Ross & Rachel Soper (5:54): No,

Ross & Rachel Soper (5:57): I've I've done a bit of a research myself and looked

Bianca Stiles (5:59): Mhm.

Ross & Rachel Soper (6:00): at some others and seen as obviously she's got some friends that are over there on basketball scholarships already. Um

Bianca Stiles (6:00): Mhm.

Bianca Stiles (6:07): Yeah.

Ross & Rachel Soper (6:08): and has seen that they obviously

Bianca Stiles (6:08): Mhm.

Ross & Rachel Soper (6:09): started out first year and transferred to different schools second year. Um which I see is becoming kind of common for students. Yeah. Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (6:15): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (6:19): Mhm.

Ross & Rachel Soper (6:19): So, yeah. I've I've read my head around some of that. Um

Ross & Rachel Soper (6:23): I don't know obviously how Siena's grades work. She's doing quite well at school, but obviously she hasn't finished her year 12 yet. So, yeah. Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (6:30): Mhm.

Bianca Stiles (6:32): Out of her time Is she

Bianca Stiles (6:34): in NCA level 2? Is she What's her Is her kind of a round achieved? Merit excellence? Where are you kind of sitting?

Ross & Rachel Soper (6:37): Probably

Ross & Rachel Soper (6:42): in the middle.

Bianca Stiles (6:42): Merit

Ross & Rachel Soper (6:43): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (6:44): excellence? Yeah, that's really good. Um within the US pathway for rugby. It's definitely a growing sport. You know the it's called the NIRA. It's the NCAA pathway for women's varsity rugby within the United States. You can combine your rugby career with a US university degree. And that's kind of essentially what we see is growing a lot. The scholarship opportunities, the schools that we can kind of look at and kind of base already off kind of Sienna's record and kind of achievement kind of what she's already done here. She would be looking at we'd be looking at kind

Ross & Rachel Soper (7:16): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (7:17): of exploring those CAA division 1 pathways. Does that make sense? Kind of based off the information I've sent you? Yeah. I mean full rides is kind of a loose obviously that everyone kind of looks for those kind of full ride opportunities but essentially within that rugby space that the kind of budget you'd be looking for it would be around kind of around 10 k. That would be worse comes to worse situation.

Bianca Stiles (7:42): But it again it all kind of depends also on her GPA which we kind of help with those academic pieces while Um,

Bianca Stiles (7:49): but kind of I do want to kind of explain

Ross & Rachel Soper (7:50): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (7:52): kind of how we support how we would support C&A in this process. So essentially, obviously we are a paid agency, but we work for you guys not for the American universities. Everything we do is in the best interest of the athlete and also the athlete's family. Um, when a client signs up to be a platform athlete, they have three different phases that they will go through. First phase is preparation. So this is all about kind of setting her up for success. It's kind of like the foundational stage. It's about making make sure that she stands up both athletically athletically but also academically as well. Um so essentially the first thing that we do is an academic evaluation would review all her academic transcripts um or her test scores or her subject choices to ensure that she'd be both in CAA eligible as well as in AIA eligible. Um next thing that we do is an athletic assessment. So this is analyzing all her rugby achievements or the game footage, the skills, the statistics, and we create that professional highlight tape for her. This is such as important area because this is where we like to identify any gaps as early as possible, so we know what personal plan so we can maximize our opportunities. Um, as well as personal guidance, like I said, we really care a lot about the balance between sport and academics and making sure that athletes aren't burning out, burning themselves out with too much training and too much school and being able to just have a good balance. That's really important to us here at platform. Um, but we want to understand her goals as well. So, obviously you've told me uh not football fan platform. Um, that, you know, that's a massive goal. So, kind of making sure that she's going to a university that's, you know, going to be a well-known university that's essentially going to track towards, you know, what kind of growth she can get from the US to then come back here and, you know, essentially be able to get into those positions.

Ross & Rachel Soper (8:56): Yeah.

Ross & Rachel Soper (9:35): Yeah, I think that who dad is that's where he's is she gonna get better at rugby over there.

Bianca Stiles (9:42): Mhm.

Ross & Rachel Soper (9:42): Um he's worried that the level is not gonna be the same as it is here. Um so

Bianca Stiles (9:48): Mhm.

Ross & Rachel Soper (9:49): you know that's something we would obviously have to look into, I guess.

Bianca Stiles (9:49): Definitely.

Bianca Stiles (9:53): Yeah, and I mean, obviously

Ross & Rachel Soper (9:53): Yeah.

Ross & Rachel Soper (9:54): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (9:54): rugby is such a growing sport in the US. But the one thing that the Americans have over especially us here in NZ is the facilities and what they kind of offer compared to what we have over here. Um essentially you know those schools that are in that D1 level especially for rugby these are the schools that have crazy facilities you know underwater treadmills crazy ice baths bars like there are even recovery facilities that we just we've

Ross & Rachel Soper (10:18): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (10:19): not it's not even touch water over here. Um but yeah um that is something we'd definitely look at for her as well. Um, in this preparation phase she also has monthly meetings with her support manager to make sure that her academics and also her athletics are tracking well. Um, is that something you'd be able to commit to being able to meet with a support manager um every month? Yeah?

Ross & Rachel Soper (10:25): Mhm.

Ross & Rachel Soper (10:40): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (10:41): Ok, cool.

Ross & Rachel Soper (10:41): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (10:42): But yeah, I mean essentially this preparation phase is really just building that official student athlete profile for her. Um, making sure she's registered with all the eligibility centers and making sure she just feels prepared for what's next, which is placement. Um, so once her kind of profile's ready to go um our team will promote her to US college coaches to kind of find that right fit. So, what we use is a direct coach outreach. We use our established network to introduce her personally to college coaches and also to programs that will match her profile. Um, we help with scholarship negotiations, obviously advocating that best scholarship package possible for you guys, so that'd be athletic, academic, and also need base grants. Um, and then we also do interview preparation as well. This is all about coaching you on how to confidently communicate with these US college coaches, what to say, what not to say, how to best advocate for yourself. Um, next thing that we do is college comparison as well. So, kind of guiding you guys through the pros, the cons, little key details of each offer. Um, so that includes academic, sports, location, and also finance actors, and then holding your hand with the application support. So, this is helping complete all those college applications, sending through transcripts, and preparing that portfolio. That's based on a placement um final phase is protection. Um, so we do continue being your support and also your management team while beyond you securing that scholarship to a school. Essentially, we're there the whole time. So, we're here We're there to look after you from the moment that you start to the moment that you come back home with your degree in hand. Um, and you know, making sure that she's maximizing, like I said, maximizing those opportunities is the best is the best way to kind of describe that, but basically

Ross & Rachel Soper (11:57): Yeah,

Ross & Rachel Soper (12:17): cuz that's my other So, my husband and I went overseas when he was younger to play rugby with a with an agent.

Bianca Stiles (12:23): Yep.

Ross & Rachel Soper (12:24): Um, and it didn't have the beast experience cuz it was kind of like, "Oh, well, you've landed to see later."

Bianca Stiles (12:29): Mhm.

Ross & Rachel Soper (12:31): Um, and that was it. Um, so

Bianca Stiles (12:31): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (12:32): And I it

Ross & Rachel Soper (12:33): that's my other worry. Yeah. Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (12:34): Yeah,

Bianca Stiles (12:35): and I I totally understand that cos

Bianca Stiles (12:37): that's exactly what happened to me when I went to the US. I went through a different agency, was a platform. Um I went over and um yeah, I same thing, I kind of was dropped. I was just kind of landed, good to go see you later. Um, and that's something that's definitely

Ross & Rachel Soper (12:50): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (12:51): is not a thing here. We want to make sure that those athletes feel completely supported the whole way through. Um, that's why that base to your protection is just also just as important as preparation as placement base because, you know, I think sometimes, you know, when you're that when you're that far away from home, sometimes things can go wrong. And so it's really important to know

Ross & Rachel Soper (13:07): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (13:09): that you have that the extra support and you know where to go if you if you're not sure what to do. Um, and that's where we're coming we're kind of we kind of come in because we have that ongoing support. We want to be a available for, you know, any questions or even, you know, essentially challenges that arrive. Um, you know, when we when we think of protection, we think of us as kind of like a safety net, you know, with this that she focuses on excelling in her sport, she focuses on making sure she gets those grades academically. We're kind of just in the background to make sure that journey is going smooth and stress free. Does that all make sense?

Ross & Rachel Soper (13:11): Yeah.

Ross & Rachel Soper (13:42): Yeah. Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (13:43): Any any questions regarding our services?

Ross & Rachel Soper (13:44): No.

Bianca Stiles (13:47): No?

Bianca Stiles (13:49): Does this kind of sound like something that you want to do?

Ross & Rachel Soper (13:50): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (13:50): too. Do you know?

Bianca Stiles (13:53): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (13:54): You still seem a little un unsettled.

Ross & Rachel Soper (13:55): Yeah.

Ross & Rachel Soper (13:58): I'm just thinking.

Bianca Stiles (13:59): Yeah.

Ross & Rachel Soper (13:59): She's a bit of an introvert outside of sport.

Bianca Stiles (14:02): That's okay.

Ross & Rachel Soper (14:02): Um, yeah, there'll be a lot for seeing it a way out whether she wants to leave everything. She knows who dad's coached her a lot um throughout as most of your rugby.

Bianca Stiles (14:13): Mhm.

Ross & Rachel Soper (14:15): Um, and then

Bianca Stiles (14:16): Yeah.

Ross & Rachel Soper (14:16): obviously the friends she's been making and blah blah blah. But obviously it's quite a while away. So,

Bianca Stiles (14:20): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (14:23): My biggest advice with this is the earlier you get started, the better. And I think that's just because there's a lot that goes into this pathway that a lot of families don't realize.

Ross & Rachel Soper (14:24): yeah.

Ross & Rachel Soper (14:32): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (14:34): Essentially, most of the work comes into that preparation phase. So if you get that right, then everything else just runs smoothly. So my biggest advice would be, you know, if this is kind of something that you guys want to jump on,

Bianca Stiles (14:47): it'd be kind of getting really getting started right away. I think the thing with CNers is it's not

Ross & Rachel Soper (14:52): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (14:52): going to be it's not going to be about, you know, if she's going to get off this. It's going to be like it's going to be about making sure she's protected and which one she chooses and that her best interests are going to be making sure that we help manage her best interest in picking a school. I think that's where based on kind of a profile

Ross & Rachel Soper (15:07): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (15:08): that I've read.

Bianca Stiles (15:11): Um but yeah. I'll just talk a little bit about our service fees. Obviously, we we obviously have that fee. Um we have two different packages. Uh first package is first kind of our first package is our placement package. So, it's um 7,500 NZD uh including in GST. It covers everything you need to secure that US college opportunity. Um so, that's guidance to recruitment. Um coach outreach and also scholarship offers. Um our second package is placement plus transfer that's 8,500 in DD that covers everything you need in placement plus those um four years of full support while you're in the US. Um so we call it college insurance because basically it's going to protect your journey from the start to the finish. So essentially if she wanted to change and she wasn't happy at a school, um we help secure her next school while she's still playing. So she doesn't have to worry about managing everything. Um but it is a one-time life time payment. There's no hidden fees. There's no annual fees. Um essentially we'd be looking after her from year 12, year 13 plus four years in the states, which is essentially six years in service. Um and you know, obviously how she progresses in college, that's not going to be the end for her based on what you've guys already told me. So, looking at those opportunities um post post college as well.

Ross & Rachel Soper (16:06): Yeah.

Ross & Rachel Soper (16:24): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (16:24): Um but yeah, how are we kind of feeling about everything we've discussed today?

Ross & Rachel Soper (16:28): Um, yeah. Yeah. I'm good. Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (16:31): Good. Yep.

Ross & Rachel Soper (16:32): Obviously, conversation you have to have with your dad as well. Um,

Ross & Rachel Soper (16:36): and yeah, figure out if this is definitely what she wants to do.

Bianca Stiles (16:42): Yeah, I think that's really important as well.

Ross & Rachel Soper (16:43): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (16:45): What I think I'll do is I'll send kind of like a wrap up summary of everything we're spoken about in today's call.

Ross & Rachel Soper (16:46): Okay.

Ross & Rachel Soper (16:50): Yep.

Bianca Stiles (16:50): I'll also send you guys through a contract as well so you can have a take a look at that.

Ross & Rachel Soper (16:54): Okay.

Bianca Stiles (16:54): If you guys want to jump on another call, maybe let's say after the weekend give you guys the weekend and look through everything.

Ross & Rachel Soper (16:59): Okay.

Bianca Stiles (17:00): I'm sure questions will come up as well, but I think it would be really beneficial to kind of jump on another call in the next couple of days just because I

Ross & Rachel Soper (17:06): Yeah.

Bianca Stiles (17:07): know with you know, her profile. Um, she's going to be one of those people that, you know, coaches that will be wanting. So, essentially if there's something that you want to do, it's really important to kind of get the the kind of the academic side, all the evaluations out the way so we can just focus on making sure she kind of is prepared on the athletic side and can manage herself well for the the last few years of high school. Perfect.

Ross & Rachel Soper (17:25): Yeah.

Ross & Rachel Soper (17:30): Okay.

Ross & Rachel Soper (17:31): Cool. Okay.

Bianca Stiles (17:33): Awesome.

Ross & Rachel Soper (17:33): Give us things to talk about and think about.

Bianca Stiles (17:35): Definitely. Cool. Well, any questions, you have my email, just shoot me an email It was lovely to meet you guys and I'll touch

Ross & Rachel Soper (17:37): Yeah.

Ross & Rachel Soper (17:41): Okay. What you are doing?

Bianca Stiles (17:41): base after the weekend.

Ross & Rachel Soper (17:43): Okay. Okay. Great.

Bianca Stiles (17:44): Thank you.

Ross & Rachel Soper (17:44): Thank you.

Bianca Stiles (17:44): See you later. Bye.

Ross & Rachel Soper (17:46): Bye.