FirstPoint USA Class of 2013: Spencer Brown

3 min read

Spencer Brown recently secured a soccer scholarship to Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne, and will be heading out the the USA to begin his new life as a student-athlete over the coming weeks. We caught up with Spencer to discuss how he�s found being on the FirstPoint USA program, and what he�s looking forward to most about life State-Side.

Spencer Brown footage 07.05.13 from Firstpoint USA on Vimeo. 1. What are you looking forward to most about starting your student-athlete life in the U.S? It's hard to single out one thing,� it would have to be playing D1 soccer though. 2. How have you been preparing for your time in The States? I managed to sort out pre-season with Partick Thistle this season, I've been training for a month now full time with the under 20 team and some of the first team guys. I couldn't really think of a better way to get ready, I'm feeling fit and really sharp so hopefully it's enough to get me up an running over there. 3. What has been the highlight of your time on the FirstPoint USA program? Again it's hard to pick just one thing, although, I'd have to go for the game against Dartmouth College though, I had a good game and it was a good bit of experience for me to play against a college team. The footage from that game was important to a lot of coaches I was in contact with at the time as they were looking to see how I would do at college standard. 4. Were you happy with the offers you received, and what made you choose your college in the end? Yes, without a doubt. There was so many offers to think about, that sounds like a good thing but it was pretty stressful looking through each one knowing that I would be spending the next 4 years at one of those places, it was pretty exciting at the same time. When the offer came in from IPFW I pretty much knew straight away that was the one. They have a great mix of academics and athletics so it was very appealing, a division 1 side with a great business school. I couldn't really ask for much more. Living in Indiana tops it off I think. 5. Would you recommend FirstPoint USA? Of course, if it wasn't for FirstPoint I probably wouldn't have this opportunity. All the guys from my club and a few of the guys at Thistle were pretty interested with the program, so I've already passed on the info to a few of them. 6. What advice would you have for anyone considering a sports scholarship to the USA? Do it. Apart from that just make sure you get to the client games and build up a lot of footage. I think coach communication is vital as well, I stayed on top of my emails and tried to give coaches a reply straight away. A few of them like to Skype you at two and three in the morning so be prepared.

We�d like to thank Spencer for answering our questions, and wish him the best of luck in the USA!

Do you have what it takes to secure a soccer scholarship to an American university?