FirstPoint USA

We are excited to announce that FirstPoint athlete Yannick Kraus has committed to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts! Talented German international decathlete Yannick will join Harvard University's Track & Fieldteam in Fall ’25, a program which has produced 20 NCAA Champions. The son of Jan Hendrik and Susanne Kraus, Yannick is a member of Ultimate Athletics UAE in Dubai led by Lisa Campbell, and also represents Bayer Leverkusen in Germany. Yannick is currently ranked 16th in the world with a 7,000 point personal best, and has the best pentathlon score globally in 2024 among all U18 decathletes. His PBs include impressive performances in 110m hurdles (14.59s), Long Jump (6.95m) and High Jump (2.01m). He is a student at the Jumeirah English Speaking School in Dubai and will be studying Economics at Ivy League Harvard. The oldest and most prestigious university in the United States, Harvard is ranked No.2 in the country and No.3 globally in the Times Higher Education rankings, with no fewer than 8 US Presidents graduating from Harvard. It has a rich history of track and field success, with Crimson Tide alum producing 34 Olympians, including Gabby Thomas who won three gold medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics in the 200m, 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relays. We look forward to following Yannick's continued academic and athletic progress at Harvard University! Laura Lewis (Kerr) #HarvardUniversity #SportsScholarships #IvyLeague #Education

"Being in an Ivy League institution you’re surrounded by some of the brightest minds of your generation and some of the strongest most powerful alumni network when it comes to the jobs market and opportunities in the future.” A glimpse into some of the fascinating insights from our recent webinar with Cornell University Head Coach for Men’s Tennis, Silviu Tanasoiu, who spoke to Laura Lewis (Kerr) about what it takes to be recruited by an Ivy League school, life as a student-athlete at Cornell and the benefits of being part of one of the world's leading academic institutions. You can watch the full interview here. https://lnkd.in/e6GqhRvF

🔜 We have another fantastic guest speaker lined up for our next webinar as we’re joined by Premier League goalkeeper Asmir Begović. Currently part of the Everton squad, Asmir has played for Chelsea, Stoke City, QPR and Portsmouth, and represented Bosnia & Herzegovina in the 2014 World Cup where he lined up against Lionel Messi in his country’s opening match. Asmir’s younger brother Denis is a FirstPoint alum and landed a soccer scholarship at Shaw University in North Carolina, and we are proud to partner with Asmir’s goalkeeping academy. 🧤 Join us in conversation … 🗓️ Monday 11 November ⏰ 7pm GMT & 7pm EST ✍️ Sign up: https://lnkd.in/dN6wW_M

🔜 We have another fantastic guest speaker lined up for our next webinar as we’re joined by Premier League goalkeeper Asmir Begović. Currently part of the Everton squad, Asmir has played for Chelsea, Stoke City, QPR and Portsmouth, and represented Bosnia & Herzegovina in the 2014 World Cup where he lined up against Lionel Messi in his country’s opening match. Asmir’s younger brother Denis is a FirstPoint alum and landed a soccer scholarship at Shaw University in North Carolina, and we are proud to partner with Asmir’s goalkeeping academy. 🧤 Join us in conversation … 🗓️ Monday 11 November ⏰ 7pm GMT & 7pm EST ✍️ Sign up: https://lnkd.in/dN6wW_M

What are the key attributes a D1 college soccer coach is looking for in a potential recruit? We were joined earlier this week on our 'In Conversation' webinar by University of Kentucky head coach Johan Cedergren who gave us his perspective. Skill was an obvious given, but he also references the four core values of his program - selflessness, humble, disclipline and problem solving, helping him recruit players that are aligned to the team's philosophy, which has been developed from 13 successful seasons in the role. You can watch the full webinar here https://lnkd.in/dUrB9umT

We are delighted to be joined by the University of Kentucky’s Head Coach for Men’s Soccer Johan Cedergren for our next webinar which takes place tomorrow evening. Talking all things NCAA DI men’s soccer, Johan will share his experiences and insights from his 13 seasons in charge of the Wildcats, where he’s taken his team to 10 NCAA tournaments. The 2022 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, Johan - a native of Sweden who played college soccer for the University of Cincinnati - has an impressive track record at Kentucky, having previously been in the role of assistant coach and associate head coach at Dartmouth University. Join us for what’s sure to be a fascinating conversation for aspiring college soccer players wanting to learn more about life at a leading DI soccer program. 🖥️ In Conversation with a DI coach 🗓️ Monday 21st October ⏰ 7pm EDT ✍️ Register: https://lnkd.in/dN6wW_M

Why choose DIII? An alum of the prestigious Amherst College in Massachusetts, Bernie White works with our current roster of US-based soccer candidates as Head of College Placements. Having been through the college pathway himself as an aspiring goalkeeper from an “academically driven family,” he explains why he chose Amherst and highlights the “best of both worlds” benefits of a DIII school. You can watch the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/e-VzzPwR

We are thrilled for FirstPoint athlete Rethin Pranav Ramalingam Senthil Kumar who has committed to Ivy League Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he'll start his collegiate tennis career in Fall '25. Rethin recently won the Men’s Singles title at the Indian National Championships in Delhi, becoming the youngest player ever to become men’s champion. He competed in this year’s US Junior Open and has reached a high of #88 in the ITF Junior Rankings, with a current position of #97. The top-ranked junior player in India, he has been the No. 1 age group player in the country at every level from U12s to U18s, winning 7 national championships at age group level and 11 ITF singles and doubles titles Rethin has won 3 gold medals for Team India, helping the national team qualify for the world stages of the Junior Davis Cup. Having been suppprted through the FirstPoint program by Adibir Singh and Laura Lewis (Kerr), he will join the Cornell Men’s Tennis program under head coach Silviu Tanasoiu, who has been the most successful coach in the program’s history, and a past Ivy League coach of the year winner. An NCAA DI program, they compete in The Ivy League conference where they have been two-time winners. Cornell University is one of the country’s most prestigious universities, currently ranked #10 in the Best US College Rankings and #20 in the world. #studentathlete #cornelluniversity #ivyleague #tennis

We are excited to be joibed by hightly respected Head Coach of Men’s Tennis at Cornell University Silviu Tanasoiunext for our next webinar, discussing what it takes to be recruited by an Ivy League university, from both an academic and sporting perspective 🗓️ Monday 28 October ⏰ 7.00pm GMT 🗣️ Silviu Tanasoiu, Head Coach of Men’s Tennis, Cornell University Bringinh his unqiue insights from a hugely successful career at Cornell, we'll be covering themes some of the following themes with Coach Tanasoiu, including: • The value of an Ivy League education • The sporting experience of being an Ivy League student-athlete • Campus life and facilities at Cornell University • Academic rigour – what does it take to get in and what type of standards need to be maintained • The process of ‘supported’ admission for athletes • Recruitment timelines ✍️ Register now https://lnkd.in/dN6wW_M

🎾 More success for FirstPoint athletes … Congratulations to Rethin Pranav who has reached the semi-finals of the Fenesta Indian National Tennis Championships in Delhi. The talented 17-year old, one of our 2025 candidates who has been attracting interest from some of the leading collegiate tennis programs in the States, is the youngest player to reach the last four of the men’s singles tournament in 15 years and hasn’t yet dropped a set in his impressive run so far. He will bid for a place in this weekend’s final in his match tomorrow at the DLTA Tennis Complex. Good luck Rethin, we’ll be rooting for you! #collegetennis #sportscholarships #education Adibir Singh Laura Lewis (Kerr)