A young Scottish lad crosses the Atlantic Ocean to play soccer and experience college life in the United States. He enjoys his time so much, that upon graduation, he heads home to start a company to help other people from the United Kingdom reach their dreams of playing sports at American Universities. That is the quick story of Andrew Kean, the first men's soccer All-American at the University of Cincinnati, who later founded and is presently Chief Executive of FirstPoint USA. Kean was nice of enough to tell us more about his own story, including his love for Rangers FC, in our latest edition of Five for Friday. Follow Kean on twitter: @keany4
Soccer Banter: What is FirstPoint USA and why did you first start the company?
Andrew Kean: FirstPoint USA is an agency assisting talented sportsmen & women who wish to pursue their academic and athletic careers at American universities. We also increase the reach of US college coaches internationally and provide them with an insight of the marketplace for foreign recruitment. I started the company in 2001 on my return from Cincinnati and we have assisted over 4000 international athletes with their placement during that time. The service was initially established to help some of the many soccer players being left on the ‘football scrapheap’ in the UK and to provide them with a new lease of life in the US college system. It has proven to be a very popular and successful option for many over the years. Aside from myself, we have another 21 former collegiate athletes in our Glasgow office and we were recently certified under the NCAA’s new certification process for recruitment agencies. At present, we have 18,000 applicants for our service each year and we will watch each live in their respective sports before interviewing them on a one-to-one basis. Our aim is to sign the best 500 student-athletes from the application process each year.
Soccer Banter: What is FirstPoint USA and why did you first start the company?
Andrew Kean: FirstPoint USA is an agency assisting talented sportsmen & women who wish to pursue their academic and athletic careers at American universities. We also increase the reach of US college coaches internationally and provide them with an insight of the marketplace for foreign recruitment. I started the company in 2001 on my return from Cincinnati and we have assisted over 4000 international athletes with their placement during that time. The service was initially established to help some of the many soccer players being left on the ‘football scrapheap’ in the UK and to provide them with a new lease of life in the US college system. It has proven to be a very popular and successful option for many over the years. Aside from myself, we have another 21 former collegiate athletes in our Glasgow office and we were recently certified under the NCAA’s new certification process for recruitment agencies. At present, we have 18,000 applicants for our service each year and we will watch each live in their respective sports before interviewing them on a one-to-one basis. Our aim is to sign the best 500 student-athletes from the application process each year.
SB: How would you describe your experience at the University of Cincinnati and in America and how has it changed your life since returning to Scotland?
AK: I was initially recruited by both Stanford and Dartmouth before Coach Cook at Cincinnati (now Dartmouth Head Coach) made contact with me. Many questioned my decision to go to Cincinnati at first, particularly with the academic reputations of the other schools, but within a week I knew that I had made a great decision. The University of Cincinnati provided me with four of the best years of my life and I will be forever indebted to Coach Cook and the fantastic staff at Cincinnati for the terrific experience that I enjoyed there. As a soccer player, I learned more at Cincinnati than I did when I was playing with Hearts and Scotland – which was surprising to me at the time, particularly as US soccer had a stigma attached to it as being poor quality. It would be fair to say that Cincinnati provided a much more ‘professional’ environment than some of the professional teams I played for after leaving Cincinnati. There were some terrific academic support staff, mentors, and advisors at the University of Cincinnati and each played a part in shaping me as a student-athlete and as a person. There is no doubt that I owe everything I have in my life today to the time spent at the University of Cincinnati, and as an alumnus I try to keep the ‘golden thread’ between the past and present alive as much as possible.
SB: How would you explain the differences between University athletics in the United Kingdom compared to the United States?
AK: There is really no comparison between the two. University athletics in the United Kingdom would be akin to club or intramural sport at an American college. There is no active recruitment of athletes by a British university coach and instead the university will utilize whatever talent it can find within its student population to field a team to compete. There are a couple of universities with good facilities and infrastructure – Bath and Stirling universities would be two – but this infrastructure would pale in comparison to what is on offer at the vast majority of NCAA member institutions. The biggest difference however, can be found in the amount of money invested in university on either side of the Atlantic. A coach at the leading British university would maybe be paid $40,000 per year, whereas the average salary for the biggest earning US college coaches is $4.1 million. There is no TV money, no sponsorship, no marketing budgets, and very little scholarship money available at a British university. The University of Texas athletic department announced profits of $72 million in 2012 alone. In terms of collegiate sport, British and American college sports couldn’t be any further removed from one another.
AK: I was initially recruited by both Stanford and Dartmouth before Coach Cook at Cincinnati (now Dartmouth Head Coach) made contact with me. Many questioned my decision to go to Cincinnati at first, particularly with the academic reputations of the other schools, but within a week I knew that I had made a great decision. The University of Cincinnati provided me with four of the best years of my life and I will be forever indebted to Coach Cook and the fantastic staff at Cincinnati for the terrific experience that I enjoyed there. As a soccer player, I learned more at Cincinnati than I did when I was playing with Hearts and Scotland – which was surprising to me at the time, particularly as US soccer had a stigma attached to it as being poor quality. It would be fair to say that Cincinnati provided a much more ‘professional’ environment than some of the professional teams I played for after leaving Cincinnati. There were some terrific academic support staff, mentors, and advisors at the University of Cincinnati and each played a part in shaping me as a student-athlete and as a person. There is no doubt that I owe everything I have in my life today to the time spent at the University of Cincinnati, and as an alumnus I try to keep the ‘golden thread’ between the past and present alive as much as possible.
SB: How would you explain the differences between University athletics in the United Kingdom compared to the United States?
AK: There is really no comparison between the two. University athletics in the United Kingdom would be akin to club or intramural sport at an American college. There is no active recruitment of athletes by a British university coach and instead the university will utilize whatever talent it can find within its student population to field a team to compete. There are a couple of universities with good facilities and infrastructure – Bath and Stirling universities would be two – but this infrastructure would pale in comparison to what is on offer at the vast majority of NCAA member institutions. The biggest difference however, can be found in the amount of money invested in university on either side of the Atlantic. A coach at the leading British university would maybe be paid $40,000 per year, whereas the average salary for the biggest earning US college coaches is $4.1 million. There is no TV money, no sponsorship, no marketing budgets, and very little scholarship money available at a British university. The University of Texas athletic department announced profits of $72 million in 2012 alone. In terms of collegiate sport, British and American college sports couldn’t be any further removed from one another.
SB: As a supporter of Rangers Football Club, what are your thoughts on the current state of the club? Will they be able to return to their former glory in Scotland?
AK: Growing-up in the west coast of Scotland, the Old Firm have been ever-present in my life and I share an obsession with one club – Rangers – with millions of other people, but yet it somehow remains very personal. Like most Rangers or Celtic fans, there wasn’t a day when you consciously decided to support your team. The choice was already made for you generations ago by your great-grandfather, or his father, or so on. For some, you support either Rangers or Celtic based on your political or religious views – which can itself create great tension between the clubs and their supporters, but it is also one of the reasons that the Old Firm is the greatest rivalry in the World. The past year has been a challenging time for supporters of Rangers. The once great institution went into administration and we now find ourselves playing football in the lowest tier of Scottish football, the 3rd Division. I think that we will look back in years to come and recognize that Rangers needed to ‘go bust’ and start again. The club had been mismanaged for years, spent money it didn’t have, and tried to compete financially with Europe’s big boys. Going into liquidation was inevitable. To use a Glasgow phrase, the club was wearing a fur coat but had no knickers on. A couple of years ago we were competing against Europe’s elite in the Champions League – and now we are facing teams made-up of plumbers, teachers, and nightclub doormen. It has been a real reality check. The good thing that has come out of all this is that Rangers are debt free and on the way back. The club’s enormous support have kept coming to the games in their masses and the average attendance this season is greater than it was when the team was top of the Premier League. More season tickets have also been sold. A two-week share issue saw the fans raise £22 million and this has helped to anchor the clubs financial position. Don’t get me wrong, the standard of player is much lower than what I have been used to seeing, and the quality of the opposition is dire – but Rangers are still alive and they will be back at the top of the pile in the next few years. What other 3rd Division club in the world would get 50,000 fans at their home games?
SB: Speaking of Scottish football, what needs to change to see the country return to a World Cup?
AK: I am probably one of the few Scots who actually believes that we have a strong pool of talent available for the National team. Many of the players are either competing in the English Premier League or with Celtic in the Champions League. The fact that none of these players has ever played with a successful Scotland team is probably telling in itself. No one has been to a major international competition and this has possibly led to a lack of belief in the squad and the previous management. I think that we have a good manager at the reigns now in Gordon Strachan and, given time, he will be able to shape the side into a competitive force for European Championship qualification. I think that every bar owner in Europe is as keen to see Scotland qualifying for international finals as the Scottish fans are. The Tartan Army are always keen on a couple of beers during their travels to support the team.
AK: Growing-up in the west coast of Scotland, the Old Firm have been ever-present in my life and I share an obsession with one club – Rangers – with millions of other people, but yet it somehow remains very personal. Like most Rangers or Celtic fans, there wasn’t a day when you consciously decided to support your team. The choice was already made for you generations ago by your great-grandfather, or his father, or so on. For some, you support either Rangers or Celtic based on your political or religious views – which can itself create great tension between the clubs and their supporters, but it is also one of the reasons that the Old Firm is the greatest rivalry in the World. The past year has been a challenging time for supporters of Rangers. The once great institution went into administration and we now find ourselves playing football in the lowest tier of Scottish football, the 3rd Division. I think that we will look back in years to come and recognize that Rangers needed to ‘go bust’ and start again. The club had been mismanaged for years, spent money it didn’t have, and tried to compete financially with Europe’s big boys. Going into liquidation was inevitable. To use a Glasgow phrase, the club was wearing a fur coat but had no knickers on. A couple of years ago we were competing against Europe’s elite in the Champions League – and now we are facing teams made-up of plumbers, teachers, and nightclub doormen. It has been a real reality check. The good thing that has come out of all this is that Rangers are debt free and on the way back. The club’s enormous support have kept coming to the games in their masses and the average attendance this season is greater than it was when the team was top of the Premier League. More season tickets have also been sold. A two-week share issue saw the fans raise £22 million and this has helped to anchor the clubs financial position. Don’t get me wrong, the standard of player is much lower than what I have been used to seeing, and the quality of the opposition is dire – but Rangers are still alive and they will be back at the top of the pile in the next few years. What other 3rd Division club in the world would get 50,000 fans at their home games?
SB: Speaking of Scottish football, what needs to change to see the country return to a World Cup?
AK: I am probably one of the few Scots who actually believes that we have a strong pool of talent available for the National team. Many of the players are either competing in the English Premier League or with Celtic in the Champions League. The fact that none of these players has ever played with a successful Scotland team is probably telling in itself. No one has been to a major international competition and this has possibly led to a lack of belief in the squad and the previous management. I think that we have a good manager at the reigns now in Gordon Strachan and, given time, he will be able to shape the side into a competitive force for European Championship qualification. I think that every bar owner in Europe is as keen to see Scotland qualifying for international finals as the Scottish fans are. The Tartan Army are always keen on a couple of beers during their travels to support the team.
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