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It all began with his love of soccer. Tyler Hollingsworth’s dream was to live and play his sport in America, so he started exploring international university options while in Grade 11 at St. David’s Marist Inanda in Johannesburg. “The head of sport at St. David’s, Shane Gaffney, had a reputation of placing pupils at colleges all over the US, and we had a great relationship,” Hollingsworth relates. “I asked him what was needed to study overseas and, without my knowing, Shane spoke to a couple of colleges. Two days later, Gannon University was interested. Gareth Ruh was a top soccer player whom Shane had already placed at Gannon, and luckily he was captain at that time. When Gareth heard I was interested, he spoke to the coach there and the rest is history. The scholarship I received was 80% sports and 20% academic.”
FOR GIVING STUDENTS A SPORTING CHANCE ABROAD
Tyler Hollingsworth Co-founder, Aspire Atlantic
60 FASTCOMPANY.CO.Z A JULY 2017
Gannon is located in Erie, Pennsylvania—a small town of about 200 000 inhabitants. Hollingsworth affirms how wonderful and friendly the Americans were. “My fellow students couldn’t believe that a South African would travel across the globe to study in a tiny college town on the border of Canada!” On the field, he was named Academic AllAmerican Soccer Player and ESPN Soccer Athlete of the Week, and made the Capital One All-District Team; while off the field, he gained a BSc degree in finance and went on to work in Pittsburgh for specialty insurance broker Research Underwriters Insurance, before moving back to South Africa in 2015. Hollingworth’s passion for sports and the desire to help others fulfil their dreams sparked the creation of USA Scholarships, an athlete
recruitment agency and student placement service. He and his team assisted students looking to pursue their sporting and academic dreams at top institutions by linking them up with the best coaches and universities in the US. “I believe South Africa has some of the smartest and best athletes in the world, and many simply don’t know they are good enough to study overseas. When I returned to South Africa from my scholarship, I mapped out exactly how this process worked and pitched the idea [of starting an athlete recruitment agency] to my brother. He loved it, immediately invested and became my business partner. With his financial backing, we built a small team of employees.” In April this year, USA Scholarships rebranded to Aspire Atlantic to broaden its scope and place students not only in America but in Europe and the rest of the world
as well. The agency now manages more than 60 South African students at international universities. Many students never get the opportunity to pursue their dreams overseas because they are deterred by the complicated and lengthy process. Understanding university academic standards, application requirements, contacting coaches, registering with the National Collegiate Athletic Association and preparing for the SAT standardised tests can be a daunting task. Students using Aspire Atlantic’s services are assisted through the entire process, and will be linked up quickly with international coaches and universities to suit their needs and abilities. “Students should focus on their academics and sports while letting our experts handle the applications, registrations and negotiations,” Hollingworth adds.