Do European Countries Have College Sports?

[TheAmerican]

What I mean is do European countries have intercolligate sports like we do in America? Like an Oxford University soccer team vs. Cambridge University?

[PYordan]

The short answer: No. They don't have anything comparable to the American university athletic system.

England probably has a little bit of it, but here in Spain they have almost nothing and have an incredibly hard time understanding the athletic component of American universities. That whole idea of sports being an integral part of the college experience just doesn't exist in continental Europe. At most they have informal rec leagues for soccer or rugby.

[gaijin]

They do have the occassional varisty rugby match at Twickenham every year between Oxford and Cambridge - and there does exist inter-university events in football etc.

But the scale is tiny compared to America.

Each uni will usually have a local sports team, but this is what is refered to as an out of hours activity rather than as a part of a full academic scholarship.

The only one, that I can think of is Team Bath - but that is more for ex pros, or failed schoolboys than actually part of a degree that is open to most students.

For the most part - University is a place where you get your degree in a certain academic field. Sports rarely plays a part. Usually you go to certain academies to get proficient in a sport.

[TheAmerican]

Hmmm, so Eurpean highschool don't have any inter-school games, either?

[comme]

It all depends on the sport to be honest.

All universities in England have inter-university sports, the most prominent being the Varsity matches between Oxford and Cambridge in Rugby and Cricket as well as the Boat Race.

In football the standard is pretty poor to be honest, the teams in the BUSA (British Universities) leagues are not up to much. Bath are the only decent football team really, and all are very poorly attended.

At Manchester Uni, the biggest in Britain possibly Europe, no-one cares about the Uni football team.

However in some sports the standard is pretty good, like swimming, athletics, cricket (gone downhill recently), with plenty of unis having national team representatives.

The best University for sport in England is Loughbrough.

[comme]

Hmmm, so Eurpean highschool don't have any inter-school games, either?

Yes, sports can be very big in high-school. football is really an exceptional sport because you can be so good at a young age that you might be playing at 16 instead of going to school.

[TheAmerican]

Yes, sports can be very big in high-school. football is really an exceptional sport because you can be so good at a young age that you might be playing at 16 instead of going to school.

so these start players that are playing at 16,17, and 18 didn't even graduate from high school?

[comme]

My knowledge of the American high-school setup is a little sketchy in areas but your education system is very different to the British system.

In Britain, high school runs from 11-16, after which there is college (or sixth form), 16-18, and then university 18-21.

Whereas as I understand it American high schools run from about 14-18, before college.

In Britain there is no graduation like in America. You sit a series of exams (about 9 is normal, but anything from 6-12 is common) at 16 called GCSEs, which you get grades for. If you want you can then go onto to college where you do 4 AS level exams and 3 A level exams, and from there onto University.

So there is no graduation from high-school. Many footballers will have no qualifications at all.

[TheAmerican]

My knowledge of the American high-school setup is a little sketchy in areas but your education system is very different to the British system.

In Britain, high school runs from 11-16, after which there is college (or sixth form), 16-18, and then university 18-21.

Whereas as I understand it American high schools run from about 14-18, before college.

In Britain there is no graduation like in America. You sit a series of exams (about 9 is normal, but anything from 6-12 is common) at 16 called GCSEs, which you get grades for. If you want you can then go onto to college where you do 4 AS level exams and 3 A level exams, and from there onto University.

So there is no graduation from high-school. Many footballers will have no qualifications at all.

Many fooballers don't graduate from highschool? What happens to them if they're career doesn't turn out so well, or they simply don't make a lot of money? Are there community college systems like in America? I've always wondered that because euros seem to sound more educated then us, even though we have many more universities than europe.

[Oscar]

Hmmm, so Eurpean highschool don't have any inter-school games, either?

There were inter-school games at my college for football, also at whatever you call the education you get before high school in English (I don't remember if we became champions of the country, or just the city......we beat all the other teams at any rate) I think there were inter school games at my high school as well, but you had to sign up for it. Seeing as I already played football with my friends at the end of the week (it was just an excuse to get high and drunk really....which actually makes playing football more fun, no lie) I didn't bother signing up for it.

[AFCA]

In NL there's ' schoolvoetbal' championships between schools. But that's elementary school (7-12 yrs old)

[comme]

Many fooballers don't graduate from highschool? What happens to them if they're career doesn't turn out so well, or they simply don't make a lot of money? Are there community college systems like in America? I've always wondered that because euros seem to sound more educated then us, even though we have many more universities than europe.


If they don't make it (and if I recall 90% of those who start on YTS football schemes at clubs are no longer in the game at age 21) then they have to take jobs which don't require academic qualifications.

America has a lot more universities than Britain but ours are of a much higher overall standard.

[PaulGascoigne]

My knowledge of the American high-school setup is a little sketchy in areas but your education system is very different to the British system.

In Britain, high school runs from 11-16, after which there is college (or sixth form), 16-18, and then university 18-21.

Whereas as I understand it American high schools run from about 14-18, before college.

In Britain there is no graduation like in America. You sit a series of exams (about 9 is normal, but anything from 6-12 is common) at 16 called GCSEs, which you get grades for. If you want you can then go onto to college where you do 4 AS level exams and 3 A level exams, and from there onto University.

So there is no graduation from high-school. Many footballers will have no qualifications at all.


Not claiming to be the greatest expert on the English ed. system by any means, BUT...while our systems are different, they are not nearly as different as you suggest. What y'all call "college" is *pretty much* what we call "high school"--the tertiary level of education. Certainly we do not have kids over 18 who are only going to what you call "college"--unless they failed one or more grades. :) To us, "college" and "university," are essentially synonyms as far as the age of the kids that go to them--after 12 years of primary schooling.

We do have our kids go to "college" for 4 years whereas y'all basically send them for 3, with a potential for a 4th year of "honors" as I understand it if they did well in the first 3.

I personally wish our universities wouldn't have NCAA division I (i.e., full scholarship) soccer programs for men. I don't think it will necessarily make our professionals better in the future. However, college-educated kids were the backbone for our successful 1994 (especially) and 2002 world cup runs, and it might be argued that a bit of mental toughness might come out of going to college for certain kids. You won't find many people from other countries who are both footie professionals and have degrees from universities.

It is not common in baseball to have college grads, by the way, but much more so in basketball and NFL.

[comme]

Not claiming to be the greatest expert on the English ed. system by any means, BUT...while our systems are different, they are not nearly as different as you suggest. What y'all call "college" is *pretty much* what we call "high school"--the tertiary level of education. Certainly we do not have kids over 18 who are only going to what you call "college"--unless they failed one or more grades. :) To us, "college" and "university," are essentially synonyms as far as the age of the kids that go to them--after 12 years of primary schooling.

We do have our kids go to "college" for 4 years whereas y'all basically send them for 3, with a potential for a 4th year of "honors" as I understand it if they did well in the first 3.



I'm not saying they are completely different but you don't have anything like our GCSE or A Level system I believe. Most of this is just a difference in names, but I just wanted to make it clear because massive misunderstandins can come in different uses of the words "college" and "high school".

Also your university system is pretty different. We don't have "majors", we simply do one topic (in general).

The honours system is used in Scotland, which has a completely different education system to that of England and Wales, and is alot more similiar to the US style. In England you only don't get honours if you fail a year I believe (luckily I wasn't in that boat).

[John L]

Many fooballers don't graduate from highschool? What happens to them if they're career doesn't turn out so well, or they simply don't make a lot of money? Are there community college systems like in America? I've always wondered that because euros seem to sound more educated then us, even though we have many more universities than europe.

Most European countries (and I'm assuming this for England) have a heavily tiered educational system - Right about 12-13 the students take big tests that determine their academic careers - And probably the rest of their life - If you do really well, you go onto academic high schools (e.g., Hoch Schule in Germany) and then have tests for college and universities - If you don't do well, you get shunted into separate vocational schools (e.g., Real Schule in Germany) - And thats how you spend the rest of your life - Once you're in it there's usually little chance of getting from the vocational track into the academic track - The kids you meet from Europe have probably gone through the academic track and have met the system's very high standards - But they're the cream of the crop

American schools tend to try to include everything in each big high school - Most schools have classes for college prep and those for other students - But everyone's in the same school, and with good grades you can transfer up into the college-prep track - Larger cities and counties may try to concentrate some vocational stuff in one school and academics in another - But the vast majority of suburban schools try to include everything in each school - Also, American schools tend to be the focus for most activities in the community for kids - Music, Sports, Theater, Clubs, etc - In Europe this type of stuff just doesn't exist in the school system itself

[TheAmerican]

Most European countries (and I'm assuming this for England) have a heavily tiered educational system - Right about 12-13 the students take big tests that determine their academic careers - And probably the rest of their life - If you do really well, you go onto academic high schools (e.g., Hoch Schule in Germany) and then have tests for college and universities - If you don't do well, you get shunted into separate vocational schools (e.g., Real Schule in Germany) - And thats how you spend the rest of your life - Once you're in it there's usually little chance of getting from the vocational track into the academic track - The kids you meet from Europe have probably gone through the academic track and have met the system's very high standards - But they're the cream of the crop

I guess that's why a lot of kids from Asia and Europe come to American colleges/universities. They may not be the cream of the crop in their home, but they still want a university education and have to come to the US to get it. And even though they aren't the smartest in their homeland, they end up wipping the floor, academic-wise, with the average American student. I've noticed that with most foreign students here.

[RichardL]

In England, the exams you take at 16 are generally good enough to secure an ordinary job. Failing to get a university degree doesn't condemn you to life of flipping burgers. You can easily leave school at 16 and get a job working at a bank or in an office etc. Many companies recruit people at 16 and pay for them to go to night-classes to get more formal qualifications.

Universities/colleges (6th form college isn't generally a seperate college system - just a couple of extra years at the same school to sit higher exams) don't have college sports because there's no money in it. University sports are just recreational and the is absolutely no such thing as a sports scholarship - it's purely academic. There have been a few footballers who have been to university - Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez for one - but most just join clubs at 16.

There are competitions for school teams, right up to national level, organised usually as a cup competition. In my part of the world anyway, they was a kind of league system for the dozen or so schools in the area, and there was also a county cup. I think the county cup winners could advance to a national cup.
Unlike the US (if the high-school movies are to believed) there was no kudos at all to being in the school teams. Kids in the school teams don't get any kind of privileges, but on the other hand, kids aren't required to have a certai "grade average" to be elligible for the team. Without exception, the only people who'll watch even the biggest of school matches will be parents of the kids involved, perhaps the odd friend of girlfriend. That's it. Nobody else. Typically, apart from the kids involved, nobody even knows schools matches are taking place. The rest of the school wouldn't consider watching them play any more than they'd consider watching kids learning the clarinet.

[RichardL]

Most European countries (and I'm assuming this for England) have a heavily tiered educational system - Right about 12-13 the students take big tests that determine their academic careers - And probably the rest of their life - If you do really well, you go onto academic high schools (e.g., Hoch Schule in Germany) and then have tests for college and universities - If you don't do well, you get shunted into separate vocational schools (e.g., Real Schule in Germany)
We used to have that, but it was abandoned in the 1960s, or around then. Ther are talks about possibly bringing something similar back as we did move towards a more American system of learning a bit about everything in the last 20 years or so, but it's not thought to have worked.

There was a TV documentary last year about taking a group of 16 year olds, all of whom were tipped for top grades in their exams, and teaching them for a month at a 1950s style boarding school, with 1950s style teaching, discipline, attitudes, clothing, hairstyles and food. When they first got there they sat an exam. Most failed, some really badly, but many thought they'd done OK. It was only after the ones that had scraped a pass were feeling pleased with themselves that it was revealed that it wasn't a 1950s O level that they'd sat, but the 1950s "Eleven Plus", the exam given to 11 year olds to determine which type of school they'd be sent to for their education.

[TheAmerican]

In England, the exams you take at 16 are generally good enough to secure an ordinary job. Failing to get a university degree doesn't condemn you to life of flipping burgers. You can easily leave school at 16 and get a job working at a bank or in an office etc. Many companies recruit people at 16 and pay for them to go to night-classes to get more formal qualifications.

God-bless England and their socialist system. :)

[comme]

There was a TV documentary last year about taking a group of 16 year olds, all of whom were tipped for top grades in their exams, and teaching them for a month at a 1950s style boarding school, with 1950s style teaching, discipline, attitudes, clothing, hairstyles and food. When they first got there they sat an exam. Most failed, some really badly, but many thought they'd done OK. It was only after the ones that had scraped a pass were feeling pleased with themselves that it was revealed that it wasn't a 1950s O level that they'd sat, but the 1950s "Eleven Plus", the exam given to 11 year olds to determine which type of school they'd be sent to for their education.


It's a different system though, in fairness. The whole structure of learning has completely changed, not entirely for the worse.

If you got many of the kids of the 1950s to do Key stage 2 (the modern 11 plus) they would have a job on in some areas (particularly science).