FirstPoint USA is delighted to welcome Claire Kinloch Anderson as Head of Tennis to oversee the sport-specific service offering we provide to thousands of talented young athletes across the globe.
Claire joins FirstPoint at an incredibly exciting time of growth and expansion, where we as a business continue to diversify and develop the life-changing connections we provide between student-athletes and our expansive network of valued strategic partners and academic institutions in the US.
With a vast array of different experiences in the sport as not only an accomplished player and coach but also as a referee and administrator including roles with the LTA and Tennis Scotland, Claire’s arrival injects a real element of expertise and know-how into our tennis division.
On her appointment, Claire said: “I’m hugely excited to join FirstPoint USA and help the team increase the delivery of tennis scholarship opportunities to the abundance of talented players who are more than capable of going on that journey. I couldn’t be a greater advocate of US sports scholarships, having three children who have made the transition from playing outdoors in the rain through Scottish winters to enjoying truly world-class facilities now, both on the court and on campus.
“The perception I’d like to help FirstPoint change is that this is only an opportunity for the top rung of players. Yes, of course, we wish to continue to cater to those players, but also for those others who are keen to study in the US and play competitive tennis while doing so. That’s one of the main drivers - to reach out to those players, not only in the UK but in academies across Europe, as they can all benefit hugely from the opportunity.”
In addition to her long-standing experience within the sport, with three of her children currently on tennis scholarships in the States, Claire – who is fluent in French and German – provides real knowledge and insight on the end-to-end process of securing a sports scholarship from a parental perspective to add further value to FirstPoint’s team of sports specialists.
Three of Claire’s own children are currently undertaking tennis scholarships in the USA – Douglas, who attends one of the most famous athletic institutions of all time in Duke University, Lachie who currently plays at NCAA Division III institution, Tufts University, and Catriona who currently resides in Ohio at Kenyon College – don’t need to look far for inspiration, with current British men’s tennis top seed Cameron Norrie a one-time student-athlete at TCU in Fort Worth.
Commenting on the standard of facilities accessible via a US scholarship, Claire added: “When I first went to see Douglas at Duke, the way I described it was: this is the Disneyland of universities. It’s just phenomenal, the football stadium, the basketball, the opportunities for the players across sports, you just can’t compare that to anything here at home, it’s just not comparable. These are truly world-class facilities.”
FirstPoint USA Founder & CEO, Andrew Kean said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Claire to FirstPoint USA, a key appointment to our growing team of sports specialists who can provide real expertise to clients and coaches. We have for some time now identified tennis as a key growth sport for us, in the UK and internationally, with strong demand from our US coaches and partners – Claire will be instrumental in helping us offer life-changing opportunities to even more tennis talent.”
Continuing our charge forward as the world’s leading scholarships consultancy, FirstPoint USA is contiually focused on expanding and improving our dedicated team of specialist talent management consultants who have assisted thousands of young athletes to propel their athletic and academic careers through successful partnerships with top U.S institutions. In addition to this, we also have robust processes and support tools in place to help athletes understand the intricacies of their scholarship options, so we’re with them every step of the way.
We have a number of exciting opportunities available within the team, for more information on our roles - visit our careers page today.
For more information on the life-changing opportunities for young men and women that a sports scholarship in the USA can provide, why not schedule a call with one of our specialist consultants today?
FirstPoint USA is an international scouting service, providing recruitment services to hundreds of NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA member institutions seeking to identify the very best in overseas talent, both male and female.
The company was founded in 2001 by former University of Cincinnati All-American and Hall of Fame inductee, Andrew Kean, and evaluates over 100,000 prospective student-athletes, competing in over 20 different sports, across 187 countries each year.
