FAQs

Below are answers to some of our most common questions. We’ve been doing tours like this since 2006 – so don’t worry, we are going to cover all the details through the application process and pre-trip planning. If you have additional questions you can’t find the answer to here, please feel free to contact us by phone, text, or e-mail anytime.

Most Common Questions

To be considered for a spot on one of our teams you need to APPLY HERE. The application is completely free and will walk your through all the steps including uploading a letter of recommendation and a video. Just read and follow along. We look forward to seeing your application! If you need to do more research first, check out our different tours offered HERE.

Of course. Please find more info about different trips, dates, cost etc. on our TOURS page. You can find more info about our company on our ABOUT US page. There is so much info on our website like PICTURESTESTIMONIALS, and more. Just remember to get started with an APPLICATION.

Do you want to talk to a real live person? Please feel free to contact us anytime at 984-225-1040 or tim@studentathleteworld.com. Just remember to leave a voicemail if we don’t answer.

We get recommendations from coaches and our recruiting partners around the country. It’s likely we got your name from a showcase event you did or from your coach. It’s a nice honor to be invited to apply. However, it doesn’t mean you’ve been offered a spot on a team. The invite is simply to apply, which you can do HERE.

SAWUSA takes athletes around the world to represent the USA on International Sports Tours! You can read about our team on our STAFF page. You can read about SaWUSA on our ABOUT US page. Get started by APPLYING HERE.

You can view the price of each tour on the TOURS page. International travel is not cheap – that’s why so few people actually do it. The places we travel are far away, and we travel with comfort, style, and safety in mind. However, International travel is one of the best investments into your future. It will become part of who you are. If you can make it work, you won’t regret it! Also, we have many fundraising options. With just a little work in our fundraising campaign many of our athletes are able to cover the entire cost of the trip. Explore the FUNDRAISING page for options. To get started please APPLY HERE.

Selection Process

There is not a specific deadline date. However, each tour and team has limited spots and fill quickly. Once they are full we cannot accept additional applicants. So, if you want to be considered please finish your application as soon as possible.

Our application process involves the four steps below. The reason we have such a detailed application process is that we want to make sure we are taking athletes that will represent themselves, us, and the United States in a positive way. It’s an honor to be selected from such a large pool of applicants!

-STEP 1 – Create a player profile (biography, stats, honors, awards, etc.)
-STEP 2 – Upload video to be evaluated by SAWUSA staff.
-STEP 3 – Upload letters of recommendation from teachers and coaches to be evaluated by SAWUSA staff.
-STEP 4 – Interview with a SAWUSA Tour Coordinator.

SAWUSA takes great pride in selecting the top quality STUDENTathletes that will serve as ambassadors representing themselves, their communities, and the USA. We receive recommendations from youth, high school, club, and college coaches across the country, including the coaches who will coach our teams. We ask them to make their recommendations based not only on athletic ability, but also on depth of character, leadership ability, and scholastic efforts. Our goal is to fill the most competitive team possible and represent the USA with a top team of athletes for each tour or tournament we enter (most of our players have team, regional, and state honors). In the simplest of terms, someone somewhere has recommended you to us as an outstanding athlete and ambassador. We give you the opportunity to apply to travel with us overseas, taking in a new culture and extending those qualities into international competition. We work very hard to make sure we are getting good athletes to represent the USA the best that we can. This is why it is a compliment to you for receiving the invitation. However, an invitation does not mean you have been offered a spot on the team. You will need to be selected after completing our application and interview process. If you think you would be a good ambassador of the USA, please APPLY HERE.

About SAWUSA

It is very possible that you have never heard of SAWUSA. If your coach hasn’t heard of us, there is a decent chance we haven’t heard of your coach as well. Remember there are 350 million people in the USA. If you only believe those you know personally are real, you’d be missing a lot of opportunities. We are STUDENTathleteWorld Tours and we have represented the USA in many tournaments and tours around the World since 2009. We select our athletes based on the recommendations of coaches, athletes and athletics professionals, and we take the initiative to contact those players directly. We do not extend an open invitation to just anyone who wants to go. SAWUSA athletes are a select group of elite athletes that represent their team, schools, and country while they are overseas. We choose to take only those we feel will do this with the class, integrity and character. If you are interested, make sure to APPLY HERE.

Our STAFF is made up of former college coaches. We have decades of experience recruiting athletes, coaching athletes, and taking teams on international tours. You can read more about us and our story on our ABOUT US page.

About Our Tours

How many times in your life will you ever get to do this? Traveling around the world to compete on an International level is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It is our goal to make sure that it is one that you cherish forever!

We take care of everything. Having local partners show us around their country is a great way to really get to know new places. All you have to do is show up, enjoy, and compete!

You will travel with SaW professional staff members, local tour guides, and professional coaches that are constantly with our athletes during the trip. Safety is our first priority. We work in cooperation with partners in our various countries to ensure that each tour goes as smoothly as possible. These partners provide our teams with tour leaders that pick up the teams at the airport and remain with them until they return home. Our staff meets the athletes at the gateway airport and accompanies them over on the international flight.  In addition to the touring staff, coaches also take an active role in the group’s day-to-day activities. They tour, sightsee, and eat with the players as well as stay in the same hotels.  We provide our athletes with the opportunity for supporters to travel with them if they choose. These supporters are typically family members or family friends. Though they do not play an active role in the group’s leadership, they do provide additional support.

Absolutely! You can travel alone and have the time of your life or you can turn your adventure into a family vacation. Either way, your adventure will be one that you will never forget! The cost is the same for family and or friends as it is for the athlete.

Playing Sports Overseas

Your coach will call you before you leave to get a better idea of what each player can do as far as positions and experience. However you will meet your teammates and coaches in person for the first time at your departure airport on the first day of the trip. You will usually have a practice or two before your first contest when we land at your first destination. Some might think that is strange. However, this is the best thing about International travel – it’s unlike anything else you have ever done! It truly is amazing how most of our teams bond and are able to come together and play as a team having met each other at the departure airport a few days earlier.

Yes, we’ve had travelers sign professional contracts and of course playing on a team like this will look good on an athletic resume. However, this is not really the purpose of our trips. Please view the ABOUT US page on our website to better understand what our tours are about. Athletes looking to play professionally after college graduation would benefit from the experience gained on our tours as a preview of what that experience might be like. Athletes looking to play in college would benefit from our coaching staff, alumni list, and experience gained from representing their country.

SAWUSA works in conjunction with the NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA and other sanctioning bodies to ensure that any guidelines relating to our program and eligibility are met. We also advise all participating athletes to check with their member institutions and local school districts to make sure they are in compliance with any conference or school-specific regulations. For more information regarding NCAA eligibility and foreign tours, you can read the NCAA Regulations Governing Foreign Tours for Divisions I, II and III in their manuals at www.ncaa.gov under Legislation & Governance.

YES! We want your child to have a great experience both on the field/court and off. This doesn’t this mean that every athlete will play the exact amount of time, but we strive to make sure that each athlete is left with the feeling, ‘That was the coolest thing I have ever done!’

Almost all of the teams that we play are extremely competitive. Some countries are stronger than others in each respective sport. Our goal of each trip is to win the tournaments that we enter and compete against the most competitive teams we can find.

Cost and Fundraising

Planning international sports tours is an extremely tedious endeavor. We need to reserve flight prices, ground packages, hotels, destinations, buses, uniforms, games and tournaments, etc. many months in advance. Due to many moving parts, the profit margin on our trips is extremely tight. This careful planning means our cancellation policies are very important to our ability to offer these unique tours. You can cancel your trip, minus a processing fee, before January 1st. After January 1st, we do not offer refunds. We do offer travel insurance in case something prevents you from being able to travel.

Please visit our fundraising page for ideas.

  • Travel to your Departure Airport
  • Passport / Visa Fees
  • Individual Medical Insurance (Primary)
  • Travel Insurance (Recommended)
  • Customary Tipping (Bus drivers, etc.)
  • Personal Items: Souvenirs, Telephone Calls and Internet, Snacks, Drinks, etc.
  • Meals: Trips vary, but most include 2 to 3 meals a day.
  • Entrance fee for the Games/Tournaments
  • Round Trip Airfare from the Team’s Departure Airport
  • International Hotel Accommodations (Typically 3 and 4 Star Hotels; Occupancy is based on 2-4 to a room depending on the trip)
  • International Airport and Hotel Taxes and Service Fees
  • All Airport Transfers and Transportation to Scheduled Activities
  • Entertainment as Outlined in the Itinerary (Amazing Sightseeing Excursions, Educational Guided Tours)
  • Meals as Outlined in the Itinerary
  • Uniforms and Equipment
  • International & USA Sport Sanctioning and Approvals
  • An Experienced and Knowledgeable Local Tour Manager
  • An Experienced Coach
  • Outstanding SaW Service and Commitment to your Trip of a Lifetime
  • Teammates and Friendships that you will Remember Forever

Travel Related

We highly recommend that all participants and members of the traveling party obtain travel insurance. SaW has a partnership with a travel insurance company specifically set up to insure our tour. You can purchase travel insurance to protect your trip very easily. It is up to each athlete to provide their own health insurance. In the event that an athlete is injured while on tour, requiring assistance beyond what the staff or on-site medical personnel are able to provide, the tour leaders will take the athlete to a facility where the appropriate care can be provided. The cost of the services rendered does fall to the athlete. We recommend that athletes contact their primary health insurance provider to learn about how their health coverage operates internationally.

All participants including athletes, families, coaches, and chaperones need passports. We advise you to begin the process of obtaining a passport as soon as you decide to go on the trip. We need the passport a minimum of 120 days prior to departure. Late ticketing fees can apply if we do not have a passport at time of ticketing. SaW has a partnership with passport agencies and we can help you get an expedited passport if you need it in a hurry. It is up to each traveler to provide a passport.