Athlete of the Month - March

5 min read

Every month, our team get together and select a candidate for our FirstPoint USA "Athlete of the Month". This is always a tough decision, with so many fantastic nominations there is always a bit of debate about the outcome. Our staff have come to the conclusion that the Athlete of the Month for March 2012 should be awarded to soccer client, Colin Okirie! Well done to you Colin! Colin has secured a fantastic scholarship to the University of California State, Fullerton through FirstPoint USA. We caught up with Colin to find out more about his background and how he feels about going out to the States : What is your sporting background? I started to play football from the age of 9 at my local club Khalsa Football club. I really enjoyed my time there and I am very grateful for all the support I have received from all of the managers and my team mates. Ever since I started playing for Khalsa I then became obsessed with football... I played every day without fail in at the park near my house and at the corner shops where there was light in the winter! haha. From Khalsa I then moved to Coventry City where I spent 3 years. It was a good experience to be involved in a professional academy and I learned a lot from my time there. From there I Have played for Stratford town and Warwick Racing club which is my current team. What made you apply to FirstPoint USA?

A few of my friends have gone through FirstPoint USA, so when it came time to make a decision on my future... it wasn’t a hard choice for me and my family to make! I wanted to continue to be involved with football at a high level but was not prepared to abandon my education What made you chose the University of California State University, Fullerton? I had some contact from other Universities but when Cal state got into contact with me, I could just see myself fitting in really well. From my conversations with the head coach, Bob Almond - he really sold the place to me and my family. After taking everything into consideration, my family and I agreed that the best decision for me would be to attend Cal state. I am very pleased with the decision, I cannot wait! What do you hope to achieve through your time there? I hope to achieve a degree and a once in a lifetime experience in an extraordinary place. After my time at Cal state I want to play professional football! Were you pleased with the offers you were made? I was very flattered an overwhelmed with the interest I received so yes I was pleased and thanked all of the colleges that took time to get in contact with me. Would you recommend FirstPoint USA to others? Most definitely!! The staff were great and were hugely helpful and I am appreciative. The company is run very well and everything went smoothly and efficiently which I am happy about. I don’t even want to think about how difficult the process would have been with the guys to help me and my family. What advice would you have for anyone who is considering joining the program? If you want to carry on playing your favourite sport at a high level but do not want to give up a university education this is the way to go! You have to really want it and be willing to put the work in! Try your best and I’m sure you will get what you want out of it and will be as happy as I am.... Good luck :) Testimonial from Colin's FirstPoint USA Sports Consultant, Kevin McCann "Colin Okirie has been really good to work with. A very good example of someone who came onto the program quite late in the year, but had the right attitude to get through his checklist in great time. He also strived to attend as many client games as possible as early as possible which made his footage turnaround very quick in comparison to a lot of others. Good support from his family from the off, he is a very likeable guy who approached the program with a positive mindset and chipped in with a good bit of banter." Kevin also revealed some of his nicknames for Colin : Coldroun of Fire Col Meat Colossus Colza Da Housecat

and.....Killer Okirie

California State University, Fullerton is a regional university located in Orange County, a technologically rich and culturally vibrant area of metropolitan Los Angeles, and was ranked No. 33 in all regional universities in the West by the U.S News in their 2012 rankings. California State University, Fullerton's academic departments and programs are organized into 8 colleges:

College of the Arts
Steven G. Mihaylo College of Business and Economics
College of Communications
College of Education
College of Engineering and Computer Science
College of Health and Human Development
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

The university participates in the NCAA Division I Big West Conference. They have 13 national championships in eight different sports.

We would love to congratulate Colin on this fantastic opportunity, and to thank him for taking the time out to share his thoughts and experiences with us.

We wish Colin every success for his time in the USA!