The new placement agency will be Europe’s largest focusing on US college sports, following Keystone’s acquisition of Sport-Scholarships KEG. The Oslo-based company has previously acquired Athletes Global Management and College Scholarships USA.

To date the three firms operating across nine European countries have helped over 6,700 students access a combined $441 million in scholarship funding.

“With the launch of Keystone Sports, we have created Europe’s largest US college sports placement agency,” CEO of Keystone Erik Harrell said.

“At Keystone, our commitment is to help students make one of the most important decisions of their lifetimes, namely, which university program to pursue. This commitment now extends to student athletes via Keystone Sports.”

Earlier in 2021, Keystone merged with Educations Media Group to create a mega student search business, in addition to postgrad specialist FindAUniversity.

“The UK and Europe are well-established sources of talented athletes, especially in soccer, tennis, and golf”

Keystone Sports is the latest addition to the company’s portfolio of global student recruitment, enrolment and retention services (the acquisition of UniQuest added to it enrolment generation capability), the company noted.

“The UK and Europe are well-established sources of talented athletes, especially in soccer, tennis, and golf,” said Fabien Miard, head of Keystone Sports.

“Through Keystone Sports, US college coaches will gain unprecedented access to a wide network of talented athletes from Europe seeking to pursue their sports passion and get a great education abroad.”

Along with helping student athletes pursue “sports and academic dreams” in the US, Keystone Sports will also seek to strengthen the range of support and counselling services to students during their studies, including assistance with insurance, tutors and athletic trainers.

The nine European countries Keystone Sports operates in include Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria and the UK.

CSUSA, Sport-Scholarships and AGM were all created by former international student athletes wanting to spread awareness of opportunities in the US.

“With Keystone Sports, we will be able to help a greater number of student athletes in Europe pursue their sports and academic dreams in the US,” Harrell concluded.