Category: E. SPORTS COMMENTARY
Duh?
H.R. 10351 – THE TEAM USA ACT
I asked Chat about International athletes in American Colleges and Universities:
- Top-level starters: Your preliminary examination of selected teams and divisions suggested that international players could account for around 90% of starters in some groups. That remains a preliminary sample estimate, not a verified national figure.
- Scholarship distribution: You raised the question of whether international recruits receive a disproportionate share of tennis scholarship aid. Roster counts alone cannot answer it; we need actual scholarship-dollar or financial-aid data.
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August 5th, 1999 From TENNIS WORLD by Beth German:
“The NCAA is also to be blamed for not keeping tennis specific numbers. It is impossible to find out how many international players take roster spots, scholarships or Graduate from college.”
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Soccer?
More and more, it is leading to a dead end for U.S.-born athletes. In increasing numbers, they are being squeezed out of collegiate competitive sports by a combination of rising international student-athlete participation rates and shrinking roster numbers ushered in as part of last year’s settlement of a class-action lawsuit, House v. NCAA
The son’s odds of making a Division I roster have plunged since his father’s days. His plight comes into sharp focus when you look at 17th-ranked Missouri State, where the 27-man roster includes 26 international student-athletes spanning the globe from Canada, Colombia, England, Hungary and Ireland to Italy, Japan, Portugal, Scotland and Spain.
Among the country’s best programs, it’s more of the same. The top-25 teams in the NCAA rankings feature 265 international student-athletes, which represent 36.9 percent of the available roster spots. Overall, foreign-born student-athletes make up 34 percent of all Division I men’s soccer participants.
The round of 16 in Men’s NCAA Division I tennis, play today. A quick survey of the team’s starting lineups, excepting Ohio State, feature about 90% international players. Assuming the ones who are starters get the scholarsips, they also get 90% of the grants. And NIL/Portal cash.
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“I wonder how many Athletic Directors silently came to a conclusion similar to this? 1. All sports are counted in the standings for our ‘Conference Cup’? 2. We are in a conference with mostly good tennis teams with all foreign players. And we give the 8 girls and 4 and 1/2 boys grants to internationals. 3. I can find a better place for that size of budget.
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- They mentioned that NIL opportunities have changed the equation for top American juniors. Players can now earn meaningful income while competing in college, making it less financially urgent to leave school immediately for the lower levels of professional tennis.
- The discussion also touched on how college players now receive:
- world-class coaching,
- strength and conditioning,
- sports science,
- and frequent competition against future professionals,
making college a stronger developmental pathway than it was a decade ago.
- They contrasted today’s environment with previous generations, when the expectation for top juniors was often to turn professional immediately if they had the opportunity.
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THERE ARE ONLY TWO MAJOR WAYS TO RECOUP PARENTAL/FAMILY INVESTMENT: 1. PRO TENNIS (IN NC ONLY ISNER, WILKISON, AND SADRI MADE ANY LIFETIME $) AND 2. COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS. THE RISING COST OF HIGHER EDUCATION MAKES SCHOLARSHIPS MORE VALUABLE AND MORE APT TO AFFECT THE CHOICE OF SCHOOL AND SPORT TO PURSUE.
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!!!!! This has not been properly emphasized–What matters is scholarships. The starters get the money and they are 90% international.
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Some personal comments from an old tennis coach/”sports fan”
- College tennis players are better because the money has made college tennis a better option than the tradtional Challenger route.
- College tennis has become the “minor leagues” of Pro Tennis.
- 1970-NAIA tennis rosters changed to almost all foreign, almost overnight.
- Now all divisions of college tennis rosters, save D111, are the same .
- Scholarships are the only source of aid for American families.
- Fear of lawsuits has been a major concern.
- The age of Tennis and Basketball players is a major factor.
Cruel ? Our children ?
Recruiting gossip is no longer about “blue chip” or ” 5 Star “, 17/18 year American high schoolers. Recruiters have a bag of money to offer to “portals”. They are often 23 years old. Some have transferred 3-4 times. We are letting graduate students play. Some are “eligible” six or seven years after admission.
American Tennis families have suffered from this for years. Poor to rich.
Basketball has been a bedrock for mostly poor kids. Will international older players, often with backgrounds of professional play, join tennis in taking away our children’s opportunites ?
This has to be dealt with soon. And it affects many other sports than tennis and basketball.
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Isn’t it about time some of our organizations screw up their courage and use their time, money and efforts to make these facts available to American parents and players.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT VOTE
LEGISLATION OVERVIEW: H.R. 10351 – THE TEAM USA ACT
Hopefully this current bill will be approved before Congress adjurns.
Why it matters
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Why? Because for every international that recieves the scholarship, or money, or education,etc., that bumps an American. While this affects all global sports, basketball hopefuls should be most concerning. Poor kids, black ones predominately, have used basketball as a major and rare opportunity to lift themselves. No pun intended.
For every opportunity offered abroad, we often deny one of our most needy.
While this is a “sticky wicket”, the issue should be “on the agenda” in the making
of reasonable changes demanded ( NIL/PORTAL controls ).
Here are some related personal blogs :
LEGISLATION OVERVIEW: H.R. 10351 – THE TEAM USA ACT
Here is a clean, plain-text version formatted for easy copying and pasting:
LEGISLATION OVERVIEW: H.R. 10351 – THE TEAM USA ACT
Bill Title: Training and Education for American Members in University Sports and Athletics Act (TEAM USA Act)
Bill Number: H.R. 10351
Introduced Date: September 2026
Key Sponsors: House Education Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Senator Jon Husted (R-OH)
SUMMARY OF KEY PROVISIONS:
1. 20% Roster Cap:
Limits international student-athletes to a maximum of 20% of the total official roster for any individual varsity sport at higher education institutions.
2. Title IV Funding Enforcement:
Ties compliance directly to federal student aid eligibility under Title IV of the Higher Education Act. Colleges or universities that violate the 20% limit on any single varsity team risk losing access to federal student assistance, including Federal Pell Grants and federal student loans.
3. Definition of International Student-Athlete:
Applies to any athlete who:
– Is not a U.S. citizen, national, or lawful permanent resident (green card holder), OR
– Receives or has ever received salary, scholarship, or financial assistance from a foreign Olympic or Paralympic committee.
4. Timeline & Implementation:
– Proposed Effective Date: July 1, 2029 (beginning with the 2029–2030 academic year).
– Grandfathering: The current text includes no waiver, phase-in period, or exemption for athletes already enrolled when the law takes effect.
MOST AFFECTED SPORTS:
While international athletes comprise ~4% to 7% of overall NCAA DI athletes, the cap would heavily impact sports with high international representation, including:
– Tennis
– Swimming & Diving
– Golf
– Track & Field / Cross Country
– Soccer
– Rowing
“THERE MUST BE SOMEWAY OUT OF HERE”
The technique called “Spearing”, or using your head in football tackling, caused serious problems in the late 1960’s. Currently the NFL is experiencing a rash of similar frightening injuries. Sixty years later.
Some say injury problems will doom football.
I wrote this many years ago:
” Sports can break your heart and/or your neck. About the time schools consoli-
dated, a football tackling technique called “spearing” became popular. And it was
lethal. During this “evolving” time several kids were killed or paralyzed. Spearing
was often the villain. Any young football coach should read O. Charles Olsen’s
small book called “The Prevention of Football Injuries.” Olsen’s theory is centered
on E = 1⁄2 mv2 ( 1972 ).
Or Energy = one half mass times velocity squared. Or, the players are
faster, stronger, and the hitting is harder.
When schools integrated the smaller kids were eliminated from football. Big-
ger kids, many African American, weight training programs, and steroids in some
instances, produced MANY dangerous hits.”
Some said :…you can’t take the head out of football!”
Or “…you can’t change the rules and still have football fans will support”.
My guess is that football’s survival depends on the players themselves.
NEW RECRUITS ?
How about the Prisons of the world? Surely there are some capable inmates willing to play college football.
ALL IN , OR OUT ?
The President said new rules for College Athletics would be done “,,,early next week.”
That was March 13.
Head knockin starts this week.
The NCAA Rulebook is about reliable as the above mentioned promise.
Nevertheless some semblance of control is needed urgently. Since no one has a clue, here is an interim proposal :
PLAY BY “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM RULES (Below ).
Until the Tech Billionaires decide to contest the Oil barons, no body else should ante up.
The problem to solve is–How MUCH do we pay them?
RECKONING
| More institutions are dipping into their endowments — and alienating donors at the worst possible moment. |
Higher Education taping Endowments to “survive”?
A LINKEDIN article today sites this as a real problem.
Is money being siphoned off to pay new Athletics demands?
COLLEGE TO PRO?
As the world turns !
(From—ESPN Wimbledon broadcast of the Ben Shelton–Otto Virtanen first-round match yesterday, the commentators had a brief discussion about the changing path from college tennis to the ATP Tour.
The main points they made were:
- College tennis is no longer viewed as a detour from professional tennis. The commentators noted that more elite players are spending one or more years in college before turning pro because the level of competition is so high.
- Ben Shelton was used as the prime example. They pointed out that Shelton played at the University of Florida under his father, Bryan Shelton, won the NCAA singles championship, and then made an exceptionally rapid transition to the ATP Tour.
- They mentioned that NIL opportunities have changed the equation for top American juniors. Players can now earn meaningful income while competing in college, making it less financially urgent to leave school immediately for the lower levels of professional tennis.
- The discussion also touched on how college players now receive:
- world-class coaching,
- strength and conditioning,
- sports science,
- and frequent competition against future professionals,
making college a stronger developmental pathway than it was a decade ago.
- They contrasted today’s environment with previous generations, when the expectation for top juniors was often to turn professional immediately if they had the opportunity.
This wasn’t presented as a formal statistic but rather as commentary on how the landscape has changed, with Shelton serving as an example of a player who successfully used college tennis as a springboard to the top of the professional game.
SAINT AUGUSTINE
From today’s THE ATHLETIC (by Austin Meek), a comment on the current state of college athletics:
” By now, it should be obvious that “equitable reform” and “competitive advantage” don’t fit neatly in the same box. In trying to have it both ways, leaders in college sports sound a lot like St. Augustine: God, grant me chastity, but just not yet.”
