Early College Recruiting: "It's Killing All Of Us"

Yesterday's New York Times ran a front page story that told readers what anyone involved with high level youth sports already knew: that colleges are reaching further and further down the grade levels in their recruiting.  It is must reading for any parent of a high school athlete who hopes wants to play at a high level in college.  Although the piece touched on a number of sports the focus was on soccer, and primarily girls soccer.

“It’s killing all of us,” said none other than University of North Carolina coach Anson Dorrance of the practice of committing scholarships to players as young as 9th grade. He is said that he is increasingly making early offers to players who do not pan out years later.  “If you can’t make a decision on one or two looks, they go to your competitor, and they make an offer,” Dorrance said. “You are under this huge pressure to make a scholarship offer on their first visit.”

While many are critical of the tend, an arms race mentality ensures it will continue.   Just as many big-time sports universities insist they have to pay their football coach more than the college president because if they don't their competition will, women's soccer coaches are afraid if they don't go after 8th graders - NCAA rules be damned - rival coaches will.

The Times piece features 15-year old Haley Berg of Celina, Texas, who committed to attend the University of Texas on a soccer scholarship before she started high school.  Ironically, Texas coach,“It’s detrimental to the whole development of the sport, and to the girls,” Haley’s future coach at Texas, Angela Kelly, who recruited Berg, said if they she did not do it, other coaches would, and would snap up all of the best players. Many parents and girls say that committing early ensures they do not miss out on scholarship money.  Virginia coach Steve Swanson said, “To me, it’s the singular biggest problem in college athletics.”

The sad part of this story is those athletes who rush into such an important decision years before they know what they really want and then find they do not like the school, or they just cannot play at that level but have passed up an opportunity to play at a lower level program better suited to their ability.

Their (F.A.) Cup Runneth Over - Not

The English F.A. Cup completed its 4th Round this weekend and there were some mixed feelings among the clubs and their fans.

The Cup is open to teams from the Premier League down to the low levels of semi-pro sides and theoretically one of these clubs of part-timers could knock off a Manchester United or Chelsea.  Sort of like the Lakewood Blue Claws, a Phillies Single A farm team, playing the Boston Red Sox in a play-off.  It never really happens but the fans can dream.

This raises the dilemma of whether it is better for one of the "minnows" as the lower level teams are called, playing a peer against whom they have a chance, but with a lower profit, or facing a Premier League side which would guarantee a large crowd and probable television money.  It's sort of like the lower level college Football Bowl Division teams playing the Ohio States, Florida States and Alabamas of the world in the opening weeks of the season.  In return for being cannon fodder, they get a big payday.  The difference is they have a choice.  In the Cup, there is a random draw after each round. 

Sam Borden has an interesting piece on this topic in today's New York Times.  For all the information on this tournament that dates back to 1871, see the Cup's website.  The 5th round begins February 15.

England's Oldest International Player Dies

England's oldest international player, who gave up the most famous goal in U.S. soccer history, died yesterday at age 93.

As reported by the Associated Press Bert Williams, nicknamed "The Cat" earned 24 caps, an FA Cup and two First Division championships with Wolverhampton in the pre-EPL days and was a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE).  But it was one goal he allowed in 1950 that haunted him for more than 60 years.

 The United States and Britain played a World Cup match before 10,151 fans in Belo Horizonte, Brazil  on June 25, 1950.  The Brits came in heavily favored, having shut out Chile, 2-0 in the opener while Americans were losing to Spain, 3-1.  In the early going Williams was a spectator watching his teammates bombard the U.S. goal, seemingly biding their time until the first shot went in and opened the floodgates.

But it never happened.  Instead, in the 38th minute midfielder Walt Bar from Philadelphia put a shot on goal and Joe Gaetjens deflected it past Williams.  That lone goal stood up - despite a foul by Charlie Colombo just outside the box that led to a free kick by the legendary Alf Ramsey that American keeper Frank Borghi barely flicked off the line.  This was long before ESPN, YouTube and instant news and it took some time for the score to reach the rest of the world.  When it did, some assumed the 1-0 was a telegraph operator's mistake and it had actually been 10-1 for England.  Another account had the New York Times holding off printing the score, fearing a hoax.

But it was true and Williams remembered.  Long after he retired following a distinguished career with the Wolves, he said in 2010 before England played the United States in the World Cup in South Africa, "It’s taken a lot of forgetting as far as I am concerned.’’

The U.S. - England match was recounted in a book called "The Game of Their Lives" and a movie of the same name.  Jere Longmann wrote an excellent piece on the game in the New York Times in 2009, focusing on Bahr and the surviving American players.

The End in Soccer and in Life

   Sports Illustrated columnist Steve Rushin, one of the best sportswriters on the planet in my book, wrote in this week's issue about "the end," generally meaning the end of games.  "Sports, especially, are all about the end," Rushin concludes.
    After talking about buzzer beaters in basketball, walk-offs in baseball and quoting from the Doors' song, The End, Rushin gets around to soccer:
   "Soccer surely has the best ending, because the end isn't really the end at all, thanks to the stoppage time added on after 90 minutes of regulation.  And who wouldn't want that at the end of life, a fourth official at your bedside, holding an electronic signboard with a lit 7 indicating seven years tacked-on to compensate for all the time-wasting you did in the previous 90?"
   Somehow I never thought of it that way, but he makes a good point.