What Factors Can Bring Down A College Athletic System

The recent problems at Ohio State, College of Southern California, College of Tennessee, College of Michigan along with a amount of alternative colleges has taken the issues of university athletics into the forefront. Scandals like these have been taken place regularly for effectively over 26 years. One school in certain, Southern Methodist College, its soccer program was given the “death penalty” by the NCAA inside 1987 (a one year ban from competition) for the repeated violations during the early 1980s.

This post will point away who can absolutely hurt an athletic program and just how they can do certain serious damage to it./p>

Who: Boosters

These people are either graduates of the college/university or has sturdy connections to the college. They donate their time and/or revenue for their Alma mater to ensure that the college can excel academically and inside athletics too. For the most part, they make sure the sportsmen work effectively not just inside the classroom,but additionally about the field or courtroom. Plus, they are a next family to the sportsmen because they supply support for the players by providing guidance and aid them away once the athlete’s playing eligibility days are over.

How they mess upwards a program:

However, there is a certain element of people that give boosters a bad name as they are absolutely shady. These men isn’t a graduate or does not have a actual connections to the college/university at all. As a thing of truth, they are just a enthusiast of the college, simply like you and me. These guys like to maintain a close relationship with an athlete, First, they meet up with the athlete by providing buck handshakes. Here’s the setup: When shaking hands with all the booster, the athlete notices either a $10, $20, $50, or $100 bill inside the palm of their hand. Then, they provide athlete their company card and mention these cryptic words to them: “Should you need anything at all, simply let me recognize but offers it to you.” Anything means everything you are able to potential think of, including revenue, cars, clothing, jewelery, selecting upwards the dividers for lunch/dinner and certain extreme goods like trips and paid escorts (yes, if does result!)

In the older days, these “boosters” might get away with this type of action because everyone kept this a secret. Well, we’re living in the online age today, consequently anything can get article online at whenever. So, it’s no surprise that an athlete might drip the beans to confess what were held between them and the “booster.”

WHO: Family and Friends

Family and friends are an athlete’s largest and strongest network. They have had the experience inside the beginning since the athlete started playing football either because a kid or teen. The friends and family provide support when the athlete works effectively so that as words of encouragement when the athlete has a bad game.

How they can mess upwards a program:

Somehow, often there is one person that can break through the interior round “That Guy” Yes, “that guy” is someone who is a friend of the friend of the friend of someone inside the interior round. The goal of this outsider is to supply favors to the athlete (revenue, cars, clothing, jewelry,etc.) at whenever. But, the outsider wants payback once the athlete turns professional and signs a contract worth countless $. Unfortunately, the athlete turns professional and pays back the outsider, nevertheless what they how to start is that the NCAA already knows what was happening and punish not just the outsider nevertheless the college too. However, the athlete doesn’t receive any punishment at all.

Who: Local Businesses and Corporations

Local companies and corporations has a sturdy partnership with university and colleges football groups for several years. The companies might encourage their clients to attend the school’s home games and support the team and consequently, the college might supply advertisement space about the stadium and have both their flagship radio post and tv post promote the business. It’s a win-win situation for both parties included because every one could make revenue and create its brand at the same time.

How they can mess upwards a program:

Apparently, having their company being advertised about the stadium, about the radio, tv and inside magazines are deficiency of for certain corporations. They desire to have a close relationship with all the athlete(s) and one option to do this is doing particular favors to them, including give them freebies it is in the table. The feeling is that nobody is going to know because it’s amongst the company and the athlete.

Who: Athletes

There are two goals that a student athlete must accomplish whilst in school: 1) Graduate and 2) Win a championship, or at the least, have a really competitive team. An athlete must strive inside the classroom as well as on the field/court. There are a amount of student athlete who end upwards about the Dean’s List and be Academic All-Americans for their function inside both regions. Athletes wouldn’t actually consider messing upwards they eligibility by doing certain dumb stuff to endanger the athletic program.

How they can mess upwards a program:

An athlete can bring down the football program rapid by splitting any violation you are able to probably think off. These violations include like as: accepting presents or revenue, speaking to an agent; chatting to any associate with a expert team whilst because a student athlete; pay alternative students to either take tests, write forms, or do class projects for them; persuade teachers or teacher assistant to give them credit for attending class; or point shaving, where they work badly deliberately to indulge in a bet. In many cases, the sportsmen keep this a secret, nevertheless sooner than later someone (students, teachers, paid informants, etc.) tells the media regarding what’s happening and the alternative you recognize, a dirt has been created.

Who: Coaches

A coach is the leader of the team. Also, they are a next father to a athlete (or maybe a fact nowadays, the daddy that an athlete never had.) Plus, A coach is also plays the role of the team’s therapist, professional, determine, jury and executor with regards to the team regulations. Their goal is to find that their players graduate from college and hopefully change into expert sportsmen. They might often be there to aid a player away with any the problem is either about the field/court or about a own degree.

How they can mess upwards a program:

Now, you’d think that a coach who not put themselves inside a spot where the athletic problem continues on probation or worse, nevertheless it does result. One way is lying to officials regarding any recent violations or problems that were held inside the program. It is ideal for a coach to come clean and tell facts what happened because the cover upwards is obviously worse than the lay.

Another option is cheating. Coaches must usually run a clean program. However then, you’ve coaches who engage inside gambling where they exhibit sketchy coaching choices and drop their games deliberately to ensure that can cover a bet. Lose much more two games, good. However when you seem like you may be taking a dive every game, a red flag could increase and the review will start instantly.

A third and final option is the selecting policy. Colleges and colleges set a timetable when coaches can speak to recruits and when they cannot contact them at all. Once the colleges put in place the date, coaches cannot contact any fresh recruits by telephone (phone call or text message); by mail; by e-mail; through social media marketing (Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Skype, etc.); video conferencing or with a face-to-face meeting. Usually, coaches follow the policy and wait until the ban is lifted. But, there are certaincoaches that cannot wait to talk with all the fresh recruits plus they would ask them to a online gathering (Ex. birthday party, a cookout, a meet at the coach’s apartment, etc) for a meet-and-greet. Look, if the college lets you know not to speak to some of the fresh recruits, don’t do it. Just wait it away and once the college states that it can be ok, go ahead.
Final Word

Everyone that follows university football could usually display their support for the team. However because a enthusiast, don’t go too far to the point where the obsession is really sturdy that you’re ready to something for the team to win. Don’t do it!
Canyon

Trifold Increase In International Student Athletes Studying In American Colleges

Racing from training to the dining hall for a quick but wholesome dinner before retreating to her dorm for the night is a typical weeknight for Dana Gray. A freshman tennis player for East Carolina University, Gray is one of three international student athletes who make up almost one third of the team. Like a growing number of other student athletes across the world, Gray has moved to the United States to pursue an academic sporting career.

The rate of international student athletes studying in American colleges has almost tripled since 1999/2000, according to the 2010 National Collegiate Athletics Association Student-Athlete Ethnicity Report. Making up little more than 1.6 percent of all collegiate athletes during the 1999/2000 academic year, international students recruited to play for American college teams has risen to greater than 4 percent or a total of 17,000 athletes in 2010.

University of Tennessee Associate Professor of Recreation and Sport Management Robin Hardin has been researching the increase since 2007 and said international student athletes are attracted to American colleges for the increased training opportunities along with the opportunities to pursue tertiary education. “In some countries once you start excelling in athletics you’re pulled from the educational system,” Hardin said. But migrating to American colleges provides students with enhanced “athletic training resources and medical resources,” he said, adding, “The facilities are usually better on campuses than they are for some athletes internationally.”

Gray’s hometown of Rotorua on the North Island of New Zealand has only 56,000 residents and no squad training facilities or options to pursue tennis beyond the club level. But even nationally, “there honestly isn’t anything, especially in New Zealand,” Gray said. “You’re so isolated.” Gray said perhaps if she were in Europe or had enough to money, she could pursue competitive tennis on the pro tour. But at ECU, she said, everything is provided. “You have all the facilities you want, the coaches you want, everything is planned for you,” she said. “All you have to do is show up” – an idea foreign to many international student athletes.

The American collegiate sporting market is vastly different to most nations in the world, with athletics programs receiving large endowments from alumni and corporations alike. According to a 2000 collection of research titled, The Business of Sports, college athletic directors are charged with the responsibility to improve their programs in order to increase donations and subsequently improve their training facilities, coaching and support staff. However, it is college coaches who are delegated the role of continually searching for the best talent and recruiting athletes from American and international competitions to boost their sporting teams. Hardin said coaches are recruiting athletes regardless of their nationality or location.

Daniel Woods, 18, is an engineering freshman on the ECU swim team. A gold medal recipient at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games for his home nation of Wales, he credits his recruitment and at least nine other ECU swim team internationals to skill. “I don’t mean to sound big headed, but I guess it’s because we’re better,” Woods said. “We get selected to swim for international teams because they see our times and know that we can make their team better. It’s the only reason they do it. They don’t need to fill out a diversity index or anything like that,” he said.

Although according to the head women’s tennis coach at ECU, it’s not quite that simple. Tom Morris has been recruiting international students since he began coaching collegiate tennis 21 years ago. Ideally, he said he’d like to recruit locally, but explained some universities do not attract enough local students to fill team rosters.
This year, both North Carolina’s first and second ranked players in women’s tennis went to Ivy League colleges. But, as Morris explained, the ability of the number 20 Australian ranked player may be close to those top ranked North Carolina players. “[Recruiting internationals] is an equalizer; it gives non-elitist schools and opportunity to compete with elite schools,” Morris said. “Coaches may be able to recruit the number 20 tennis player from Australia and end up with the same quality Tennis player at their university.”

Recruitment however, is one area that has progressed over Morris’s two-decade coaching career. College sports teams used to be achieved by coaches travelling around to high schools or spending six weeks in Europe scouting, said Hardin. However, technology has made it much easier. “If I’m a swimmer, tennis or volleyball player in Romania, I can make a video clip of my match and email it to a coach or they can watch something live over the Internet,” he said. “The technology has really helped coaches be more exposed to those athletes and see what the athlete’s ability is.”

Similarly, Morris receives a number of emails from students looking for international opportunities. But also he said, the Internet allows coaches like Morris to look at rankings and find out their names, ages and addresses. “It’s easier [in tennis] to recognize athletes because we have a ranking system,” he said. Adding, “they have world rankings with the International Tennis Federation, so from 15 years olds, you can look at their date of birth and their [email] addresses.”

Along with technology, the rise of recruiting agencies has led to the increase of international student athletes. Students local and abroad utilize agencies such as Play Atlantic – the New Zealand company Gray used after being disappointed from her personal attempts – to create online profiles and upload videos onto YouTube to send to coaches abroad in order to secure scholarship positions on sports teams across the Unites States.

Play Atlantic, based in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, was established in 2003 after Charlie Bartlett, an international tennis student athlete turned assistant coach found the international students he was recruiting were struggling with eligibility. Today, the agency “helps with every step and process to go to America,” Bartlett said. “We get [students] eligible starting with what high schools exams they’ve taken… preparation for the SAT,” right through to securing scholarship positions, he explained.

Although their website, attracting more than 500 hits per day, allows athletes to create a free profile, paid premium packages guarantee students with a 95 percent success rate. “With us, it’s a proven system,” Bartlett asserts. “We’ve placed people, we’ve got our networks, we’ve got our contacts, we’ve built relationships over the last 8 years, we’ve got a proven track record with previous clients, [and] I personally know over 300 tennis coaches, who I talk to on a monthly basis.” However adding, “It’s against eligibility rules if I make guarantees.” Play Atlantic’s premium packages are signed to students who Bartlett and his co-director deem competitive for their preferred scholarship amount and position.

Gray and Woods are both part of the 63 percent of Division 1 international student athletes studying on full scholarships, according to Hardin’s current research. Labeling her scholarship a “free ride,” the opportunity to pursue tennis and receive a free education was one of Gray’s biggest influencers to study in America. Hardin found only 10 percent of all international student athletes were receiving no financial support – an amount no doubt helped by recruitment agencies.

Placing more than 400 student athletes with USA sports scholarships in their eight years, Play Atlantic has placed 30 tennis players in American colleges since September alone. “The way I look at it, if you’re good at a sport, you’re probably not good enough to make it professionally, so the second best thing is travel the world, travel America, be treated like a professional athlete, have the best facilities in the world – you can’t go wrong,” Bartlett said.

Further, the rising tuition prices internationally and opportunity for further education at a reduced cost, was a unanimous reason for the rise. Bartlett said, even with athletics, “education always comes first.”

However, everyone does not appreciate the use of recruitment agencies to secure team places on scholarships. Woods was cautious in stating he used an agency, preferring to say the coach recruited him. “When I was signing up for the NCAA, they asked if we used an agent, and my agent kept saying ‘Don’t say yes’ because it’ll cause a whole lot of complications. It’s really strict,” Woods said.

Further, the arguments against international student athletes competing abroad are rising. Following the tennis season last spring, Baylor University was ranked the top university in Division 1 Tennis without any American players. Women’s Tennis has the highest rate of international players, with an NCAA estimate of more than 35 percent in Division 1 teams, a figure apparent at ECU. However in the junior levels this is prohibited, with the National Junior College Athletic Association enacting a limit on international students on team rosters. Similarly, the NCAA has also received pressure to make a similar ruling as criticism rises over the increase in international students, especially when they take opportunities away from local students.

As Hardin’s research explored, many international student athletes have to abandon their education after they begin to excel in athletics. That means they are exposed to higher levels of competition and become fiercer in their ability.

“Back in the day there were some issues concerning the fairness of internationals, in terms of amateurism and age. But the NCAA is very distinctly making that a level playing field,” Morris clarifies. For those athletes who were unsuccessful as professional players, the American college market created a second chance for sport and their education, but “You can no longer do that,” Morris asserts.

However issues continue to arise with the number of international players on rosters, and from August 2012, the NCAA has made a ruling that all players must commence their collegiate sporting careers within six months of their high school graduation – a ruling that could have effectively prevented Gray from securing her place.

According to Hardin’s current research, although 47 percent of Division 1 international student athletes are from Europe and 24 percent from Canada, the remaining number are from Australia, New Zealand and other places whose school year operates on a different schedule to the United States’. Gray graduated in December of 2010, although secured her scholarship in March 2011 for an August 2011 start. The NCAA ruling may prevent more athletes like Gray from securing team places because their high school graduations are greater than six months from the start of college.

“They [NCAA] are making it more challenging for international students,” Bartlett explains. “I can see where they’re coming from, but there are a lot of international students out there. But there’s not enough American students. There’s a market – there’s a reason why these kids are coming.”

Although the NCAA rulings may create difficulties for international students, the potential for further increase continues. Despite Gray and Woods securing places that would otherwise be for American students, animosity is non-existent in their teams. Woods said his swim team is “probably the best team at welcoming everybody,” and the tennis team is the same.

As Gray leaves the campus-dining hall to head back to her dorm for a few hours of study before leaving for a tournament the next morning, she waves to a group of students who say hello – her teammates. Although the ECU tennis team is not ranked in the top 50, Gray and her teammates put their hope in a new Russian player. “She’s supposed to be really, really good.”