Easy fix for the foreign recruiting issue in the NCAA

This is the internet, that is how it goes. Big thing is proving others wrong. I once listed every 1000 yard rusher in Pro football history, had the school, their pro teams,. Dude comes on...you spelled....WHAT?????? That was early in my internet days, now its to be expected, Always so where is he wrong

Life lesson here for no charge.

1. Internationals in college sports are not a problem that needs to be fixed

2. This generation of kids are allergic to adversity. They have always had someone to fix their problems and take care of hard things for them. Say what you want about boomers, gen x, and even millinials but they are not afraid to fail or experience discomfort.

3. Grow up

4. This is not kids league sports. Not everyone gets a trophy and there are not participation ribbons.

5. The NCAA, NAIA, JUCO, and whatever other college sports association that exists DO NOT OWE YOU ANYTHING, including a roster spot. Make your own opportunities.

6. This is TF and XC, run faster, jump higher, throw farther. This is the most black and white least subjective competative sport in the world. Stop whining because you were not fast enough to make the team you wanted. You sound like Uncle Rico "If coach would have just put me in, we would taken state."

7. refer to #3

8. Lastly, and most importantly, Fail. Failure is the fire that turns iron to steel. Things that are easy and given freely are never appreciated. Failure is so much more beneficial to your growth as an athlete, student, and most importantly a person. When you fall down, GTF up and get back to the line. Stop blaming others and embrace and grow from your own imperfections and or failures

End Rant.

The NCAA was made to be a college sports association for high school students in AMERICA looking to further their education and have sports help them financially. Not an avenue for 27 year old foreigners to go win national titles while taking a mickey mouse major on the side. These colleges pay agents to recruit foreigners to their schools for monetary gain. If foreigners decided they really wanted to pursue an education, they would come here for high school, where programs ALREADY exist to sponsor them a free education at a nice private high school. They would be able to then learn English earlier and actually connect with XC fans, almost all of whom are English speaking. This isn't about me. I have a great scholarship and a roster spot at my dream uni. This is about fairness and the betterment of the sport for fans and athletes.

No, 16 year olds wouldn't be dominating other 16 year olds as easily as 27 year olds are dominating literal teenagers in the NCAA right now.

No. Academics are for everyone of all ages. 30 year olds can enroll as a freshman at a college. But athletics? That's different. Age gives a competitive advantage.

you're missing my point. and you're wrong, I'm doing fine scholarship wise and running at my dream program. my teammate who went to high school in the US and is Kenyan feels its unfair as well. His 27 year old contemporaries spend their entire days training and doping to steal his roster spot from him at a COLLEGE LEVEL because he was too busy actually obtaining a high school diploma in the country he plans going to college in

22 year olds dominate 18 year olds in the NCAA.

It does? Runners peak around 24. 27 year olds are at a disadvantage. Ban the 22-24 year olds and only allow 18 year olds and 30 year olds.

Not true. 27 is scientifically the physical peak age for all distances 100meters-marathon. And there's "college" athletes at this age.

The easiest way to solve this is to just discontinue cross country as a sanctioned NCAA sport and make it a club sport. That would basically keep the foreigners away, save the University Athletic department some money, and the general public would never notice the difference. They would celebrate your success like they would the Rugby team.

All you scrawny Johnnies from America could run against each other (albeit without the pittance of scholarship that you might have gotten previously)... and you wouldn't have many foreigners (except for a few rich ones who could afford to study abroad) to worry about.

Yeah, I'm not sure what the obsession is on here with trying to fix this "problem" all of a sudden. With all the stuff happening in college sports right now we'll be lucky if there are any college XC or track programs left in ten years. People worrying about foreign runners on college teams are trying to save a few chairs while the house is burning down around them. You all should be paying attention to things like Reggie Bush's lawsuit very carefully, if he's even moderately successful a recouping any money from USC, the Pac12 or the NCAA it is absolutely going to destroy non-revenue sports.

https://apnews.com/article/reggie-bush-lawsuit-nil-usc-b71b7ed7efffd4532d66bf7610144b2b

I don’t see an internationals problem. I see an age limit problem. So have an age limit.

There is no problem. Ban all 22 year olds I guess since that is the age of most of the top distance runners in the NCAA.

re the "just deal with it" post, sorry, you haven't the slightest what you are talking about. imagine you had one D1 in your whole state in your sport, that snootily favors its different part of the state and fields 1/3 foreign kids. that currently has no one from my large city.

there is then almost no D1 opportunity for that sport in-state, and your choice becomes a mix of go out of state or drop divisions. we had a kid who was parade all american and went on to be college all american, and go pro, and he left state. guy in the final four, left state D1. guy who won D3 national title, left state. our local D3 conference 3 of the kids on their all time all star team were from my school district alone. this is soccer i am talking about.

now, track, there are more opportunities, but i wanted to double. i was a starter on a 2 time state champ soccer select team and had D1 walkon times in TF.

nah, you don't know what you're talking about. for some of us the combo of title IX and use of foreign players and/or local bias makes it extremely difficult to get D1 looks. in soccer i am used to seeing D1 teams with 1/2 to 1/3 foreign players. if you have one D1 in your state and maybe 1/3 in state players, that's like 2.5 new in state recruits a season. and they prefer them from where the school is.

i don't think you get basic math. MLS soccer is a way of seeing it. they have a foreign player limit. the limit has been as low as 3. became 5. now sits at 8. when it reached 8, they can almost field a starting lineup with just a couple domestic players. and every time a foreign player gets a spot, there's finite room allowed, and that's 1 fewer domestic player.

and you can parrot the invisible hand, "just have to get better" rubbish, but in reality what it starts doing to the general mass of people is shoving you down levels or out of the sport. i'm the star player of the soccer team, fastest sprinter, and on the relays, but at D3. unless i catch the eye of the one D1, it doesn't matter how well i compete. and as i explained above, the sheer amount of success either going out of state or dropping divisions suggests the talent is being misallocated.

Equivalent foreigners demand more scholarship money. Americans are always preferable.

that's the age most people are as spring senior year.

my general experience in college sports the older kids were often either blimped up, out of shape, or got hurt more often. you're oddly assuming the "gap year" or "got a real job" or "mission" kids have some sort of advantage. from what i hear on missions they are tethered to the other missionary who may have zero interest at all or give them no time to train. most kids taken out of school situations are not dutifully training for their sport, they are working at foot locker and laying on a couch.

you know who is in shape and hungry? an 18 year old fit and straight out of HS.

no, dude, the most likely group to show up fit and trained and perhaps actualize any maturity advantage, would be kids out of this country who maybe spend 1-2 years in some sort of european or african club setup almost like a pro. in contrast we have a rubbish scattershot club situation once one graduates HS.

The simplest solution is this: you have 5 years to complete 4 seasons and your clock starts when you enroll full time at an institution. Exceptions: religious mission, military service, and you can take a gap year immediately following HS. If you don't enroll at that point - your clock starts no matter what. That eliminates a 27 year old showing up to run down the road. Now there are programs that are 100% going to hate this. Would such a proposal gain traction? Who knows?

You missed the point. People want to ban 25 year olds and 28 year olds. But 22 year olds run faster so they should want them bummed more than older runners.