Looks like the number of foreign athletes taking scholarship money away from home grown kids has surged in recent years. 2/3rds are in Division I schools.
I wouldn't dream of accusing lazy coaches who don't recruit well of using "hired guns" from other countries to win championships. I'm sure they are only accepting foreign athletes for the altruistic good of helping to diversify the student body..... :-)
Influx of foreigners presents new challenges for NCAA
www.usatoday.com/.../2008-10-01-foreign-influx_N.htm
Lindsay - I have no doubt the times of the international swimmers are faster. What is disturbing to me is that it appears that Auburn, our state land grant university, is unwillling to cultivate the talent we have here.
...
Seems our boys find happier homes at Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas.
I think this is indicative of the situation at many programs, and I see this in the DC/Metro area annually. There are several great national USA-S programs in the area cultivating world-class swimmers (Rockville-Montgomery, FISH, Curl), and every year, I see the top kids go away for school rather than stay home and head to the University of Maryland. These kids want to have a college experience, and all too often, they want to be as far away from home as they can get. And why not? In some cases, these kids may be swimming in the same Natatorium for 10 years by the time they're done with college.
You can't blame them for that, but at the same time, what are these universities doing to recruit these kids? ARE these local universities recruiting these kids? What about diversity on your team - don't you want swimmers from different backgrounds coming in?
To Maryland's credit, the last couple of years, they've gotten a couple of RMSC guys with some real potential - my hope is they'll be the beginning of a pipeline back to the club and that they'll start bringing their younger friends in and help build our team with local talent.
Lindsay - I have no doubt the times of the international swimmers are faster. What is disturbing to me is that it appears that Auburn, our state land grant university, is unwillling to cultivate the talent we have here.
...
Seems our boys find happier homes at Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas.
I think this is indicative of the situation at many programs, and I see this in the DC/Metro area annually. There are several great national USA-S programs in the area cultivating world-class swimmers (Rockville-Montgomery, FISH, Curl), and every year, I see the top kids go away for school rather than stay home and head to the University of Maryland. These kids want to have a college experience, and all too often, they want to be as far away from home as they can get. And why not? In some cases, these kids may be swimming in the same Natatorium for 10 years by the time they're done with college.
You can't blame them for that, but at the same time, what are these universities doing to recruit these kids? ARE these local universities recruiting these kids? What about diversity on your team - don't you want swimmers from different backgrounds coming in?
To Maryland's credit, the last couple of years, they've gotten a couple of RMSC guys with some real potential - my hope is they'll be the beginning of a pipeline back to the club and that they'll start bringing their younger friends in and help build our team with local talent.
