Overseas recruitment process difficult

Despite a larger global market of players in baseball and soccer
relative to most other sports, international players are almost
nonexistent in these college sports.

With the intense competition for recruits in each sport, it
would seem logical that both sports would tap into the vast
resources of mercenary international talent.

Yet few do.

Despite what appears to be powerful reasoning demanding
pressured college coaches to bring the best players here, coaches
point to the many reasons not to go overseas.

“I don’t think that there’s a conscious
decision not to bring foreign players here,” UCLA soccer head
coach Jorge Salcedo said. “It’s more circumstance.
It’s difficult to have a feel for the type of player and
person when seeing them is so difficult.”

UCLA baseball coach Gary Adams points to a lack of
convenience.

“Getting them into UCLA is such a chore. We have to deal
with transcripts, and it just becomes such a hassle. We feel there
is more than enough good players in this area that we don’t
need to look internationally,” he said.

On the 2003 opening day rosters, 27.8 percent of players in
Major League Baseball were foreign-born. American professional and
national soccer also remains far from world-class. Both of these
facts indicate that college rosters are not truly representative of
the world’s best talent.

Money is a concern, as the recruiting trips for international
players can cost as much as recruiting numerous players at home.
Plus, scholarships are less flexible.

“If you are recruiting an international student, you have
to give a full scholarship instead of half scholarships ““
which we sometimes give players here ““ because overseas
people aren’t as affluent,” women’s soccer coach
Jill Ellis said.

And while college programs operate with the primary goal of
winning, they are still held accountable to players that fit the
term “student-athlete.” Recruits overseas sometimes fit
only half that label.

“It’s a little complicated,” Stanford
men’s soccer coach Bret Simon said. “A couple of things
have changed. The NCAA has more requirements than 20 years ago.
Before, SAT, grade point average and TOEFL score requirements were
not as tough.

“All of us are looking for great players and great
students. There are a number of American players that are both, but
you don’t always find both other places.”

Additionally, there’s the pesky rule that mandates
possible overseas recruits must, of course, be amateurs ““
meaning they may never have signed contracts, hired an agent, or
received money exceeding expenses.

“The amateur definition is also different,” Simon
said. “A lot of youth soccer players all over the world sign
pro contracts when they’re young, which means they’re
not able to go to college, even though by our definition they
aren’t pros because they don’t making a living by
it.”

Simon is actually one of the few coaches that does recruit
overseas, with South African Mike Wilson and New Zealander Darren
Fernandez on his roster.

However, both those countries have an emphasis on education like
the United States and speak English. Wilson is from a legacy of
recruits established by former Stanford coach Bobby Clarke, and
Fernandez went to high school in the United States. Simon points to
these kinds of connections as generally the only ways college
coaches are able to recruit overseas.

In women’s soccer, where the premier talent base is
domestic, there is even more reason not to search overseas. Plus,
with an elite program such as UCLA’s, there is pressure that
goes along with being a pipeline for the U.S. national squad.

“Our national team coach is a good friend, and she made a
comment that all these Canadians are coming down, and we’re
training them to go back for their national team,” Ellis
said. “I do feel more pride in producing players for our
national team.”

Baseball is another story. In almost all of the other countries
playing the sport, English is not the native language. And due to
the nature of the sport, with repeated practice and technical skill
more demanding than any other sport, a coach cannot recruit on mere
potential. The major leagues also scoop up a lot of young talent to
develop players on their own.

“We have had nibbles from international players before,
but the transcripts simply are not good enough to make it into
UCLA,” Adams said. “We aren’t looking for a
7-foot Scandinavian center. We’re looking for a shortstop who
can pick it. And the professional teams are going to take most of
the talent, anyway, with their signing bonuses.”

Salcedo is open to the idea of recruiting internationally, even
pointing to connections he has made as a U.S. national scout that
could possibly open an international door to UCLA. His interest
also lies in the benefits some foreign flavor might have on the
program.

“I think it would be a good experience for everyone to
open their eyes to the world,” Salcedo said. “In
soccer, it would help out because in other parts of the world,
soccer is the most important sport. A lot of times here in the
U.S., we as coaches wish players prepared and had the same focus
that the players in South America and Europe have.”

All these considerations add up to a headache most college
coaches don’t want to go through to sign such little-known
talent.