Imports or no imports in collegiate sports

[elvaracco]

I came across an interesting article from Mr. Quinito Henson about the issue of imports playing in the UAAP/ NCAA basketball. Here's excerpts of the article:

 

Imports or no imports?

SPORTING CHANCE By Joaquin Henson (The Philippine Star) Updated July 25, 2010 12:00 AM Comments (11) View comments

 

The commercialization of college basketball may lead to a situation where the disparity between the haves and have-nots will seriously impair the balance of competition particularly with regard to the recruitment of imports.

 

At the moment, three schools in NCAA seniors basketball are “armed” with imports – San Beda College with 6-7 American Sudan Daniel, Emilio Aguinaldo College with Indonesian Ke Wei Lim and Jose Rizal University’s Cameroon pair Joe Etame and Nchotu John Njei.

 

The link to the full article is as follows:

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=596563&publicationSubCategoryId=69

 

Actually, the article got me thinking about the possibility of having non-Pinoys in the other UAAP/ NCAA sports such as swimming, volleyball, table-tennis, etc. My worry here is that this could set up some sort of invasion of foreigners e.g. African athletes in track and field in collegiate sports. Pano na ang Pinoy talents nyan? But on the other hand, having foreign athletes could up the level of the competition, thereby pushing Pinoy collegiate athletes to excel further.

[swynd]

People are divided on the issue, though. The other side of the fence argues that it's perfectly fine, and should even be encouraged. However, I feel that those who espouse the idea do not consider the difference between the professional and the collegiate leagues.

 

Mr. del Rosario's argues "However, if school officials and coaches go out of their way to recruit imports to play, that’s different because the main purpose of coming here is to play and not to study. I would agree to foreign students already studying here who become athletes but not foreign athletes who are recruited to become students".

 

I agree with him. However, it's a little tricky since some schools are known to actually set it up such that the prospects are already studying here by the time they get into college. Admittedly, it's rare, but on the other hand, it's precisely rare because of the resources needed to accomplish this. This only highlights the discrepancy of the haves and have-nots all the more.

 

As much as commercialization seeps in, the collegiate league is essentially not a commercial matter. The good thing is that there are imposed limits on foreign players which help prevent them from overrunning the teams.

 

Long and short of it is that I'm against recruiting foreign players just so to play. Since we can't completely control the issue, the imposed limits are fine. If they can be even made tighter to discourage the "only to play" practice, then all the better.

[deepdiverboy]

I'm all for allowing foreign students to play in collegiate sports.

 

The problem is, how do you monitor those really studying, and those who are recruited merely to play?

 

If a school is deadset on hiring a well-developed athlete from overseas, it can easily manufacture class cards and academic requirements just to show proof of compliance with collegiate sports regulations.

[Sir Galahad®]

I agree with deepdiverboy, are those imports really here to study? Or just to make money?

[kanski]

two things:

 

one, i don't think this phenomenon will see its way to other sports seeing that the other sports have not garnered the same notoriety for competition that bball has achieved. i don't think it will make much sense, economic or otherwise.

 

two, i think the leagues ncaa and uaap have rules in place to regulate the privilege of member schools to field in their foreign students. i think it is only fair for schools to be able to recruit anyone from their student body to represent them in competition. however, this same priviledge is often misused in that foreigners are now actively sought and recruited to suit up for their bball teams. consciously limiting the number of foreign students to suit up and to play is a good enough safeguard to such a misuse.

[howarddeduct]

Good for RP sports. Magpapalahi tayo sa mga Afro!

[patotoy_21]

I am pro for having imports in collegiate team. Compared to other countries we are not exposed to the outside play of basketball thus, we are unable to gauge our real strength so by having imports here we get to see the caliber of other collegiate teams from outside the country and somehow from there our players get to adjust, although very little to the style of play of other countries. mahirap din yung tayo tayo lang. magaling ka nga pero pinoy lang din kalaban natin.

[xtianmoran]

advantages of imports in UAAP/NCAA:

1. play is more competitive. imports tend to be stronger, taller and have more stamina. locals will have no choice but to double their work in the gym.

2. we can learn from the import's style of play, and playing overseas tournaments will be easier for us since we already play with them on a regular basis.

3. ticket sales will boost since fans can now see dunks in collegiate play. there will be more excitement in the air.

 

disadvantages:

1. coaches may tend to just have one play the entire game: throw the ball in the low block to the import and let him power his way thru. this is what normally happens in the PBA whre imports score 30-40 points since the coach runs this play over and over again.

2. "rich teams" like ateneo, DLSU, benilde and others tend to have more "scholarships" available compare to other schools so tendency is they will get the better import. we will now see a yearly championship battle between the eagles and the archers.

[swynd]

Doubling work in the Gym won't help you when the African bloodline has a genetic quirk that makes them superior in many athletic fields. Africans aside, there's no doubting the fact that we Filipinos generally have smaller frames compared to Middle-East/Western people.

 

What we should really be doing is improving shooting skills though. Watch the better Asian teams and see what I mean. I remember the South Koreans have this rule that EVERYBODY must be able to do a jump shot from point blank to 3 point range. They don't have to be perfect, but as long as they have a free shot, they have to have a high percentage at making it sink.

[alpardpba]

everything is open na, sports and education, the international arena doesn't suffer from it, i mean the american schools have been doing it for decades na, luring young players with potential in exchange for a degree, so it makes sense dito sa atin.

 

but like in the us ncaa, the admins should be strict about academic work, linalaro na nga basketball, lalaruin pa ang reputation ng education system natin (which admittedly is in the doldrums). it makes sense and works only if everyone plays fair and honest.

 

besides, closing our borders will only cause us to worsen in terms of basketball as an international game, much like the height limit in the pba and import limits resulted in stunting the devlopment of the league.

[swynd]

everything is open na, sports and education, the international arena doesn't suffer from it, i mean the american schools have been doing it for decades na, luring young players with potential in exchange for a degree, so it makes sense dito sa atin.

 

but like in the us ncaa, the admins should be strict about academic work, linalaro na nga basketball, lalaruin pa ang reputation ng education system natin (which admittedly is in the doldrums). it makes sense and works only if everyone plays fair and honest.

 

besides, closing our borders will only cause us to worsen in terms of basketball as an international game, much like the height limit in the pba and import limits resulted in stunting the devlopment of the league.

 

But is luring players in exchange for a a degree "right"? The collegiate league, where education is paramount, is different from the professional league, at least in my opinion.

[xtianmoran]

But is luring players in exchange for a a degree "right"? The collegiate league, where education is paramount, is different from the professional league, at least in my opinion.

 

ano ba naman ung degree na nakukuha nila? BS English? AB International Studies?

 

dont get me wrong. i am not belittling education and its importance. i guess we just have to be true to ourselves that these guys "talents" are in the basketball court and not in a corporate setting.

 

sabi nga ng isang essay na nabasa ko before....

 

everything i need to know, i learned in kindergarden... (reading, writing, speaking, counting)

[alpardpba]

give and take naman. they get a degree and exposure to maybe a shot at p;aying bball professionally, nagagamit naman sila ng school for school morale/image/competition.

[Agent_mulder]

Maganda itong room na ito dahil sa recent observations ng said sportwriter at maging ng mga fans ng college basketball as well with regards sa imports na naglalaro in both the UAAP and NCAA.

 

I'm all for allowing foreign students to play in collegiate sports.

 

The problem is, how do you monitor those really studying, and those who are recruited merely to play?

 

If a school is deadset on hiring a well-developed athlete from overseas, it can easily manufacture class cards and academic requirements just to show proof of compliance with collegiate sports regulations.

 

From what i read noon (pre-war or post-war)pa man may foreigner/s na sa local universities/colleges. Now let's swing to circa 2010, tingin ko some of the universities and colleges did that to be more competitive, in having a foreigner they would somehow be at par with the top notch teams. Pero sa tingin ko inabuso naman ng ibang universities/collges ang pagiging lenient ng school boards in allowing foreigners to play in their universities/colleges. Meron nga daw isang foreign player (Asian) na naglalaro sa NCAA naglaro na sa isang pro league sa bansa n'ya, dapat amateur at 'di pa nakalaro sa pro league sa bansa n'ya or in other countries for that matter. I remember UE back in 2000 meron silang player na parang arab ang tunog ng pangalan 'di nga lang s'ya ganon kagaling..

Edited July 27, 2010 by Agent_mulder

[RER]

dayuhang may pinoy passport pwede pa. pero import sana wala na lang. Mukhang t** ung mga babae na tumitili sa laban pag nagshoot ung mga import sa ncaa/uaap.