There /is/ a difference between accepting international students who have sought out your school for academics and the recruitment of foreign athletes--some with professional experience-- who have not sought out your school but have accepted an athletic scholarship.
Yeah, you're right, but what you're describing is pretty much the difference in the dynamic between 'average' US students and recruited student athletes, too.
There are ways around that. Most female pros in Europe make a salary low enough to be categorized as nothing more than 'living expenses,' which the NCAA can be convinced does not constitute professional status.
So here is a better question....Did Buchanon, Lawrence, Fleming or any of the other Olympians take money for their experience over the summer (or for the world cup) ?
Come on folks. NT tours and duties are expressly permitted. The NCAA language on compensation is that it can only cover "actual and necessary" expenses that all the team receives. So, if the NT stays at the Four Seasons, the college kids stay with them. If Chevy decided to give them all a car for finishing 3rd, the college kids cannot accept. The trickiest thing you hear about all the time in most sports is the agent. As soon as they meet with an agent or make any deals with an agent, its a problem to stay in college. The NCAA has recently even let basketball players go to an NBA Combine before deciding to enter the draft or return for college, but no agents. Not nearly this attention is given to Women's soccer kids but for sure the soccer federations work with NCAA compliance folks to make sure kids can return to college who want to. In most countries, there's a point where the youth player signs a contract or not with a club and that's the day they forgo college eligibility. You can be drafted however, in some cases, without signing with an agent and still choose to stay in college. Happens in baseball all the time. The WVU Canadians don't have much time to think about what to do since the NWSL draft is less than a month away at this point. Depending on where in Canada they are from, W. NY, Chicago, Seattle, Portland could all be close to home. Sinclair is from BC, played college in Portland and has played as a pro mostly in the West, still at Portland Thorns. So, what's wrong with Canadians, hey? Pass the Molson, you hoser....