To European ears, that sounds ridiculous. You draft a player now, hoping that when her contract runs out in 3 years... Really, really absurd system.
Second post, made by me in this thread: OL has her for TWO YEARS on a VERY impressive contract. Shes. Not. Coming.
I don't have European ears so I don't know if that sounds ridiculous or not. It's pretty common in Basketball. This list shows some 50-70 players whom were drafted by the NBA dated back to 1993: http://www.realgm.com/src_unsignedpicks/?sort=year
I can see the Euro Ear POV though. Especially for a fledgling league like WPS. What's the point of drafting players that likely won't ever play for your team, and certainly won't help you in the next 2-3 years. Especially while other teams drafted players almost assured of coming here.
The weak dollar might have something to do with all of this too.... playing in Europe pays A LOT more with the dollar so weak right now.
Well yes and no. The dollar has rebounded in recent weeks somewhat. And proportionally I doubt they get paid that much less over here.
Reactions from the Japanese players: http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080926-00000000-sanspo-spo http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080926-00000093-sph-socc http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080926-00000011-sanspo-spo http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080926-00000020-spn-spo http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080925-00000059-jijp-spo.view-000 http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/soccer/080925/scr0809251829012-n1.htm While I am not fluent in Japanese, I did my best to grasp what the articles are saying, and here are the main points: (apologies if I'm I got lost in the translation!) - There was a press conference held by NTV Beleza as three of the four players (Sawa, Arakawa and Ohno) drafted yesterday play for this club team (the best in Japan, #1 in the Nadeshiko league this season). The fourth player drafted, Aya Miyama, plays for another Nadeshiko League team--Okayama, which is not located in Tokyo and further south. I couldn't find any comments from her. - Sawa says that she was honoured/happy to be selected in the first round and thinks coming back to the US will be a good challenge for her...but, she cannot say at the moment if she'll go or not. She did, however, stress that the conditions of her contract must be adequate and that her agent will begin to talk "slowly" with Washington (something like that). She is signed with Beleza until the end of the year, and will remain focused on playing with her team. - Sawa's agent mentioned that there was some informal talk w/the league during the Olympics (or something like that), but since then, they have not been given any other information about potential contracts, salaries and the likes...they know nothing and look forward to beginning talks. Sawa's agent also mentions that Beleza has already approached him in extending Sawa's contract in January--so she could potentially remain with Beleza--and that they've even been approached by a team in England. - The GM of Beleza stated that they (as the club team of the three players) have yet to receive any type of document, offer or communication about any of the players...and that they are looking forward to beginning their process. They are happy that their players are being sought abroad, and says its good for their development. - A representative from the Japanese Football Association said that they have not gotten any documentation/information from the league but that they think it's a good idea to promote their top national team players to go abroad to play. It gives younger players something to strive for and a great opportunity to develop their game. - Ohno, who just got a professional contact* with Beleza in June says she's not sure about the whole situation, but would like to talk to Boston about the possibilities. Arakawa says that finding out she's been drafted "hasn't hit her yet" and that she, too, is unsure. - Not sure if this was actually commented on during the press conference or inferred to by the writers of the articles, but there are some concerns about the economic situation in the United States and the long-term viability of the league. There was a comment in one of the articles that the base salary for an international player was x-amount and that it could possibly be even lower...I think that statement was made to suggest that players with professional contracts* in Japan make at least that much or more. Perhaps someone who speaks/reads Japanese can do a better job. * from my understanding, players that play in the Nadeshiko League are not "professionals". But, select few players are given professional contracts by their club teams and thus play soccer "full time". Beleza has a few players with pro contracts (Sawa, Ohno being two of them) as well as a few others who are on the National Team.
Wow, that's a little disheartening. Makes it sound like no one in WPS has actually even talked to any of these international players that we "drafted" yesterday and that the players while intrigued really aren't that sure about the US and the league is really going to have to work to make it worth their while to come over Only bright spot though for the Bay Area at least is that it sounds like Arakawa is not one of the "pro" players over there so WPS might be a step up she'd be willing to consider that the players who are already "pro" in Japan might not.
Something interesting to note, but if you check out the players listed at the WPS site...most teams have at least one more int'l player listed as a "post-draft discovery player". Players are: Bay Area: Anja Mittag, M, Germany Boston: Emma Byrne, GK, Ireland Chicago: Alex Scott, D, England Los Angeles: Camille Abily, M, France NJ/NY: None St. Louis: Enoila Aluko, F, England Washington: Erin McLeod, GK, Canada
It's great that Washington got McLeod. I was surprised that she wasn't taken in the four rounds. I would think that a solid goalkeeper was an essential foundation for a team.
Some Euro may think it's crazy but many don't. Put yourself in an employee's shoe. You work for Exxon and you intend to stay with them but if Texaco expresses interest in you, would you be mad or be flattered? It depends. For player like Marta, maybe it's worth taking the bet. If she'll never come over, you lose a pick you can use for a good player. If she does, you hit the jack pot. Chance is good that she will come over sometimes later so it's a little better than a gamble. It is more like an investment for the future.
I suppose I'd be flattered. But I also wouldn't be jumping ship to Texaco since it's a brand new unproven company that could end up folding a year later when I've already got a solid job. Especially since as we know "Texaco" isn't offering players full time salaries, only in season ones.
redcard: why no mention of any Norwegain players - no interest in any of them or by any of them? What have you heard? I know this is just the first baby step by WPS but I am disappoined! Really no mention of Germans also, among others!
If we're going to run with this analogy, then flattered. But I'd also want to know what Chevron or Shell could offer me. The idea that they would all have got together and decided in advance which one of them was allowed to approach me with a job offer is what I find a bit strange. This means that you're creating a closed market in the US, but an open market in Europe and elsewhere.
The post with the info on the Japanese press conference got me thinking (I'll try not to hurt myself). Specifically, the part about the clubs not yet receiving paperwork or contact from any WPS teams. We all know that, in general, American sports teams and player movement does not work in the same way as European models--particularly soccer. Teams do business in ways that American teams do not (sale vs player trades) with player personal contracts coming after agreements btwn clubs. I don't visit YanksAbroad often enough to know more specifics on rules, but clubs can not "tap up" or otherwise contact under contract players without the prior knowledge/approval of their current employers, right? Or is it different for players in the last months of a contract. Regardless, when dealing with players like Lotta who are under multi-year deals, can the WPS get in trouble with fifa/etc for tapping up?
I have an uneducated question. I saw on here earlier that Japanese league games bring in less than 2000 fans. I am not sure what the leagues in England, and all the other places bring in but if the WPS were to bring in even 4000 fans a game. Why could they not pay more than the other leagues?
DiCicco seems to think he can sign his selections. http://www.soccer-new-england.com/Breakers-Assigned-Internationals.html
Not to be snarky, but he would say that, wouldn't he. I mean, he wouldn't say "well, we chose player X even though it is 30-70 that she'd come here."
Probably because unlike the foreign leagues like England for example, WPS is independent of the MLS and has to support itself financially. The English sides for example are all subordinate women's sides that are subsidized by the men, kinda like the WNBA. They don't have to pull their own weight.
I think that is part of the reason for the rather extensive disclaimers included in the press releases.... essentially WPS allowed exclusive rights to the clubs to negotiate for specific players, now it is up to the clubs to handle all the appropriate contacting and notifications and permission-getting that is required under FIFA rules. All the draft did was designate which clubs could go after which players so they wouldn't be competing against each other for a given player.
If a player is in her last 6 months of a contract, the interested club must announce their intentions to her present club, but does not need permission to start talks. If she is on a longer contract, the club's permission is needed and that usually involves an agreement on a fee if there should be a transfer. In this case however, the draft seems to me more like calling dibs on a certain player - it's an internal WPS process that doesn't need to involve the player or her club. What interests me most right now is how long the draft is valid. Can St Louis use their claim for Schelin when she is released from her Lyon contract in July 2010? And will this international draft process repeat every year? Are drafts tradeable? For other drafts or real players or money. Can you accumulate a group of drafted players to use for trade purposes? I was unable to find out details like this at the WPS website, but since drafting is a known procedure in American sports, maybe someone could explain how it usually works??
Dandal, re: drafts and draft rights in the USA, different leagues have different rules. In some sports, the rights end after a certain time. For example, in baseball, the draft rights become void once the player returns to school or doesn't sign by a certain date prior to the upcoming season. NFL and NBA rules are different. I'd like to see draft rules for the WPS, as well, but haven't seen any. I only found a "We will post League Player Rules & Roster Regulations and Competition Rules soon." statement on the WPS site. eta: I wonder if Peter Wilt is able to provide more info. He's always been rather helpful in the past, where/when he could. I haven't gone to the Chicago forum yet. Peter?
Sorry, but who would leave France (especially when making a lot of money) to live in St. Louis? On that note, what can a player do if she wants to play in the USA but cannot tolerate being in a certain city?
I suppose they could probably play in the USL W-League. I assume these "player rights" only extend throughout the 7 WPS teams.