2009 WPS Draft

Discussion in 'NWSL' started by StarCityFan, Dec 16, 2008.

  1. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    I'm guessing you know that it's possible to actually play four years of college sports without completing a college degree.

    And how many college grads start at 60k?

    Seriously, I know many athletes - even women's athletes - that basically skate through college educationally with relatively meaningless "liberal arts" degrees.

    For every Anna Rodenbough there are a roster of slackers who won't be getting anywhere near 60k.

    I'm not advocating skipping college. I'm just observing that it will happen if the league is successful.

    Not every athlete is academically suitable for college.
     
  2. Cville K C

    Cville K C Member

    Nov 3, 2008
    Collinsville, IL
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Agreed that there are a few that aren't suited toward college, but right now there is less than 150 roster spots (slightly more if you count the 4 player developmental roster). Probably at least 30 of those spots are taken by foreign players. That leaves 120 spots. If a career lasts a few years, you are talking only maybe 20-30 college seniors each year that will make the rosters. Most will be fringe players and make the minimum. The minimum in the MLS is $34k and it will be a lot less in the WPS.

    Also, I know this because I did a lot of research leading up to the draft, these girls are mostly pretty darn smart. I looked at some of their college biographies and I lost count of the players that were academic All-Americans. I know a lot of recent college grads that are making $50k plus, so it's not that unusual, although I'm sure the economy has tempered that a bit.

    If I were advising a young player, I would advise them to complete their schooling unless they already have national team talent and even then I would caution them. If they go to college and tear up a knee, they still have a fall back plan. If they go straight to the pros and tear up a knee, their SOL and I don't mean the LA Sol.
     
  3. Bonnie Lass

    Bonnie Lass Moderator
    Staff Member

    Lyon
    Norway
    Oct 20, 2000
    Up top
    Club:
    Olympique Lyonnais
    Honestly? College will still be there when the players hit their early 30s and decide to retire from soccer.

    I'm sure there's plenty of posters here who think highly of the level of NCAA soccer and the W-league/WPSL. But can you really compare that to the WPS or other top leagues?

    Besides, it's not like they can't go to college AND play in the league. They just can't play for their college.

    Or is that what the pro-college folks are actually worried about?
     
  4. Cville K C

    Cville K C Member

    Nov 3, 2008
    Collinsville, IL
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah, but what are these players going to be doing while going back to college, working at McDonalds?

    The fact is that very few players are ready at 18 and very few roster spots are open. My guess is that if they had declared for the draft, maybe 3 or 4 players at the most that weren't at least college seniors would have been drafted. Tobin Heath, Lauren Cheney, Casey Noguera (sorry I misspelled her name), and maybe Weissenhofer (again spelling) at Notre Dame. Maybe a couple of the U-20 players that won in Chile would have gotten a look. Only about 30 players out of the 70 drafted were seniors this year. The rest were older. Next year, the draft will be far fewer rounds as only the expansion teams will need to fill out their roster.

    It really doesn't matter because once they turn 18, they can forfeit their college eligibility, so it's a moot point.

    I just worry after watching what's happened in other sports with male athletes that count on a pro career only to end up broke or worse.
     
  5. cpthomas

    cpthomas BigSoccer Supporter

    Portland Thorns
    United States
    Jan 10, 2008
    Portland, Oregon
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    An interesting sidelight to the current discussion is the question of why the U20 World Cup players did not red-shirt this year. In past years, in similar situations, that is what they've done. My understanding is that the main reason they didn't this year (and their coaches appear to have supported this) was that they know the WPS teams are going to be filling their rosters and they don't want to push their graduations into the future beyond their current projected graduation dates, when their chances of making WPS teams will have lessened. So, the WPS already is having an impact on college soccer.

    Also, as a matter of interest, Megan Rapinoe had another year of college soccer eligibility left. But, she had completed her college education. I don't think any of the Portland coaching staff or fans thought she would, or should, have played another year at Portland. Time for her to move on to the next level.
     
  6. kool-aide

    kool-aide Member+

    Feb 1, 2002
    a van by the river
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    HEY! Some of us have very meaningful liberal arts degrees! And a graduate degree. And we're not making $60k. Or $50k. Or....

    In general, Andy, I agree in general with what you're saying. But it is going to be a while before the American female athlete (or rather the fans of American women's sports) are there. There really is a different view here than abroad. Your Daniela example was spot on.
     
  7. Buzz buzz buzz

    Buzz buzz buzz New Member

    Jan 22, 2009
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Go for the money, you can get injured and then what do you have?
     
  8. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Players with "pro" experience generally have a leg up when it comes to getting coaching jobs.
     
  9. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Insurance?

    I mean, what's the percentage of players in Women's Division I that are actually on full athletic scholarship? Giving up one's athletic eligibility doesn't mean one gives up their academic eligibility. It's not either/or. Devin Barclay, who played for the Tampa Bay Mutiny as an 18 year-old, returned to Ohio State where he is a walk-on place-kicker on the football team.

    I had no problem getting a high-tech six figure programming job without a college degree. Yes, I would eventually like to finish my math degree, but it's been on hold - because I had to earn a living - for over twenty years.

    Life is full of opportunity and decisions. They don't all work out. The resourceful will land on their feet - with or without four years of college.

    Once again, I am not advocating the mass skipping of college by women's soccer players. I am merely positing that it is an inevitability that some players will eventually skip college and go straight to the pros.
     
  10. Cville K C

    Cville K C Member

    Nov 3, 2008
    Collinsville, IL
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Maybe, but a lot of women's college soccer assistant coaches are "volunteer" assistants. Anything short of being head coach and they aren't getting paid much. No it's not impossible and like I said, it doesn't matter because once a player turns 18 they can do what they choose according to league rules. I'm just saying that I would advise about almost all of them to go to college unless they already had enough talent to be on the national team, not the U20 national team, but the regular national team. If they are good enough to play at that level, then yes, I would say have at it, you should turn pro if that's what you want to do.
     
  11. kool-aide

    kool-aide Member+

    Feb 1, 2002
    a van by the river
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You both bring up good points, which I haven't seen discussed much. I mean, I assume that elite athletes do have insurance policies against career ending injury but do they really get policies? And what sort of companies handle that?

    For example, did Marcus Tracy get an insurance policy when he stayed at Wake last year? He's got a degree in economics (I think) so he might have. But what about others? Did Cheney or Heath do that? Could elite women athletes get such a policy, given that their earning potential is less than male athletes? Does Maya Moore have one? Where would I look to find reporting on such matters?
     

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