Just learned that Rongen intends to begin a camp prior to the CONCACAF U20 tournament, ON NOVEMBER 3. I'm not sure if the camp will be in Charleston,where the actual tournament is from Nov. 13 to 17. But regardless, this could really exacerbate the problem we've discussed before (and predicted by Sandon many months ago) re college players being absent at the most critical part of the season. I doubt if these players shuttling back and forth is much of an option, especially for guys from the midwest and west coast. A wave of Project 40 signings on the way, maybe?
Which is why Mia Hamm redshirted in 1991 to play in the inaugural Womens World Championships (now called the Womens World Cup) in China. If players are concerned about future eligibility they could red shirt. I suspect, however, that those of enough quality to get called in for WCQ are on the fast track to the pros. Mia didn't have that option.
you know andy - I hadn't thought of red-shirting, but that could be a viable option, especially for an incoming freshman. Problem is, most of the college players have probably already played a game over the past weekend, so they might be cooked in that regard (am I right in assuming that once you play in a NCAA match in a given season, your chance of a redshirt is over?).
redshirt Looks to me like all of the college players on the U20 roster except Williams played last weekend. That would preclude their using a redshirt this year.
The extraordinary circumstances are pretty well spelled out--things like pregnancy. Don't think that'll fly as an excuse for these guys. I don't think a medical hardship will fly either. It has to be considered a "season ending" injury, and it has to happen in the first half of the season. I don't see how they could suffer this type of injury and still be available to play in qualifying. Medical hardships are granted only after the season is over. I think GersMan is right. These boys have used a season of eligibility. All the indications are in place for early signings. Also, I wonder if the college coaches were aware of the November 3 camp? If they knew I'd think that you might have seen some of these kids held out last weekend. Several of them were used as subs in games that were clearly not competitive. Once they played the redshirt option was gone.
This may be a sign that the tide is turning. The college coaches may have recognized that they have to use their top players while they have them, because they aren't going to stay around the college game just because they remain eligible.
Schedules I looked through the schedules of the most likely members of the team. Other than the Big 10 and ACC tournaments there aren't many (or any) "big" games that they'll be missing. Carolina has a potentially big game with Clemson on November 3rd. Depending on when they have to report on the 3rd it's possible Williams won't even miss that game.
Dates/times of USA qualifying? Does anyone know the dates and times of the games to be played in Charleston in November? I wanna try and make at least one of the US games.