Major League Soccer (MLS) has never been the most popular kid on the “sports” playground in terms of garnering the interest of the American people. With the Major League Baseball and the National Football League dominating the TV screens of the American people, in 2007 the MLS thought it had to do something drastic to increase viewership. Enter British-icon David Beckham. Suddenly, the MLS became relevant. Now, ten years later, they have found themselves becoming the last-chance retirement home and signing world class European players who have aged out...and that is a problem.
Since David Beckham stepped foot onto the StubHub Center in his LA Galaxy uniform, the MLS has gone on to sign once world-renowned players such as Ricardo Kaka (Real Madrid/Portuguese National Team), David Villa (Barcelona/Spanish National Team), and Andrea Pirlo (Juventus/Italian National Team), to name a few. The issue? These players are far past their peak. Their speed of play has declined drastically, their body isn’t as fresh and athletic as it once was, and they are ready to slow down and enjoy a happy retirement. While it is commonly stated that the state of Florida is filled with retirees from the East Coast and Midwest, the MLS has suddenly become the Florida of the professional soccer league scene.
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Professional women’s soccer, like most everything else in the United States (and even the world), is extremely political. In order to get drafted in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) you need to play for a highly ranked and extremely reputable NCAA Division 1 college program. But, in order to play for a reputable NCAA Division 1 college program, you need to play for a well-known youth club, which requires a substantial amount of dedication both in terms of your time as well as your bank account. Because of this systemic flaw which cuts out a large portion of extremely talented, yet disadvantaged, youth players from having the opportunity to play at big name programs, the National Women’s Soccer League misses out on drafting players that would prove to be very talented players at the professional ranks. It is because of this that the NWSL needs to institute a player combine, similar to that of the MLS or the NFL.
By instituting a player combine, NCAA programs, regardless of their record or national ranking, would be able to have their tops players potentially be awarded an invitation to the combine where they would compete against the well-known players from perennial powerhouses such as Stanford, UNC, Notre Dame, and UVA. By being able to compete against these talents, players would be able to show scouts how they stack up against the supposed “best of the best.” |
Ryne SierackiSenior at the University of Michigan studying Kinesiology and Movement Science CategoriesArchives |