This isn’t the first time I’ve pointed out some “problems” with our U.S. club rosters. (See Link Link) Honestly it’s getting a little old googling and checking social media sites, but today’s battle between two “Southern California” club teams at the North American & Caribbean Club Championships got me wondering… Just how many athletes on these two teams actually live in the Los Angeles area?
Well, subject to my standard disclaimer (social media websites and LinkedIn profiles aren’t always accurate), that answer is four athletes. As in 4 out of 31 athletes.
There are multiple issues with these rosters that we should be concerned with. I’ll go through some of them again:
- Nationality: The fact that they are just eight Americans playing on these American club teams is problematic. I, for one, would like to see more Americans playing. I like to think that just about anyone would like to see that. In particular, younger American athletes who can really benefit from particpating is a competition like this. And, it’s nice to see a few that even fit that demographic. But, I understand why it’s the exception. Teams want to win and right now better non-American athletes are available and allowed to play with no restriction for U.S. club teams.
- Residency: The fact that there are only four athletes on these two teams that live anywhere near where these team say they are located is… crazy, ludicrous and silly. Let me repeat… it is crazy, ludicrous and silly. We are not talking about a couple or a few athletes to round out the roster… Not even just saying it’s around half the team. No. We are talking about the overwhelming majority of the athletes. 27 out of 31. These athletes don’t practice together. Some probably just met each other. 14 out of 31 don’t even live in the United States! Again… This is crazy, ludicrous and silly.
- Competitive Fairness. The addition of this many athletes to rosters defeats the spirit of competition. I guess every club is free to recruit players to improve their chances. But, it kind of goes against the concept of a club championship. Instead it’s become more of an all star team recruitment competition.
Who’s to Blame?
Well, here’s my assessment:
- The athletes? No, absolutely not. As, I’ve stated before… Offer me the chance to compete in a nice little tournament with the winning team getting a free trip to Cairo to play the best teams in the world. My response is, “Where do I sign?” Or, as I think is probably the case in most instances… “Sure, I’ll pay my way to New Jersey for this opportunity.”
- The Clubs? Maybe, a little bit. Nobody is forcing them to create all star rosters. Nobody is forcing them to tell their locally based athletes… “Sorry, we’re going with player X instead of you. Maybe next time.” It’s something these clubs want to do. Maybe a club should internally decide like San Francisco CalHeat did that this isn’t really how they want to go about things. Maybe… But, if you aren’t breaking any rules and the rules are such that you can drive a freight train through them. Then why not? Blow the whistle and go. Full steam ahead.
- The NACHC? Yes, there’s some blame here. It’s a NACHC competition, so the NACHC is responsible for whatever rules and regulations are in place. That said, they are a newish, all volunteer organization with a lot of challenges. Roster regulations probably aren’t high on their list of things to get done. But, hopefully as they get grounded as an organization they will take a closer look at this competition and assess whether it’s currently stuctured to meet organiational goals.
- The IHF? Yes, and I would argue that they are the most responsible. As I wrote in this commentary about the 2023 CalHeat Super Globe roster the IHF’s good intentions to support club development around the world has had major unintended consequences. Unless they step in with more restrictions on club rosters I suspect recruitment might just get even crazier. Who knows, maybe next time it will make more sense to just play the NACHC club championship in Europe. It would save on air fare and the jerseys could just be shipped to whereever it’s being held.