Challenge to sports dads

Today, as we celebrate Father’s Day, it’s timely that sports dads reflect on their responsibilities and obligations as the guardians of athletes being recruited to play for collegiate teams.

In varsity leagues, the name of the game is recruiting. Athletes stay on a roster only for as long as they’re eligible so there is no permanence in their residence unlike in the pros where players may be signed to long-term contracts. In the US, recruiting rules are strictly laid out to preserve the spirit of providing education for student athletes without financial remuneration. Alumni boosters try to skirt the law by doing cover-ups like offering summer jobs with pay but if they’re found out, the penalties are heavy and could result in win forfeitures and team suspensions.

In the Philippines, recruiting athletes to play for a college team has no restrictions or if there are, they’re ignored. In the US, agents aren’t allowed to represent high school or collegiate athletes because they’re not pros. Education, not commercialization, is supposed to be the priority of a student athlete. But in the Philippines, collegiate recruiters or scouts go through agents or handlers to reach out to athletes. If the athletes aren’t of age to sign contracts, then their fathers do it for them and that leads us to the point of this column.

We’ve heard horror stories of high school athletes wooed to join collegiate teams in the NCAA or UAAP on the basis of guaranteed playing time or a signing bonus or a job for a father or a car or even a house and lot. Forget about school loyalty, camaraderie, team spirit, education and values. That’s why players drop out early or can’t wait to turn pro. Their priority isn’t to get a good education. Their priority is to make a living out of sports. And fathers influence their decision to just look out for themselves and maximize the terms of their contract.

It’s true that some student athletes aren’t inclined to attend class. That’s because their mindset entering school isn’t focused on education, it’s focused on using collegiate sports as a springboard for a pro career. In the US, the NBA no longer allows high school graduates to go straight to the pro draft. So gone are the days of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Andray Blatche jumping straight to the NBA from high school. Now, the deal is a high school athlete can only apply to join the NBA draft a year after graduation.  To comply with the rule, athletes go to college for a year then if the stars are aligned, apply for the NBA draft. That’s called the one-and-done deal. But some high school graduates are exploring another alternative. Those with no aptitude for education at all play overseas for a year then apply for the NBA draft.

Of course, it’s a free world and athletes can do what they want, according to the law. But here’s where fathers play an important role in molding their children into responsible citizens of the future.

In the UAAP and NCAA, we’ve heard of fathers negotiating collegiate contracts for their children. They go out shopping for the best offers. Their children are often oblivious to the talks as they just do what their fathers tell them to do. So fathers pit one school over the other in peddling their children. Who’s got the best offer? Unfortunately, high school athletes get the wrong idea. They forget about the value of team sports because their fathers make them think they’re superstars who must be commercially compensated for going to college. The problem is schools are helplessly being victimized by unscrupulous fathers and they dance to the music because in the Philippine context, that’s what recruiting is all about.

There are examples of highly recruited athletes moving from school to school because they’re not able to cope with academic pressures since their fathers compromised integrity for compensation. In the end, they’ll forego their education and turn pro once they’re eligible by age. It’s such a waste of an opportunity to get a good education and establish a solid foundation for the future.

The first step to arrest this corruption is for the UAAP and NCAA to ban agents from representing high school and collegiate athletes because they make a mockery of varsity sports. Then, there should be a ban on high school and collegiate athletes receiving commercial compensation because the temptation to make money goes against the values of going to school. Finally, schools should agree to standardize scholarship offers for student athletes so there is parity in recruiting players with no under-the-table shenanigans.

The challenge for sports dads on Father’s Day is not to think of themselves in preparing their children for college. Some fathers feel they’re entitled to receiving some kind of remuneration for bringing their children who are outstanding athletes to enrol in a school.