After an incredible sports season, some student-athletes are facing the grim reality of not knowing where to go with the UAAP's inane residency rules hanging over their heads.
by rick olivares
With the sports season done and the school year
drawing to a close, some graduating student-athletes are worried that their
windows of opportunity are closing.
There is no resolution to the controversial residency
rules that saw the league beset by a pair of temporary restraining orders this
season. There are rumors of their supposed repeal but to date, they are simply
that – rumors.
In the meantime, the student-athletes are feeling the
grip of the Gestapo-like rules.
A couple of graduating high school basketball players
wanted to try out for other UAAP schools. They were informed that their school
was going to get them for the college team but the two aren’t convinced. They
know management is constantly on the lookout for players to recruit. There
seems to be a new face on campus every time they look around. They haven’t been
promised anything and that makes them nervous. A slot on Team B won’t cut it. But
they are afraid of moving because management has threatened to slap the
residency rule on them.
They are also hesitant to move to rival NCAA. What
for? They have tasted the power and appeal of the UAAP and they know that they
stand to gain more by staying in the latter.
The father of another player is suddenly afraid. The
saying about “not biting the hand that feeds you” might come back to haunt him
and his son.
When his son was being hotly recruited by one high
school, a lot of his requests (read: demands) were granted. And now in an
epiphany, he realizes that he has opportunities in the bigger and more popular
schools. They are thinking of leaving but now they are being held back. The
release papers are dangling over their heads. He wants to lash out but he
can’t.
“If I had only known…” the father’s voice trails off.
One player’s father overstated his son’s value. He
asked for the moon and came away with not even the sky. It is a sobering
experience. The son, so promising, just hung his head. In the meantime, the
school where he made a name for himself and spurned at first is having a laugh
and making his stew on his own fat. Now you wait, said one team official.
What happened there?
What now?
Where do you go from here?
* Names have been withheld to protect them from
unscrupulous school officials.
Time to scrap this stupid rule.
ReplyDeleteHow can government stop the rule though? UAAP is not exactly a government-sponsored league.
ReplyDelete