So the rule is:
International Athlete Eligibility
(A) International Athletes are defined as athletes who do not attend a school district
located within the United States within the semester immediately preceding a
Championship Finals or athletes who do not possess a valid US Passport.
(B) In the 16 & Under and 18 & Under divisions a maximum of two (2) international
athletes are permitted to be rostered for the Zone Qualification Tournament and
Championship Finals per age group/gender per club.
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I take this to mean 2 internationals per club per age group - so if you have an A and B team, and you have 2 internationals on your A team, you can’t also have 2 internationals on your B team - correct?
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Secondary question - who is checking this? if a kid registers for a USAWP membership and lists an American address, no flags are raised. Are we just all assuming that coaches understand the rule in its entirety and are all adhering to it?
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If you face a team and suspect the rule is not being adhered to - what do you do? Protest? If you play the A team, how are you supposed to know if they have foreigners on their B team?
There are many who have US passports but are from another country (dual citizenship). I believe you can protest, but most likely they will pull out a report card from an school in the us or their us passport that is behind their other passport. I think the punishment is so severe that no one will chance it. I am guessing if you feel they have three, one of them has a US passport and gets a pass. Or they actually go to school here and are not counted as “international”.
With the proliferation of online schools (alot seem to have a fancy “Academy” name attached to them) associated with public districts, public schools, and private schools kids can be enrolled in an American school pretty easily.
Its a problem thats here to stay.
I don’t know what the penalty is but I do know that San Francisco was swapping actual players with different people after check in a few years ago and they didn’t appear to suffer any consequences. There was a rumor that some coastal teams were using American names and USAWP numbers with international players after updating the picture online.
i believe you forfeit any games they played in. not sure who would turn to fraud to win a game..
not sure what the CFMC is, sounds dicey.
- The CFMC has the right to request passports, transcripts, class schedules or other documentation from teams with International Athletes competing in the Zone Qualification or Championship Finals. Teams violating this provision will forfeit all games on which more than two (2) International Athletes were rostered or played and be disqualified from further competition in the Championships in which the violation occurred.
better question, how big is this 14 year old on Greenwich. 6’4 14 year old?
I’m not sure how tall he is but his father, a former NBA player, is 6’10". The Greenwich player will start his freshman year of high school next month at Newport Harbor. I believe his mother is from Newport Beach.
Well if we don’t have the guts to enforce the rules as written, then what’s the point of having the rules at all?
How do we know the rules aren’t being enforced? Some just sound upset others are getting creative and giving their players valuable experience, our kids can actually learn a little from playing with and against international talent.
@Gibson Big, bold accusation against SFWPC. There are three kinds of people: those who spread rumors, those who believe them, and those they’re about. Last one is the best choice. Would you be so kind as to share some proof with the rest of us?
Their 16u team was disqualified that year as a result of the situation. So it was not a rumor.
It was pretty talked about last year on WP planet. I seem to remember it was during quals. Seemed like first hand observation shared with the planet. So, do not agree with your claim of a BOLD accusation at all, more like a historical reference.
San Francisco Water Polo Club Warriors finished 14th in the Platinum Division according to USA Water Polo.
Thus my bold conclusion that they were not punished.
What crime did they commit? You’re allowed to have two foreigners.
Yes, I remember all the talk. I don’t remember any proof though. And no one added their name as a first-hand observer so how do you know it was a first-hand observer? I just reviewed WPP again and found nothing to back up the allegations. I did find SFWaterpolo took the time to rebut the accusation:
"Clarification: 1 Coach had a safe sport certification that hadn’t been uploaded to the system before the start of JO Quals - system removed the coach. Coach uploaded the safe sport certification and USAWP re-added coach to roster before game 1.
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1 player had a duplicate USAWP account, one of which was eligible, the other ineligible - the ineligible account was added to the roster. The system removed the player without notification to club or family. When the player arrived at the pool to check in to play - he was not on roster & was told he was not allowed to play. We petitioned USAWP to re-add him to the roster, which was denied, and we moved forward with the tournament without that player. We allowed the ineligible boy to warm up with the team, attend all team meetings and stand behind the bench cheering on his teammates during the games.
This player has dual American and Italian citizenship, but lives in San Francisco full time with his family.
Regarding international players, our club has an excellent track record of getting kids into college regardless of place of birth. We take multiple international trips each year to water polo hotbeds to learn from the best in the world. Our 16u team had one international player and our 18u team has 3 (the same kid on the 16s team played on the 18s squad), we currently have 3 internationals in our program staying with host families. These kids are all stellar student athletes and longtime friends of everyone in the program from time spent over years of training alongside them, not hired mercenaries for hardware.
We constructed our rosters to maximize playing time for everyone this weekend. Our 18u team had 11 field players, our 18u B team had 16. Our goal is that water polo in Northern California becomes synonymous with the Belgrade’s, Barcelona’s and Budapests of the world, where top talent flourishes consistently. This is only possible if you are willing to compete at practice with the best in the world, which is what we facilitate.
Looking forward to seeing everyone on the pool deck this summer!"
My point is “historical references” like these don’t contribute to the conversation about adding foreigners to rosters. Nor do they contribute to our water polo community. They just try to tear it down and that’s a shame.
Where was this published?
I hope everyone had a great JO experience and here is my two cents.
My son’s (16U) team played last night a team that had a Hungarian player and was clobbered. At the end of the game, his response was “That literally was one of the best and funnest games I have played. He worked me all over the pool”
My response was “so no issues playing against foreigners?” None whatsoever and he relished the chance to play against him. For context, my son’s team is a 14U that was moved up to 16U to allow two children who would have been orphans and stuck on a 18U team. Watching a man cub with back hair dominating a pool was good and bad.
I am not stating the teams name so no one bashes them like SFWPC.
Plenty of comments on both WPP and WPE regarding Foreigners and JO’s. My humble opinion and mine only. Euros play a much more physical game from a young age, that our kids are not used to. The impact of having imports is good (and bad) as people will complain about “a foreigner is taking our kids places at JO’s and College”. I believe having foreigners playing is going to force our kids to step up to that style and level of play, which in turn will allow our kids to rip the numbers back to the U.S. side at college. We also know that schools like Fordham (for example), will trend towards Euros and they have been quoted as stating they are going to go after more foreigners than Americans. Do I agree with the Rationale? After close to 10 years in this sport, I have no issue. HOWEVER, my son and daughter have never had a foreigner come to their club and attempt to assimilate.
There are going to be plenty of people who read this and want to bash the acceptance of having foreigners, those who are going to defend my stance and others who shrug their shoulders and read the next post. We all have a opinion and they all stink to someone else.
at the old BB Water Polo Planet. It is still up, but no one posts over there anymore
Having international players is great for the game.
Kids will realize what it takes to be elite at their sport.
I doubt baseball or soccer parents are crying about international players and recruits, it’s just accepted.
Anecdotally, it was a lot of fun playing CNAB at Futures U18, probably half of the Spanish U18 national team. We should have more international tournaments featuring top U.S. and European/international teams. The kids enjoy the experience, gain exposure to different playing styles, and it helps grow the sport. California is too insular from the rest of the country, and the U.S. is too insular from the rest of the world. JOs should remain the national club championship for homegrown teams, while Futures and Quicksilver should continue to grow and attract more full international teams, not just a handful of ringers.