ELItorial: For Ivies to win, recruits must play

By Alison Morris

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Eli field hockey snagged a top recruit in Amanda Walton, SY '02.

In the world of college sports, it seems the Ivy League always lags behind. The Ancient Eight usually sends only one team to the NCAA tournament in basketball, its football teams hardly ever get time on SportsCenter, and it's a pretty big deal if our ice hockey teams are nationally ranked. Quite frankly, the Ivies get ignored. Nobody beyond the ivy walls is watching unless a game is featured on ESPN.

Students, athletes, and coaches alike have claimed that the Ivy League's weak recruiting techniques and inability to award athletic scholarships put its teams at an extreme disadvantage to their Big East counterparts. I disagree. Although Ivy Leaguers may not shoot hoops like the Tar Heels or throw touchdowns like Michigan, Ivy teams have the potential to make themselves into athletic powerhouses.

It's true that the League's decision not to award athletic scholarships eliminates a large portion of the recruiting pool. But the Ivies make up for this in unrivaled academic and career opportunities. We may not be able to draw students with the promise of a free ride worth over $100,000, but we can offer the Yale or Harvard name on a diploma, an asset which can eventually help a student-athlete pull in far more cash.

More aggressive recruiting will push Ivy schools into a more competitive athletic position. Just look at the example Yale field hockey set this season. In 1997, the team's overall record was 8-9, with a mediocre 3-4 Ivy mark. Realizing the need to improve upon a losing season, the team went out and recruited the talent to fill in the gaps. Freshman phenom and eventual Ivy League Rookie of the Year Amanda Walton, SY '02, propelled this year's squad to an impressive 15-4 overall record, including 5-2 against the Ancient Eight. Leading the team with 18 goals and 39 points for the season, Walton's scoring prowess helped bring the Elis the wins they needed to take the ECAC tournament.

But while active recruiting is one sure way to help the Ivies improve, it's the period after recruitment which poses the greatest problem. Because they don't offer scholarships, Ivy athletic departments are powerless to coerce players to fulfill their commitment to show up and play. Once athletes have been accepted, they can refuse to set foot in Payne Whitney Gym. In order to maintain an effective recruiting program, the Ivies should require at least short-term participation from their athletes. Instead of just putting a stamp that says "recruit" on an athlete's application, coaches should develop a contract in which a minimal commitment to the play-er's particular sport is a condition of acceptance.

By requiring athletes to state their intention to play from day one, Ivy League universities would no longer risk holding positions on their rosters for players who might not show up. If an athlete has agreed to come here on the condition of playing a particular sport, he or she needs to honor that commitment and at least give the team a chance. If later an athlete decides that sports and academics are too difficult to balance, or wants to throw in the towel after a lifetime as a student-athlete, that should should be entirely his or her prerogative. But it seems dishonest to allow a coach to watch you play and to enter into the admissions process clearly marked as a recruit--with no intention of showing up on the first day of practice.

Although recruiting mishaps may not occur every day, they happen often enough that Ivy League teams aren't getting the athletes they bargained for. And since teams deny entrance to potential student-athletes in favor of others who will never play, not only is this phenomenon unfair to those who truly want to play here, but it also hurts the team's chances of developing the best squad possible. Imagine hearing that high-school star--and current Indiana Pacer--Austin Croshere had accepted a full athletic scholarship to Providence, but then decided not to play before he ever set foot on the court. Unheard of. Maybe the Ancient Eight can't lure players with money-laden promises, but we can give them the chance to show off their stuff with the best of them--if they're only obligated to give the Ivies a chance.

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