Friday, October 19, 2001
The new age ONE COULD NOT have helped but notice them. They were taller, older, more skilled and they spoke Portuguese to each other.
A new rule limits eligibility
Rule obstructs Brazilian influx
for older, experienced players,
and it unintentionally
restricts foreignersBy Brandon Lee and Jerry Campany
blee@starbulletin.com
jcampany@starbulletin.comThough they weren't the only foreigners -- or athletes over the age of 20 -- in the past 11 years to play Division II women's volleyball locally, the Brazilians were clearly the biggest in number and impact. The fact that there has been a national championship trophy in the state nine times since 1991 is due in large part to these imports.
Brigham Young-Hawaii owns seven of these titles, and Hawaii Pacific two.
From 1996 through last year, in particular, there were no fewer than five Brazilians and as many as seven in a season between the Seasiders and Sea Warriors. HPU took the 1998 and 2000 Division II national titles, while BYUH won it in 1999 (both former NAIA champions moved to the NCAA-II before the fall of 1998).
The only other foreigner during the past five years was HPU's Hai Yan Wang, who was Chinese and also made a significant contribution to the Sea Warriors' 1998 title. She was 28 at the time.
"In recent years, HPU and BYU have set the standard as to the level of play," Chaminade coach Glennie Adams said. "I think foreign players have had an effect on this. The quality of their programs was a direct reflection of their personnel."
Adams and Hawaii-Hilo coach Sharon Peterson have not had any foreign players on their teams the past five years. The two occasionally had a foreign player earlier in their tenures.
But both have basically stuck to saving their roster spots for local or mainland teenagers who tend to enroll straight out of high school or transfer a couple of years later from junior colleges. The only time either sniffed postseason play in the past half-decade was the Vulcans' trip to the Division II Regional in 1997, the year before the Seasiders and Sea Warriors joined the NCAA.
By comparison, the Brazilian Seasiders and Sea Warriors -- and Wang as well -- were typically in their mid-20s, and were seasoned competitors who had played club or even national team-level volleyball in their country before coming to the U.S.
"Some of the players who come (from Brazil) are older and a lot more mature," Peterson said. "They've just been above and beyond what kids coming out of high schools are ready for."
This season, BYUH and HPU have only one Brazilian each on their rosters -- both senior returnees -- though their coaches insist this has nothing to do with revisions to Division II's amateurism rules that went into effect Aug. 1.
With the revisions, Division II aimed to achieve more competitive equity through strict evaluation of a recruit's involvement in organized competition after high school, with each infraction of such involvement typically costing a season of eligibility.
The Seasiders have two new Chinese players and the Sea Warriors a Swede, but unlike the remaining Brazilians, these players share the same relative ages as their American teammates.
The rule revisions aim to bring schools that lean on older players back into the pack with those that don't. The revisions would have forced experienced players to sit out as many years as they spent on club teams in their homelands.
That now leaves the majority of players from Brazil, where playing club volleyball is part of the culture, out in the cold.
"There'll be more parity," said Peterson, whose Hilo team has a .760 winning percentage and seven national championships before the first Brazilian played here, and a .523 percentage and no championships after. "I hated to see a lot of scholarships going to foreign players when there's thousands of players locally."
But the rule revisions create problems for others.
"It's very difficult to enforce across the board a rule that is based on the American system," said former HPU volleyball player (1987-90) and coach (1994-95) Gabriela Artigas, from Argentina, who believes she was the first foreign player for the Sea Warriors.
"In other countries, the only way to play (after high school) is to play for clubs. It would be a pity that this could deny opportunities to players who could benefit beyond just volleyball."
This is something Roberta Robert, 24, the lone remaining HPU Brazilian volleyball player this year, has experienced first-hand. "A lot of players don't go (to college right after high school) because they try to make the national team," Robert said. "But a lot of good players don't get a chance, and they decide to go to school. But in Brazil, they don't help you with scholarships; there's not the same help there is here."
FOR HER PART, Sea Warriors coach Tita Ahuna said she has never actively pursued foreign players; they have tended to contact her directly or through mutual acquaintances. Each time she is interested in one of these players, she confers with the HPU athletic department to ensure the recruit's eligibility.
"Our program shouldn't be looked at negatively because we've had these players," Ahuna said. "Every program has the opportunity to recruit anyone they want."
Cal State San Bernardino coach Kim Cherniss has gone up against BYUH and HPU several times over her 11-year tenure. Her Coyotes were bounced from the NCAA Pacific Regional final by a Brazilian-laden HPU squad that went on to win the national championship last year. The veteran Division II coach and former athlete supports the new revisions, yet believes even more needs to be done.
"I think there should be an age (limit) rule," she said. "From a realistic standpoint, I can do a lot of things to help my players win, but I can't age my players.
"The experience factor was the difference in us losing the match to (HPU) last year," Cherniss added. "There's something in that (disparity) that some coaches and players want to say, 'Hey, that's unfair.' My problem is when the player is 31 years old, can play on any Division I team and leads the conference in all statistical categories."
AS FOR the revisions' long-term effects on demographics and competition within the local and national volleyball scene, all said they are taking a wait-and-see approach.
"I don't want to say right or wrong, but I like the competition this year," Adams said. "Anyone can win on any given night. Is this a trend that will stay? I don't know."
Both Navalta and Ahuna say that they don't actively recruit either older or foreign players. Their volleyball programs are products of schools that consider themselves international learning centers. HPU and BYUH boast of drawing students from more than 60 nations.
"(The rule is) contrary to our goal as a university," Navalta said. "We have been an international university with target areas throughout the world."
But Navalta says his program will adjust. "We have won national titles without foreigners and with foreigners," he said.
Ben Henry contributed to this report
>> Students who do not enroll in a college immediately after high school are subject to a loss of eligibility in chunks of one year for each violation. The rule
>> Violations include playing, practicing or signing with any team that provides compensation, even necessary expenses such as meal money or transportation.
>> Exceptions to the rule include participation on any country's Olympic teams or competitions run by the United States military.
Before and after
BYUH
Before Brazilian players: .692 winning percentage and two national championships in 11 years
With Brazilians: .896 and seven national championships in 10 years
HPU
Before: .501 winning percentage and one national championship in 16 years
With Brazilians: .792 winning percentage and two national championships in five years
Hilo
Before: .760 winning percentage and seven national championships
Since the first Brazilian: .523 winning percentage and no national championshipsNote: Records prior to 1994 for Chaminade were not available
Foreigners who made an impact
Volleyball Magazine's players of the year
1995: Anik Valiengo, 31 years old (at the time), from Brazil (BYUH)
1996: Daniela Carneiro, 22, Brazil (BYUH)
1997: Arlete Silva, 24, Brazil (BYUH)
1998: Hai Yan Wang, 28, China (HPU)
2000: Debbie Sant'Anna, 26, Brazil (HPU)
First-team All-Americans, NCAA-II
1998-99: Juliana Lima, 21, Brazil (BYUH)
1998-99: Arlete Silva, 25-26, Brazil (BYUH)
1998-99: Vanessa Valansi, 23-24, Brazil (BYUH)
1999: Debbie Sant'Anna, 25, Brazil (HPU)
2000: Suzy Garbelotti, 26, Brazil (HPU)
First-team All-Americans, NAIA
1990: Gabriela Artigas, 28, Argentina (HPU)
1992, 95: Anik Valiengo, 28, 31, Brazil (BYUH)
1993, 96: Daniela Carneiro, 19, 22 Brazil (BYUH)
1996-97: Arlete Silva, 24-25, Brazil (BYUH)
1997: Juliana Lima, 20, Brazil (BYUH)
Brazilian players and how their teams did Impact of Brazilian players
* Denotes national championships
BYUH Year HPU 30-1* 1991 10-7 Anik Valiengo 26-2* 1992 7-10 Anik Valiengo Monique Roese 9-11 1993 11-6 Daniela Carneiro 31-5* 1994 12-11 Anik Valiengo Daniela Carneiro Anna Alves 35-1* 1995 14-11 Anik Valiengo Daniela Carneiro Anna Alves 30-1* 1996 17-10 Arlete Silva Gisele Rocha Juliana Lima Daniela Carneiro Anna Alves 32-0* 1997 10-11 Karla Ribeiro Gisele Rocha Vanessa Valansi Arlete Silva Juliana Lima Anna Alves 28-2 1998 31-5* Vanessa Valansi Debbie Sant'Anna Arlete Silva Gisele Rocha Juliana Lima 30-2* 1999 25-3 Vanessa Valansi Flavia Gabino Arlete Silva Debbie Sant'Anna Karla Ribeiro Gisele Rocha Juliana Lima 17-6 2000 28-0* Vanessa Valansi Flavia Gabino Karla Ribeiro Suzy Garbelotti Debbie Sant'Anna Roberta Robert 2001 Karla Ribeiro Roberta Robert Totals
BYUH HPU 268 Wins 111 31 Losses 29 .896 Winning percentage .792 6 National championships 2
WITH THE START of this season, Division II's competitive landscape changed locally and nationally. New rule by NCAA
obstructs Brazilian influxBy Brandon Lee and Jerry Campany
blee@starbulletin.com
jcampany@starbulletin.comIn January of this year, Division II's member schools approved revisions to the affiliation's amateurism rules, which went into effect Aug. 1. The revisions are not retroactive, and only affect students who enrolled on or after that date.
Though volleyball is the first major sport to cope with these revisions, all will soon have to do so.
Basically, these revisions entail a strict evaluation of a recruit's experience in any type of organized competition after high school. Each season of organized competition involving any form of compensation, even if incidental to necessary expenses such as travel, counts against one year of Division II eligibility.
At the same time, Division II made a unique allowance using the same season-for-season eligibility equation to permit re-entry for the "failed professional" -- the athlete in his or her teens or early 20s who signed a professional contract immediately after high school and quickly realized he or she would not be successful.
In either scenario, athletes would have to fulfill a year in residence at the school before competing to ensure their commitment to academics.
"What Division II is attempting to do is to make sure there is as even a playing field as possible, while also operating on a belief that young people have to have some options," said Jane Jankowski, the NCAA's assistant director for public relations. "Some would say Division II has been a leader in the deregulation of the NCAA's amateurism rules."
According to Jankowski, NCAA Division I is likely to vote on a similar amateurism package in April 2002, while Division III is at least looking into such legislation.
While the amateurism revisions supposedly target all potential recruits regardless of nationality, they may negatively affect foreign athletes significantly more than their American counterparts. Foreign athletes tend much more to be involved in "organized competition" between graduation from high school and enrollment in college.
Like the Brazilian volleyball players who have helped Brigham Young-Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific to their recent string of national championships, many of these foreign athletes have made significant contributions to their collegiate teams upon enrollment.
"No individuals, countries or sports were targeted," said Julie Roe, NCAA director of student-athlete reinstatement and staff liaison to the Division II project team that came up with the revisions.
"But it was recognized and discussed that some of the elite-level players who are dominating championships now would not be eligible under the new guidelines."
It is unquestioned that foreign athletes have had a large impact in Division II sports such as volleyball and tennis. But the fallout from the revisions may be felt well beyond the playing court. Higher-education opportunities in other countries are not as readily available as in the U.S., and loss of eligibility and therefore scholarship opportunities could cost some foreign athletes more than just the opportunity to lengthen their playing careers.