At 02:39 PM 1/7/99 -0500, Larry wrote:
>A disturbing trend and not just hockey- we have way too many foreign athletes
>competing for tax supported American schools and like it or not each alien
>athlete takes away one spot from an American.
 
This opinion is not too unlike one present the English Premiere League
(soccer); many fans in the UK feel that there are too many foreigners
coming into the league, especially now one doesn't need a work permit if
you're a citizen of the EUC. This is an especially hot topic for teams that
are supported by local "kitty" dollars (kinda-sorta like a tax, you could
say). The biggest complain however comes not from the dollars being spent,
but the fact that local talent isn't being developed.
 
 
Back to college hockey:
 
My question is how many schools in D1 receive a significant enough
contribution from tax dollars that it should matter where students and
players come from?
 
For example, both Boston College and Boston University do receive *some*
funding from the state -- but it's barely accountable compared to the
private funding, and relatively nonexistent when it comes to hockey or
other sports programs.
 
As far as taking up spots as students, most state schools have limits on
both ends -- only a certain percentage of students will be from in-state, a
certain percentage non-US citizens. In those cases, an argument that a
foreign student is taking the place of a state-schooler is silly.
 
I'd have to say the same goes for college hockey (and other college sports,
for that matter). As people on the list have pointed out, no scholarship
dollars are culled from taxes; to wit, a foreign student playing hockey
isn't costing the taxpayers anything.
 
If you're going to take the attitude that foreign players are taking up the
playing spot that could go to an American citizen, then consider that a non
state resident is taking up the playing spot of a state resident, the one
who's truly paying the taxes for the school. The rest of America isn't
supporting the school; AFAIK, only a miniscule portion of my tax dollar is
going into state schools like Michigan State or Ohio State. For whatever
amount does get filtered to those schools, the amount that gets budgeted
out to the hockey program would be so insignificant as to make a molecule
feel huge.
 
So why not get up in arms that non-Michigan residents are on the MSU
roster, non-Massachusetts residents on the UMass roster? As far as taking
up player spots and the bulk of taxpayer money, they're in the same boat as
a foreign player. In a sense, they are foreign to the state.
 
 
A better question to ask is how many foreign players on state school teams
are receiving scholarships. At least in other sports, I've read that the
majority of non-US citizens do not receive scholarships. Then again, hockey
has a vastly different base of players.
 
 
The ultimate point however is that playing hockey in college is not
supposed to be about the game so much as an education; likewise the point
of state-supported schools is to provide affordable education for
residents. In that case, would it really be that much of a burden for an
in-state resident to pay resident tuition for the school he plays hockey
at? After all, in-state tuition is almost like being given a scholarship
simply for living there.
 
 
greenie
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
>I wonder how many non-Canadian
>athletes are attending some of these ECAC schools? Short term thinking- now
>lets promote American hockey.
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.