Not long ago, American athletes dominated the collegiate sports landscape, but an influx of foreign athletes is taking away scholarships from American students and changing the games within the games.
A recent sports report suggested more than 50 percent of collegiate baseball players are now foreign. A similar report shows that 42 percent of Major League baseball players are now foreign. That Major league number is expected to continue to shift in the favor of acquiring more foreigners playing the United States national pastime.
As the worldwide presence in basketball continues to gain momentum, more foreign players are coming to the United States to gain an education and further their sports prospects. It is evident from international basketball that the rest of the world has gained on the United States in basketball prowess, and the number for foreign born college players continues to grow.
In college sports, events like track & field and cross-country have been inundated with an influx of foreign athletes. In particular, a number of Kenyans, long thought to be superior in long-distance running, have come to the United States to further their sports careers.
Is this a good thing?
As technology and other internet media have made the world smaller, sports also, has taken a worldwide turn. Foreign athletes that once came to the states only to play professional sports, have now come to gain an education while improving their professional sports prospects.
American athletes that once received college scholarships are now finding their window of education impeded by an athlete from another country that received their scholarship.
While foreign sports stars are coming to the United States, the same can’t be said for American athletes going to other countries to further their education. About the only sport that offers a similar preparatory background for Americans in a foreign country is soccer, and even the world’s most popular sport sees plenty of foreign athletes coming the states to improve their prospects.
