A few weeks ago, we linked to a video to our friend The Field Hockey Analyst, whose research found that, over the last few years, more than half of the field hockey athletes who entered the transfer portal left the sport entirely.
I read a perspective yesterday on this, from a phpBB message board on the sport of women’s lacrosse. I’m going to remove as many identifiers as possible, but the gist of the quote is this:
“The ability to transfer easily without penalty has made it so players can hop around easily. Women’s lacrosse is tending more towards a professional sport where people switch teams for whatever is bigger and better, with no regard for investment in a program, loyalty, development. Not only can kids jump ship, but it allows some coaches to not develop a good chunk of their roster because they know they can just shop the portal to the great disadvantage of existing players.”
Hmmmm.
This tells me that the transfer portal, as is currently constructed, is not only being used by players, but has now become a management tool on the part of coaches. Time was, a player was simply told the four words nobody wants to hear: “You’re off the team.” What happened to the player would be a matter of that player’s initiative. Job One, of course, is doing all of the research to find out where a better fit might be, athletics-wise. Once all that happens, there’s the matter of filling out transfer paperwork, figuring out how to transfer credits, and figuring out how to cover the cost of tuition at the new institution.
These days, it’s easy. Putting your name in a transfer portal, however crowded it is, allows coaches to pick and choose from a pool of players. But is also becoming, frankly, a place where coaches can jettison a portion of the roster because of a lack of performance, not being a good teammate, or (especially after one’s penultimate season), showing a lack of potential to become a good player by senior year.
The stories are legion about why players get let go from college rosters, in many athletic pursuits. The problem here is that the transfer portal is now being seen as a turnkey solution for college coaches rather than an opportunity for coaches to reflect. That reflection on how or why a certain player didn’t work out, could perhaps alter recruiting patterns, the approach to game-day coaching, or even how the coach relates to individual team members.
And wouldn’t that create a better environment for the players?