So much has happened since the last post: Tabaski, the biggest Muslim holiday, with all the pre-holiday pressure of Muslims to earn money and our compliant purchasing of things we don't need; Michael's 10 days of intensity at work, sending an air ambulance to get a volunteer in Niger and having another come via commercial airlines (all are well); my end of the school semester, lots of work on ISD (International School of Dakar) School Board issues, two tennis tournaments, and a fashion show; Rachel's active school life -- a sleepover in a Mauritanian tent at our house, rehearsal for the school play, middle school volleyball, as well as her successful continuation in 8th grade (where she was advanced earlier this year). (Thus, some photos of Rachel.)
For two years, I've been helping Salif Kante in his pursuit of a tennis scholarship in the U.S. Salif, Senegal's number two tennis player, finished private high school this past summer. Two summers ago, in 2006, he toured various tennis camps in the U.S. (I put together a complicated tour across the U.S.), and as a result of that, he has both Division I and Division II scholarship offers. At the moment he has an offer to come to the U.S. in January 2009 (only three weeks away) but awaits NCAA ruling that he is "eligible."
Which is the reason for the title of this posting.
In order to play competitive sports at an American University, you must be deemed eligible by the NCAA (for my non-American friends, the National Collegiate Athletics Association). The NCAA is a massive private bureaucracy that regulates college athletics, by trying to prevent athletes from receiving prohibited payments (making them professionals) and requiring them to have sufficiently high grades.
In order to play American college sports, you must have a certain grade point average (GPA) and earn a sufficient grade on the American college entrance exam. Last school year, when Salif was in his final year of high school, he took the SAT and did poorly, then took the ACT and still did poorly but better, maybe well enough. Remember, Salif went to school in French, and he focused on history and geography (high schools are specialized here). So, even making a fairly low exam on a complex exam in English is a feat.
Educational systems are quite different worldwide, so the NCAA has an office whose sole job is to translate foreigners' grades into an American GPA. There is a huge document on-line with countries and their grades and how they translate. There are also rules regarding how many credits you must have in various subjects.
High grades are not easily awarded in Senegal; most students made around 50% by American standards, maybe a bit higher. Salif had grades in the middle, which under NCAA rules translate into about a C or B. (If you took out his math grades, which are abysmal, he has a B average; but math is required.) He was one of only 14% of all the high school graduates in Senegal who passed the baccalaureate this summer. He is a good student. In Europe and Africa, the bacc is the goal. Once you've passed your bacc, that is the ticket into universities. No one cares about GPA here (they don't even understand it). The bacc here in Senegal is rigorous, tough, days of exams.
But the NCAA doesn't credit the bacc. It only looks at GPA. This is the American way, so Salif (and all other international athletes) must play by those rules. The problem for Salif, though, is that the NCAA has translated his grades into a 1.8. Practically failing, definitely on academic probation.
This caused me to do all kinds of research into the rules for how they do translating, finding the NCAA by-laws, making charts of his grades. So, when I've looked at their by-laws and his grades, I get a 2.6 (which sounds much more like what everyone here says his grades are).
But the NCAA will not talk with a prospective athlete or anyone helping him. They only speak with a "compliance officer" from a recruiting university. So, compliance officers have spoken with them, but nothing has changed.
And all we can do is look on line on Salif's personal site and see that the NCAA continues to give Salif a 1.8, essentially declaring him ineligible, as if here were some failing student, instead of in the top 14% of his country.
At the moment, with a 2.6, he could go to a Division I school and play tennis. And he has an offer to go in January.
With a 1.8, he will never go to any American 4-year university.
With his 2.6 and four points higher on his ACT (which he took again in December), he could play at a Division II school, where he also has interest.
With a 1.8 GPA, doors are closed.
Perhaps, my calculations are wrong. Perhaps, I'm misreading the NCAA by-laws. But even the Director of Salif's school, Brother Luc, has written the NCAA explaining that Salif was not a failing student and asking them to reconsider.
The fuse is so short. A scholarship awaits him in three weeks (he could come at the latest January 12). No one will talk with us. Two different compliance officers told us the NCAA would talk with Salif but wouldn't talk with me because he's of legal age, so when we got the final GPA decision, just this Wednesday, Salif came to my house, and we called the NCAA international eligibility office, only to be told that they couldn't discuss anything with us.
For me, as a lawyer who's tried to advocate for people and causes, and as a professor who's taught about the opportunities in America and the justice that exists, the inability to get an answer, the lack of transparency (the modern buzzword) are like doors slamming over and over. I'm so accustomed to a rational world, where people explain their positions, and each side can understand the arguments.
And the stakes are so high.
Either Salif can attend a university in the U.S. Or he'll attend an unsafe, frequently on-strike, university here in Senegal. I'm such a fighter, but I don't even know what to do next. One college coach has suggested praying (we do have Brother Luc on our side).
The carousel spins madly; the golden ring flies by, just out of reach. The images swirl. And all I can see is the rigid face of an exceptional athlete and a good student, sadly watching it pass him by.
Oh, Amy. I was so hoping for good news about Salif. Every time a posting from your blog comes up on my blog reader I hope you have news. I'm sorry the news is not so good. I'll be keeping a good thought. Happy Christmas to you all and happy new year. Hope to see you sometime in the new year. -- Susan
Posted by: Susan | December 22, 2008 at 10:23 PM