Post by badgerbreath on May 14, 2022 16:00:38 GMT -5
What people mean when they say Guctekin is a "professional" is that she has played in a professional league (maybe the best in the world) apparently as an amateur. What amateur means for Wisconsin's purposes is up to the NCAA. The definition has been pretty fuzzy for a while IMO.
My guess is that they just go with Europe's definition, which is a different kettle of fish, because Europe just does things differently. There, players cannot sign a "professional" contract until they reach a certain age. In soccer, UEFA and FIFA has tried to normalize this age, but the age differs among countries and sports. It's 17 in English soccer and 18 in Spanish soccer, for instance. Wayne Rooney when he scored his first premier league goal was only 16 and technically a "scholar" with Everton. At that point, nothing technically kept him entering the US HS school system and then the NCAA - except the obvious considerations of status, competition, fame and fortune.
I don't know what the age limit is in Turkish volleyball. I don't know if Guctekin is over that age, but there is also no requirement that a player over the age MUST sign a professional contract with a club. The club may decide not to invest further if they don't, since a promising player who does so is clearly looking to cash in at a bigger club, but I think that for liberos in volleyball playing for Fenerbahce that is likely to be less of an issue. (Such a response was apparently a large enough worry for Guctekin that she asked Sheffield to put off announcing her move to UW for many months after her verbal commitment - until the second half of the Turkish season started.)
She won't be guaranteed a spot, but she is the clear favorite for libero coming in, based solely upon her past accolades and accomplishments, being in the Fener pipeline, and having started for Sariyer much of the year against top notch competition.
My guess is that they just go with Europe's definition, which is a different kettle of fish, because Europe just does things differently. There, players cannot sign a "professional" contract until they reach a certain age. In soccer, UEFA and FIFA has tried to normalize this age, but the age differs among countries and sports. It's 17 in English soccer and 18 in Spanish soccer, for instance. Wayne Rooney when he scored his first premier league goal was only 16 and technically a "scholar" with Everton. At that point, nothing technically kept him entering the US HS school system and then the NCAA - except the obvious considerations of status, competition, fame and fortune.
I don't know what the age limit is in Turkish volleyball. I don't know if Guctekin is over that age, but there is also no requirement that a player over the age MUST sign a professional contract with a club. The club may decide not to invest further if they don't, since a promising player who does so is clearly looking to cash in at a bigger club, but I think that for liberos in volleyball playing for Fenerbahce that is likely to be less of an issue. (Such a response was apparently a large enough worry for Guctekin that she asked Sheffield to put off announcing her move to UW for many months after her verbal commitment - until the second half of the Turkish season started.)
She won't be guaranteed a spot, but she is the clear favorite for libero coming in, based solely upon her past accolades and accomplishments, being in the Fener pipeline, and having started for Sariyer much of the year against top notch competition.
