Int'l Draft reactions in Japan

Hi all,

Thought I would post a few links from Japanese articles that deal with the results of the WPS draft.

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080926-00000000-sanspo-spo
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080926-00000093-sph-socc
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080926-00000011-sanspo-spo
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080926-00000020-spn-spo
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080925-00000059-jijp-spo.view-000
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/soccer/080925/scr0809251829012-n1.htm

While I am not fluent in Japanese, I did my best to grasp what the articles are saying, and here are the main points: (apologies if I'm I got lost in the translation!)

- There was a press conference held by NTV Beleza as three of the four players (Sawa, Arakawa and Ohno) drafted yesterday play for this club team (the best in Japan, #1 in the Nadeshiko league this season). The fourth player drafted, Aya Miyama, plays for another Nadeshiko League team--Okayama, which is not located in Tokyo and further south. I couldn't find any comments from her.

- Sawa says that she was honoured/happy to be selected in the first round and thinks coming back to the US will be a good challenge for her...but, she cannot say at the moment if she'll go or not. She did, however, stress that the conditions of her contract must be adequate and that her agent will begin to talk "slowly" with Washington (something like that). She is signed with Beleza until the end of the year, and will remain focused on playing with her team.

- Sawa's agent mentioned that there was some informal talk w/the league during the Olympics (or something like that), but since then, they have not been given any other information about potential contracts, salaries and the likes...they know nothing and look forward to beginning talks. Sawa's agent also mentions that Beleza has already approached him in extending Sawa's contract in January--so she could potentially remain with Beleza--and that they've even been approached by a team in England.

- The GM of Beleza stated that they (as the club team of the three players) have yet to receive any type of document, offer or communication about any of the players...and that they are looking forward to beginning their process. They are happy that their players are being sought abroad, and says its good for their development.

- A representative from the Japanese Football Association said that they have not gotten any documentation/information from the league but that they think it's a good idea to promote their top national team players to go abroad to play. It gives younger players something to strive for and a great opportunity to develop their game.

- Ohno, who just got a professional contact* with Beleza in June says she's not sure about the whole situation, but would like to talk to Boston about the possibilities. Arakawa says that finding out she's been drafted "hasn't hit her yet" and that she, too, is unsure.

- Not sure if this was actually commented on during the press conference or inferred to by the writers of the articles, but there are some concerns about the economic situation in the United States and the long-term viability of the league. There was a comment in one of the articles that the base salary for an international player was x-amount and that it could possibly be even lower...I think that statement was made to suggest that players with professional contracts* in Japan make at least that much or more.

So, I guess in sum, I think the news of them being drafted by WPS has garnered some attention in Japan (thus, the press conference), and that there is excitement and interest in coming to the US ... but everything is pretty much unknown since they know nothing about the particulars. It should be interesting to see how everything develops!

Elaine

* from my understanding, players that play in the Nadeshiko League are not "professionals". But, select few players are given professional contracts by their club teams and thus play soccer "full time". Beleza has a few players with pro contracts (Sawa, Ohno being two of them) as well as a few others who are on the National Team.