The official Athletes(‘) Council arrivals and departures list, and more

I got clarification on one thing from the past post on the Athletes Council (or Athletes’ or Athlete’s, though the last seems incorrect unless you’re talking about one athlete).

Elected/re-elected in 2016 to 2017-21 term (not up for election this time)
Gavin Sibayan (Paralympic)
Brian Ching (MNT)
Brad Guzan (MNT, playing for team as I type)
Stuart Holden (MNT)
John O’Brien (MNT)
Jonathan Spector (MNT)
Lauren Holiday (WNT)
Lori Lindsay (WNT)
Heather O’Reilly (WNT)
Aly Wagner (WNT)

So that’s five MNT, four WNT and one Paralympic.

Running for re-election
Chris Ahrens (Paralympic)
Carlos Bocanegra (MNT)
Lindsay Tarpley (WNT)
Nick Perera (Beach)

Not returning (either term-limited, out of 10-year window or, like Jerry Seinfeld, choosing not to run)
Shannon Boxx (WNT)
Angela Hucles (WNT)
Leslie Osborne (WNT)
Kate Markgraf (WNT)
Christie Rampone (WNT)
Will John (YNT)

So the WNT might not have half the seats on the Council in the next two years as it did in the past two years. Then again …

Candidates
Sean Boyle (Paralympic)
Kevin Hensley (Paralympic)
Landon Donovan (MNT)
Yael Averbuch (WNT)
Meghan Klingenberg (WNT)
Ali Krieger (WNT)
Samantha Mewis (WNT)
Alex Morgan (WNT)
Alyssa Naeher (WNT)
Becky Sauerbrunn (WNT)
McCall Zerboni (WNT)
Jason Leopoldo (Beach)

So when you add in the candidates for re-election, the breakdown is:

3 Paralympic
2 MNT
9 WNT
2 Beach

The WNT will get at least three seats, even if all seven of the non-WNT candidates win. The possible breakdowns coming out of this election are:

1-4 Paralympic
5-7 MNT
7-13 WNT
0-2 Beach
0 Futsal
0 YNT

Plenty of overlap with the YNT, of course — almost all MNT/WNT players were on the YNTs at some point, as was Leopoldo.

Note that the election process has no guarantee of diversity. It certainly could end up with 13 WNT players/alumni. Or four Paralympians. The chair and vice chair positions have had an even MNT/WNT/Paralympian split in recent years, but that’s not required.

The Council could be more diverse than it currently is. I found a few examples of people who are eligible from their YNT days (as Will John was). It’d be interesting if the MASL ever joins U.S. Soccer and one of its many players from the futsal national team runs.) Like all aspects of U.S. Soccer, it’s getting more scrutiny. It now has a website and is posting its policies and processes.

The most controversial inclusion, on the current board or the nominees, is Carlos Bocanegra, who’s now in a management position with an MLS team. Ethics hounds would probably have a good argument on whether that’s a conflict of interest.

That said, repeat after me …

The Athletes Council is not a union. It does not negotiate with “management.” 

You could argue that Bocanegra isn’t well-placed to represent athletes in his current role — or simply that there are other people better suited to do so.

But they still need more people running.

 

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2 thoughts on “The official Athletes(‘) Council arrivals and departures list, and more

  1. “Athlete’s” could be the Royal Athlete. Like “gentleman’s agreement,” which feels like it could/should be “gentlemen’s.” (But yes, if we’re just using words in the ways they’re supposed to be used, the singular possessive doesn’t seem right).

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