A. Let’s say Spain has an excellent university system, so Spanish kids plan on working hard to go to one of those schools.
B. Spanish universities have very good tax payer funded programs and facilities, and decide that spanish kids who meet the academic thresholds, and are adept at a sport, will have a scholarship.
C. Spain then says men will get half the number of scholarships as women, even though they play at a higher level.
D. Spain then says they want the best from the entire world, and will give foreign players something valued at $200,000 , which means the rosters are Germans, Americans, Russians etc. with a couple Spanish players mixed in.
But if a Spanish kid wants to go to university just outside of his city, he pays triple the price because his family did not pay taxes in that city. No other nations offer sports scholarships either, so the Spanish kids have nowhere to pay.
Does this seem right? Should that be changed? Could it be changed?
Let's flip the script in your scenario. You are a "Spanish" kid who fell in love with tennis playing on courts in your neighborhood. You have never traveled to a foreign country. However, you have had the opportunity to be coached by pros from two different continents who are located in your town. These pros sometimes invite players from their home country or continent over the summer to board with them or local families during the summer. You have even gotten to travel with them to a tourney one province away. In addition there are different tiers of universities with tennis teams near your home town. Your local academy actual leases courts from one of the lower tier teams and pays the guys $20/hr to hit with the junior players. Most of these collegians come from countries outside Spain. While the juniors tennis events sponsored by your national federation are an expensive route to achieve a starred ranking to hopefully attract college coaches, you discover there are other junior and adult events that are cheaper and closer to home that also attract some international juniors, collegians, and even young pros. Thus before you set foot on a college campus, you've had an opportunity to play foreigners from outside "Spain" and you are not intimidated when you play dual matches against older and often foreign players. You were a bit of a late bloomer as you attended regular high school, and played on the high school team while still playing some regional federation tourneys and a few nationals late in your junior career. You attracted some interest and offers from the higher tiered tennis universities but you could not afford the high out-of-state tuition with slim athletic aid. Instead you accepted an offer from the next tier down with 80%+ expenses paid between athletic and merit aid. With the savings from attending the lower tennis tiered university, you could afford to play summer tourneys and even beat some of the guys both international and "Spanish" from the higher college tier. Your lower tiered team makes it into the big tourney with the higher tiered teams 3x. You have a great college experience, graduate with high honors and no debt, and still play and coach some tennis on the side while working full time, occasionally even having the opportunity to be a hitting partner with high level pros.
The above is my son's story. While your A-D is mostly true, you can look at the glass half empty or half full. We choose the latter. However when my son was a soph in HS, I actually wrote an anonymous 2000 word article as a guest post for a tennis blog arguing your point. I changed my mind on the issue after my son had opportunity to play with internationals locally, and I was grateful that I didnt have to pay to send my son overseas to play international junior ITFs because he could spend $20 or $40 and play international players less than 35 miles from home at some events, and no we didnt live in Florida or California.
Some corrections to your facts: 1) Athletics is mostly funded by student fees at universities, not directly by taxpayers except in cases where communities and the university build facilities together that are shared by college and the public 2) Many tennis facilities were paid for by donations either from alumni or corporations. A corporation donated the collegiate facility where my son played undergrad. Also the public could pay to use the facility after hours which helped fund the program. 3) Guess what- not that many male internationals are getting full rides in tennis esp in the lower tiered levels of tennis. If there are 4.5 scholarships and 10-12 on the roster, do the math. If a lot of players are getting full rides or close to it, they are getting a good piece of academic/merit $ too. In fact post pandemic, athletic scholarships have been cut. 4.5 scholarships are the # for fully funded programs which is most of Power 5 D1, but midmajor D1, D2, NAIA may have 2 or even less scholarships to share among10 players. The school my son played at undergrad probably had 4-4.5 scholarships and ran a lean roster of 8-9 players with a good mix of internationals and Americans. Post pandemic with less athletic scholarship $$, the roster is 10 Americans plus two foreign players.
You are absolutely right about the out-of-state tuition. My son was recruited for lower line positions for power 5 schools, but after his 1st P5 offer, we realized it would cost us $100k more to play P5. He canceled the rest of his P5 official visits, chose the MM he liked best, and enjoyed the experience still playing vs several P5s a year. If he had accepted a P5 offer and ended up sitting on bench, he would have played less duals vs P5s than he did at the MM. He has met so many interesting people-players, parents, and coaches from playing tennis. He has no regrets. After he was recruited fall of his HS senior year, he had a great senior year and was even a seed at Kzoo, but coaches look at where you are at your junior year or early senior year. However, transfers are a lot easier than they used to be for late bloomers who want to change schools after their freshman year. My son didnt transfer until his 5th year for grad school.
Focus on the glass half full. Field of dreams-we built it, they came. You can complain or you can find those opportunities for your son to play or practice with internationals as a junior before college. For most of the mainland US, there is probably a men's tennis team within one of the divisions within an hour's drive-offer to pay a player to hit with your son. Skip the USTA and find the cheaper tourneys. No matter your budget, if your son has talent mental toughness, and a good work ethic, he can find opportunities that will challenge him and improve his game before college. Coaches that recognize those traits will work with you-maybe they usually only take homeschoolers, but make exceptions for the kids who work and play hard.
Whether as a club, walk on or a recruited player in any division, sports develops discipline, mental toughness, and confidence. Many businesses will prefer to hire athletes for those reason and for their ability to work as a team. I encourage you to find a team for your son that is an academic, economic, and tennis fit. We know players who have had great experiences in all the divisions. Club tennis is a great option too if your son can get into and attend the flagship university in your state.
The recruiting journey can be frustrating but the college experience afterwards is worth it for most players. The system is changing slightly as athletic scholarships are being cut at midmajors, D2, NAIA providing some more opportunities for Americans. Do realize that taxes are higher for families in Europe, and college is cheaper there-free in some countries to residents, and definitely lower on average than in US. Even if foreign players are paying less than US players, their families may be sacrificing for them to come play.
If we dumbed down tennis with only American players, would the victories mean as much? Are we unconsciously instilling in US players, that they aren't as good? That would be a mistake. We need to teach them to be ferocious, fearless players, and we need to expose them to international styles of play before college so they can be confident. It is exciting to see players like Shelton drop inside the top 30 within a year of college. Would Shelton have been as ready for the pro tour if he hadnt had tough international opponents playing ITA duals?
