Everyone on this site loves tennis. Many would agree that something is not right when the majority of players are international. This helps teams stay competitive. However there are very few top competitive teams. Once you get past the top 20 (in every division) it thins out quickly. Why not spread that talent out and limit each team how many international players they can have. I would put a limit between 1 and 4. Make this game more entertaining to the players and the fans. Maybe matches might be a little closer. I just think tennis is so easy to cut from a budget when the only students playing are foreign.
I respectfully disagree with several of the things you mentioned. First of all foreign players don't make or break a team, and they certainly aren't why teams get cut. People want a winner, they don't care where they are from. There number of reasons why school cut their programs but starts because the AD's are usually old school basketball, baseball, and football guys; they protect those sports, and tennis to them is a money loser and not what they consider a major sport. Plus, most student bodies traditionally do not support the tennis teams, so if no one is watching who's going to miss it. And, money loser in the sense that they don't understand how to sustain a tennis program and feel like maintaining courts, equipment, scholarships, and travel is a waste when their football program needs to re-sod their practice field. Then you add in the title IX factor, and mens sports like Tennis, Wrestling, Soccer, Swimming and Golf disappear. They don't care who plays on those teams as long as the program wins, and that is the mistake coaches get trapped with as they just worry about the winning aspect to maintain the sport and don't know how to work the process. Most coaches at lower level programs fall into those positions and don't understand who to make a program successful. They were either a player on a team a long time ago or some TA that was the only option who would agree to make $30,000/year to coach the team.
I'll say again, look at most programs they have kids from out of state and out of country. If Michigan can't get a player from China, they'll get them from Florida. They are getting the best players they can that can win, build the program, and mesh with the school, doesn't matter where they come from.
Every major program wasn't always there. I have a huge amount of respect for Ohio State as an example, Ty Tucker has built a program from mediocre to a powerhouse. But what people don't realize is that it has taken a lot of hustle on his part to get there. They still have a ways to go as they could certainly get more students to matches, but they have started a nice following and people are coming out to watch. Read about Dan McGill and the history of the Georgia program. Donors, hustling the athletic department, good recruiting, built the Georgia program. It can be done, but you need special person to bridge that gap, and an interested or open minded athletic program. And there are lots of good teams in the mix that aren't in the top 20. Look at Rice, look at the Ivy's, Georgia State, Kennesaw State, Middle Tennessee to name a few. Any of those teams could compete with a top 20 and possibly win.
No school will cut a program that has student support, a coach fighting for it that believes in the program and is able to support it with some donations, and a winning team.
