US Players Built a Football Combine to Keep Predators Out
Run by The Players' Network, this women's football combine keeps out shady types. All scouts and agents have to be vetted and players discuss how to stand up for their rights.
Women’s combines are plentiful in the United States, yet the format is anything but player-friendly: a club, college, or league books a pitch, charges hopefuls a few hundred dollars for two days of scrimmages, and then slips back into silence.
The typical script is predictable: a club, college, or league books a pitch and charges players a few hundred dollars for two days of scrimmages. Scouts and agents watch from the sidelines, clipboards in hand. Hard work is most often met with silence.
Even for the lucky few who do get approached, the journey is fraught with uncertainty. Players are left to do their own homework, asking critical questions in an information vacuum: Is that new agent trustworthy? Does that fledgling club, often based internationally, truly have their best interests at heart? The system, by its v…
