LPGA to require English for intl players (interviews, companies, compare)

[Steve Hazzard]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)—The LPGA Tour boasts players from all over the world, and it wants all of them to be able to speak English.
The LPGA will require players to speak English starting in 2009, with players who have been LPGA members for two years facing suspension if they can’t pass an oral evaluation of English skills. The rule is effective immediately for new players.
“Why now? Athletes now have more responsibilities and we want to help their professional development,” deputy commissioner Libba Galloway told The Associated Press. “There are more fans, more media and more sponsors. We want to help our athletes as best we can succeed off the golf course as well as on it.”
The tour held a mandatory meeting with South Koreans last Wednesday at the Safeway Classic to inform them of the new policy, which was first reported by Golfweek magazine.

There are 121 international players from 26 countries on the LPGA Tour, including 45 players from South Korea.

Well..., this certainly looks interesting. The LPGA is actually "requiring" its members to speak English! What an novel idea! Of course, the LPGA's motives may be financial, it's difficult for one of their golfers to give an interview to a US media person when the interviewee doesn't' speak English, unless it's Telemundo or Univision, but alas, that's only for Spanish. I'm sure that the Korean and Asia media cover their players, but there's that language thing, X language to English translations are often incorrect and unemotional. I'm fluent in Spanish and some of the Spanish to English translations that I hear are a major departure from the spoken Spanish, must be for brevity. Gee, I wouldn't want the LPGA's mandate to catch on in the general population, that might make La Raza unhappy and require the intervention of the ACLU (American Communist Liberation Union), I think that I see the ACLU in the LPGA's future toot-sweet!

LPGA to require English for intl players - Golf - Yahoo! Sports

[Californio]

Wait.. it has to do with language?! WHY ISN'T THIS ON THE IMMIGRATION FORUM YET! Oh wait, it is

[the one]

so should US players who play in the asian tourneys also have to learn mandarin if its in china?

learn french if its in france?

i think the US is tired of having foreigners win its events. this will only hold the international players at bay for a year at most. they will still continue winning.

in 2006, US women only won 7 out of the 33 LPGA events
in 2007, it was 12 out of 35 i think.

i dont know if this is good for the game. or cohesiveness amongst players.

and as for sponsors thats a dubious reason.

i would have thought that maybe safety would be the concern. what if some catastrophe occured, how would they communicate directions and safety protocol to the players? that makes sense.

but sponsors? interviews? so if a japanese company sponsors a lpga, can they require the participants speak japanese so that they can use the winner in their home market?

this doesnt make sense.
somebody help me out here.
the

one

[Freebird2007]

if a reporter botches an interview with their lack of language skills, don't blame the LPGA. blame the reporter!

Korean news agencies have English speaking journalists and they are well trained in the language. can't say the same for other journalists

[Steve Hazzard]

Originally Posted by the one

so should US players who play in the asian tourneys also have to learn mandarin if its in china?

learn french if its in france?

i think the US is tired of having foreigners win its events. this will only hold the international players at bay for a year at most. they will still continue winning.

in 2006, US women only won 7 out of the 33 LPGA events
in 2007, it was 12 out of 35 i think.

i dont know if this is good for the game. or cohesiveness amongst players.

and as for sponsors thats a dubious reason.

i would have thought that maybe safety would be the concern. what if some catastrophe occured, how would they communicate directions and safety protocol to the players? that makes sense.

but sponsors? interviews? so if a japanese company sponsors a lpga, can they require the participants speak japanese so that they can use the winner in their home market?

this doesnt make sense.
somebody help me out here.
the

one

Yo, the LPGA is a US based organization, not European, Asian, Latin American, etc. The international players play in the US LPGA, see that's the difference among English, Mandarin and Korean.

[rlchurch]

What a stupid move on the part of the LPGA. I foresee an International Ladies Professional Golf Association eclipsing them in a very few years.

[Steve Hazzard]

Originally Posted by rlchurch

What a stupid move on the part of the LPGA. I foresee an International Ladies Professional Golf Association eclipsing them in a very few years.

Excuse me, but golf tours require sponsors, no sponsors, no tours. The ILPGA would have a very difficult time attracting sponsors in the US to go up against the US LPGA.

[the one]

Originally Posted by Steve Hazzard

Yo, the LPGA is a US based organization, not European, Asian, Latin American, etc. The international players play in the US LPGA, see that's the difference among English, Mandarin and Korean.

you completly missed my first sentence

should US players who play in asian tourneys be required to learn mandarin or korean?

the reason for this policy is pretty weak. if it was for safety concerns i would have a better time accepting it, but as of now, it is not a good policy.

[Steve Hazzard]

Originally Posted by the one

you completly missed my first sentence

should US players who play in asian tourneys be required to learn mandarin or korean?

the reason for this policy is pretty weak. if it was for safety concerns i would have a better time accepting it, but as of now, it is not a good policy.

I would agree with you in principle that there would be a reciprocity of language requirement should the major tournaments be held in non-American countries. But, that is not the case, the major LPGA tournaments are held in the US and the majority of the tour sponsors are US based and they want to see their "sponsorees" speak basic English and not a language that requires translation for the US market. The only language that I'll give you a break on is Spanish, because the two Spanish language networks, Telemundo and Univision, have major audiences in the US. English is a universally spoken language and yes, there are a large number of Asian players, particularly Korean, on the LPGA tour. Again, follow the money, the big bag of bucks is located in the US, not in Asia or any other location.

[the one]

yes, most of the major LPGA tourneys re held in the states. but other tourneys, major ones are held in Europe and co-sponsored. Golf is quick becoming a sport like futbol. a global one.

ok, so its the sponsors. but if this was really about that, then wouldnt the companies be thrilled that players like annika or lorena win? they can now make these winners, de facto spokes people for their product in the winners home country. it would probably boost sales of whatever product they are hawking.

as for the post game interviews or whatever... its fine having an interpreter. i've never seen a problem with this.

i saw a gillette commercial a while back.
it had tiger, federer and thierry. gillette was smart. i dont think it had any words. this commercial can run in three countries (at least). of course these are global stars (cant compare a tiger with a L.ochoa). but marketing was not hindered by the fact that tiger or federer or thierry dont speak japanese or any other language.

i would think that having international players participate in a tourney would raise the level of play and camaraderie. this new policy doesnt seem to do either.

but in the end it does come down to money. its the way of the US. you are right about that. follow the money bags. all the way to DUBAI...

Originally Posted by Steve Hazzard

I would agree with you in principle that there would be a reciprocity of language requirement should the major tournaments be held in non-American countries. But, that is not the case, the major LPGA tournaments are held in the US and the majority of the tour sponsors are US based and they want to see their "sponsorees" speak basic English and not a language that requires translation for the US market. The only language that I'll give you a break on is Spanish, because the two Spanish language networks, Telemundo and Univision, have major audiences in the US. English is a universally spoken language and yes, there are a large number of Asian players, particularly Korean, on the LPGA tour. Again, follow the money, the big bag of bucks is located in the US, not in Asia or any other location.