December 10, 2006 | 00:00
Caleb Norkus has hit back at Puerto Rico Islanders president Andrés Guillemard Noble's claim that the new RailHawks signing broke an "economic agreement" he had made with the USL-1 club when he opted to sign with the Carolina franchise. Norkus told Triangle Soccer Fanatics that the claims were baseless and that he had already taken the initiative to clarify the situation with USL Vice-President Tim Holt.
The Islanders executive's allegations seem to center around costs associated with Norkus' treatment for a sports hernia injury. With his contract up with Puerto Rico, Norkus insisted that he tried to negotiate in good faith with the Islanders organization to secure a new contract that would pay for the medical treatment necessary to return him to the pitch. Norkus said that he loved playing in Puerto Rico and complimented their supporters as "the best in the USL," but he was dismayed by the Islanders front office's refusal to commit to him with a new contract. The Islanders preferred instead to take a wait and see approach pending Norkus' rehabilitation. The Islanders told Norkus that when and if he was healthy again, they would then offer him a new contract which would cover the expenses incurred out of his own pocket.
Left with no contract in hand, the 27 year old free agent was forced to take his medical treatment and career into his own hands. On his own dime, Norkus initiated the rehabilitation he needed and found his new hometown team willing to put a contractual commitment into his playing future. Given the Islanders reluctance to make a similar commitment, Norkus took the logical option and decided to return to the Triangle area where he had great success as a high school and collegiate soccer player.
When asked how his recovery was coming, Norkus indicated that things were progressing well and he felt like he was about a month away from a return to the soccer pitch -- a timetable which should easily allow him to be ready for the RailHawks inaugural season opener in April 2007.
Category:
News
December 12, 2006 - 14:33
There's another article on the Norkus situation in the Puerto Rican press today:
http://www.endi.com/Xstatic...
It seems to cover a lot of the ground that the previous article covered but in this case, Caleb seems to have sent a written statement to the newspaper regarding the situation. Here's the quotes from him in the article:
“es frustrante, pero no sorpresivo, que después de haberme negado atención médica durante los últimos tres meses de la temporada, ‘Andy’ (Guillemard Noble) ponga en duda mi integridad y la integridad de mi nuevo equipo, que estuvo dispuesto a firmar un jugador lesionado con la esperanza de que va a estar listo para la próxima campaña.
Lo más cercano que tuve a una oferta de ‘Andy’ llegó por una llamada telefónica cuando estaba abordando el avión para irme a Argentina el 16 de octubre y fue muy poco descriptiva en la cantidad, aunque sí me dijo, como siempre dijo, que si yo volvía a firmar por dos años me reembolsarían los gastos de la cirugía.
Carolina no tuvo objeción en ofrecerme un contrato tras un par de reuniones después de la temporada. ¿Por qué nunca recibí uno de Puerto Rico si alegan que teníamos un acuerdo económico, y cómo podría confiar en ellos en el futuro después de la manera en que me ignoraron? La liga no debería permitir que los dueños salgan airosos de este tipo de acciones hacia un jugador"
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My rough translation...(warning, I'm not fluent in spanish so hopefully I didn't radically mistranslate):
"It's frustrating, but not surprising to me that after they denied me medical attention in the last three months of the season, "Andy" (Islanders club president Andrés Guillemard Noble)puts in doubt my integrity and the integrity of my new team, that has arranged to sign an injured player with the hope that he is going to be ready for the next season.
The closest I had to an agreement was I received a telephone call from Andy on 16 October as I was getting on the plane to go to Argentina (for surgery). Although there was little talk of the financial terms, Andy told me that if I would return to sign a 2 year agreement with the club, they would reimburse me for the surgery.
Carolina did not have an objection to offering me a contract after two meetings we had after the season. Why did I never receive one from Puerto Rico if, as they allege, we had an economic agreement, and how could I trust them in the future after the way in which they ignored me? The league should not allow an owner to get away with this type of action towards a player."
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One thing that Caleb told me in the interview I did with him that I didn't include in the article on the TSF site was that the Islanders basically told Caleb that he didn't need surgery, he just needed to rest and recover.
It seems to me that the central point in all of this was a differing opinion on how to most effectively treat his injury. Norkus felt strongly about needing the surgery whereas the team felt that he would recover with rest alone.
It seems that trust between the organization and the player broke down long ago and it seems to me that Islanders are holding a grudge against the player for not taking their advice.