Imagine making the decision to commit to the University of Oklahoma to play collegiate basketball at only 14 years old. Most kids your age only dream about having such an opportunity! Once the time finally comes to hit the court, you only play for a total of six minutes because you sustain a severe knee injury, putting your life and sports career to a complete halt.
This is what happened to the 6-foot 8-inch forward, Kyle Hardrick, in 2009. The talented young athlete lost his scholarship, meaning his family got slammed with the costly tuition of attending the University of Oklahoma. And, because his family could not pay the steep monthly fees, he couldn’t receive a transcript to transfer to another, less expensive university. While Hardrick
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(Siebold) He is being paid for winning games that haven’t even been played yet! Harbaugh is being paid without needing to worry about injuring his body, losing a scholarship, or paying for housing and meals. He does not have to stress about paying his college tuition. His 38 million dollar contract is proof that college athletics are not equivalent to a sports club. College athletic programs are a massive industry that is designed to make money off talented strong young men and women who work just as hard if not more than those that are paid millions to exploit them. There is absolutely no reason why these hard working student-athletes should not be paid for their efforts. A barely discounted college education is simply not enough. And in most cases, if a player is injured and cannot return to play their sport, their scholarship is dropped and they are made to pay tuition that was originally promised to be free. The student-athletes are struggling deeply, while the schools, the TV networks, the vendors and the local communities thrive. Year after year, college athletes entertain, perform, and compete in front of the millions of fans who watch them religiously. Million dollar advertisements are played during their games by huge corporations and the coaches make millions of dollars to coach them in salary, bonuses and even …show more content…
However, many if not most of those students, will not be able to come up with the money to pay for college until years later, when they have their own jobs and can make their own money. Even with their jobs, however, they still find themselves under the stress of thousands of dollars of debt. Students find themselves struggling throughout the year, finding ways to balance sports, education, and a social life. Students who feel prepared enough to tackle a sport their very first year of college often find themselves overwhelmed, thinking about all of the bills that they are leaving their parents at home to pay the price for. While families drown in debt because of the money that they owe in tuition, student loans, books, and meals, the coaches of college athletics are floating comfortably in the money that they receive for doing nothing but giving kids guidance that they already received in high school. These coaches are most likely not lifting one finger; they are hoping for a win from their team, and they are hoping for a bigger paycheck. However, coaches would not have even half of the career that they do without their student-athletes. Coaches would have no one to coach if there weren’t families willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars that they don’t have on their kids and the sport(s) that they have a passion to play. Coaches owe
What most people don’t is that not all athletes get the full-ride scholarships that people think of. Most collegiate sports don’t even offer full-ride scholarships; instead they have a set amount of money that they can do whatever to give scholarships. According to a U.S. News article, “The average athletic scholarship is about $10,400. Only four sports offer full rides to all athletes who receive scholarships: football, men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s volleyball” (O'Shaughnessy). Just to put this into perspective, there are twenty-four total college sports, and only these 4 offer full scholarships. This showcases the rarity of a full-ride in college athletes. Looking into it even more, most of those college athletes come from low income families, “86 percent of college athletes come from below the poverty line” (Hayes 1). A college athlete's schedule is also very hectic. In an article showing the schedule of a football player, it lists, “6am-7am: Wake up,
Collegiate sports have turned into a billion dollar industry and are probably just as popular, if not more popular than professional sports. College athletes put their bodies on the line to play a sport they love, many with hopes and dreams to one day make it to the professional leagues. Athletic facilities are the major money makers for all universities. Colleges bring in billions of dollars in revenue annually, yet athletes do not get paid. Some fans believe athletes should not get paid due to their sports level being “amateurish.”; however, this is far from the truth. There is much more to being a college athlete than just practicing and playing games. These student-athletes must practice, weight lift, go to meetings, travel, go to tutoring and study groups, all the while maintaining sufficient grades. This is very tedious work and is very time consuming. College athletes have a high standard to live up to (Frederick Web; Huma Web; Patterson Web ).
In her article she emphasizes the fact that paying college athletes would be completely unfair to other students that attend school. She argues that the student athletes have almost everything provided for them in college and how regular students don’t have some of the opportunities that they do. She also goes on to say that the scholarship that the school provides for their athletes is payment enough, whether it is a full or partial scholarship. She also hints on the fact that being broke and having no money is all a part of the “college experience” and that everybody is struggling to make ends meet and that it everybody is working hard to make money and that a majority of the people who attend college cannot afford to go out and overindulge and spend money on the things that they want, so college athletes should not have this privilege either. Also, smaller colleges would not be able to shell out money like larger colleges could so a large school would be able to pay more for a player than a smaller college would, therefore putting the smaller college at a disadvantage.
After graduation, high school athletes have the ability to pursue their sport in the college of their choice. In some instances athletes may even receive a full ride to their college. However,
The ugly truth behind the money machine that is college sports is that, every year, college athletes are deceived by the institutions the compete for into making them millions of dollars, with relatively little in return. Athletes are said to be given a chance to attend college and to attain a free college degree. However, research has shown that this is not completely true for two reasons. For one, the student athlete will spend most of their time in preparation for competition. Secondly, what education the student athlete does receive hardly serves them outside of maintaining eligibility just so
One reason why college basketball players should have to stay at least three years is to further develop their physique. Extra time to improve their physical status can be crucial to a player’s
It is the NCAA’s policy that no student athlete shall receive any special benefits or compensation in regard to their status as an athlete of a university. This basically means that no player can accept gifts or services with any special benefits from school or athletic personnel, or receive any benefits for outside entrepreneurship for reasons regarding their play. For example, a student athlete cannot sign a jersey with their number on it and exchange it for any type of compensation. However, over the past few years, many scandalous conspiracies of soliciting services to athletes for their commitment and play have surfaced. Due to the NCAA’s stance on this issue many of these violations have left athletics programs with sanctions that in reality are very unnecessary and hardly ever punish those who initially violated the rules. The fact is that the college athletics generates on average 10.5 billion dollars of revenue annually, and the NCAA organization alone, about 720 million annually. Of that 720 million that the NCAA accounts for, only 60 percent of that is returned to the Division I universities whose athletics accounted for almost all of it. The rest is dispersed into other funds such as championship games and the national office services, with a small amount being paid to division II and III schools. However, of that 60 percent paid back to the Division I schools, which amounts to approximately 430 million dollars, the majority is spent by the University on
The price for college is a huge sacrifice that many families end up taking for their child. For athletes, many receive scholarships or are granted money to attend college, but the sacrifice they have to deal with is much larger than money itself. However, many of these athletes’ superiors argue that it's their choice to sacrifice their bodies, and that they’re just student athletes they don’t deserve to be paid. The people who end up stating these claims are the people who end up making millions off of them and who pay their coaches millions in return. Of course they’re college athletes, but college sports have never fell from the public eye and are just as popular as professional sports, and just as profitable. The problem with college sports
Helen Hayes expresses that “ the expert in anything was once a beginner.” This quote relates to all athletes in pursuance of making themselves noticeable. Being an amature at sports is an athletes worst fear. Any athlete who is passionate about their sport, wants to succeed in the world of sports; therefore, the rising athletes want to continue their success in college. College is a place where the athletes start to receive fans and begin their journey of success. However, beginning the college experience is like throwing away one’s money because of all the collegian’s expenses. Many college athletes of today are accumulating debt in college instead of collecting money for their dedication and hardwork. The ongoing debate on whether or not college athletes should be paid is starting to raise sport fans and athlete’s attention about the issue. People are starting to realize the true facts about playing college sports and that it is not just fun and games anymore. Athletes are merely performers and the audience is just enjoying the show. With that being said, college athletes are being profited off of without receiving their paycheck. College athletes should be paid because the college they are attending is expensive, businesses are profiting off of them, and the hard work of an athlete is not being paid for.
College sports can determine a person’s lifestyle. Determines whether or not they can go pro or get a job. Paying athletes can give them a better sense of money. They can learn how to save their money up, learn how to spend it correctly, and a great sense of financial awareness. The problem is that many
Their fellow sports personnel gets to indulge in this gargantuan amount of money made off them, while they do not even get a minuscule percent of it. According to Stanley Eitzen, in his article “College Athletes Should be Paid,” in the year 2000, some football coaches were paid a minimum of 1,000,000 dollars in compensation. Considering this staggering figure, it is almost impossible to fathom why athletes are not being compensated something, out of all the money they generate. As a result of this deprivation of financial support, some athletes end up violating school policies. There were reports of athletes who have accepted improper benefits from coaches, fans and “boosters.” According to Dan Wetzel, in his article “Chris Webber deserves apology from Michigan, NCAA for disassociation treatment,” Former Michigan State basketball player Chris Webber, accepted money from “team booster” Ed Martin which resulted in a “humiliating 10 year disassociation penalty.” There have even been instances when athletes sold their jerseys and championship rings. These incidents resulted in suspension and expulsion of student athletes and the firing of coaches. Most, if not all of these cases, could have been prevented if universities have stepped in, and provided the financial help their athletes needed.
Within the last week you've received multiple scholarship offers from several NCAA Division I schools to play basketball, namely the University of North Carolina. Your dream of playing college basketball for a major program finally came true. Full scholarships generally cover all of the fees for tuition, books, room and board; however, they do not cover any out-of-pocket expenses. In fact, there are many instances where college athletes are unable to afford food, close or anything else that normal young adults relish. As a result, countless numbers of college athletes receive money from boosters, alumni, and agents, or illegally sell signed memorabilia to survive. A key point differentiating typical college students from student athletes is students have the opportunity to work and earn income in addition to scholarships, grants or loans they receive while pursuing a college degree; athletes cannot. Also, college athletes must participate in
It may be very difficult to continue to live the life of a college athlete and for some, their college career is cut short. The inability to pay their way through school may lead to the athlete carrying more stress that will be shown in their performance in class, by grades, attendance etc.
Between busy academic and practice schedules, college athletes are probably some of the most stressed out students. Despite student athletes working more hours than a full-time job and making millions of dollars for the university, they get nothing more than a full scholarship that only meets their most basic needs. The National College Players Association say that 86% of college football players live at or below the national poverty line. Could you imagine going to work for minimum wage while your employer makes hundreds of thousands of dollars off of your name? Because that is precisely what happens to college football players. Many of us grew up going to games and watching our favorite college teams play and never once did we stop to think
It is an age old debate on whether a college athlete should be paid. It is a high school student 's dream to play sports at the collegiate level. Many people question why the NCAA, coaches, and administrators are allowed to earn large amounts of money while the student athlete’s hard work and efforts are limited to a scholarship. Others feel that is should be considered a privilege that a college athlete can earn a college degree while enjoying what they love, by playing collegiate sports. Student athletes should not receive payment because they are already receiving payment in the form of an expensive athletic scholarship and are also able to receive the new cost of attendance stipend to assist with further financial burdens.