Issues with Going Professional in Athletics Career

Do you think that high school athletes should be able to go professional right after they are done with their high school career? This question is a big argument between many people through out the sports world. This is a big debate because nowadays athletes are becoming bigger, stronger, and faster right out of high school. This is happening because athletes are some of the highest paid people in the world. People in the world are actually breeding for their kids to be a sort of super athlete. Many kids are starting to be trained early in age for sports and to be able to make it further in the sports world. There are some people who believe if high school athletes are physically ready for professionals in a sport that they should be able to go right into it.

On the other side of this argument many people believe that high school athletes need to get there education and should go to college where they can play sports and then be drafted to a professional league after their college career is done. In many peoples minds that if an athlete is that ready for professional sports that the athletes should have no problem in collegiate athletics and should standout. Many people believe that the athletes college career will only give them more experience and will help them be better once they are able to make it to the draft and plus they are also getting their education just in case something does happen and they do not make it in the professionals. Many athletes do not make it in professional athletics and by making athletes go to college they can rely on their career and will still be well off in the world. For example, the NFL will not let you enter the draft until you have completed three years in college or in college athletics. This is a rule to make sure that athletes go to college but after three years many athletes enter the draft and do not finish their career. This is a huge problem because the athlete will not have their career to fall back on.

There are only a couple rules athletes must follow for the NBA draft. The first rule is that they must have been in college for one year in order to be entered into the draft. This is because they want athletes to at least try the college experience and to at least be able to make it to college as well. Another rule for the NBA draft is that the athlete must be nineteen years of age and one year removed from high school. These rules were made in the year 2006 and have been enforced ever since. These rules are a very good idea because it makes athletes go to college, which is a good thing. This can also be a bad thing because some athletes can not make it to college and that is a problem for some athletes. The age requirement is a good idea I think because at eighteen years old I don’t know if you are ready to play with people like Shaq or someone like that. This rule can work both ways though because there has been many athletes go straight to the draft at eighteen and did very well for them. A former player says, “The special ones who can go pro should be allowed to do it.” (Beck H. (2005, June 28)).

A key example for this is LeBron James and Dwight Howard! There are amazing athletes and were drafted straight out of high school and were actually first round picks! There have been many players like this such as Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, and Kobe Bryant. In some ways many people think that the age requirement is a good idea because it gives you an extra year for your body to grow or even your mind to grow. This helps athletes to be ready to be a professional and it lets them train and get even better than they already are.

Many basketball coaches believe that the draft rules are very good and could change the age requirement to twenty if wanted. They believe that making the age requirement later will just encourage young athletes to go to college even more and then they might realize the importance of a college degree and what they can do with it after their basketball career is over. Many coaches believe that a lot of young athletes are not ready to compete at that high of a level many are not use to traveling that much or even being away from their family and friends that much. “If you can go to war and die for your country, or go to prison for the rest of your life at 17, then you should also be eligible to go pro at 17.”(Freeman, M. (2004)) A lot of athletes will still be maturing mentally and physically if able to be drafted straight from high school. A lot of younger athletes still do not take responsibility for themselves and their actions. With great privileges, comes great responsibilities and many people think that high school athletes are not ready for these yet!

The NFL has different rules to their draft than other professional organizations. In the NFL draft you must have completed three years in college. There is really no age limit in the NFL draft because you can enter it when you are a senior, junior or even a redshirt sophomore. The only requirement is the three years in college. There have been some athletes who have made it to the NFL straight from high school but this took place a very long time ago because the NFL has had tight rules on these types of things for quite a while.

In the NHL draft which is the draft for professional hockey has slim to none rules on entering the draft. They are one of the only sports you can be drafted straight to a professional out of high school. There have been quite a few people who have done it and a major athlete who has done great things is Sid “The Kid” Crosby. He was drafted straight out of high school and was a huge impact on the NHL he is an amazing athlete and takes on all the veterans of the sport. It is said his name is going to be more known than Wayne Gretzgy’s. He is breaking records and making new ones as he is a magnificent scorer. The reason that hockey does not have a so called age limit is because there are young people that are better than the older people and once your good you are usually good for a long time.

Then there is the MLB draft for Major League Baseball. In the MLB you can be drafted right out of high school if you are good enough. Usually if drafted straight out of high school the franchise will put you on their minor league team to test your ability and if you do well they will move you up to the majors. You can be drafted at any time as long as you are not enrolled in some sort of schooling at the time. There are a lot of high school athletes drafted to the MLB especially pitchers because they are the most needed seeming their arms do not last very long. The most high school athletes that enter the draft are from California. This happens because California is a huge state and has very good baseball programs.

Immigration is a huge topic among sports these days. For high school athletes going professional immigration is a huge deal. In America we have some of the highest paying sports and the best sports in the world. Many Immigrants know this and are come to America just for sports. For instance, Sammy Sosa is from the Dominican Republic and is an amazing baseball player. His parents and he had him come to America to be able to play baseball professionally and to make money off of a career he loved. In the Dominican Republic there is not as much money there and Sammy could not afford just to play baseball, he had to work and help his family make it in tough times. There are many families bringing their kids to America if they are good at sports because they have a better shot here of making it big and doing something they love while making money.

There are Immigrants all over in our high school athletes and they are very good. Their families have made sacrifices for them to be here to play the game they love in hope that they will make it professional. Baseball is a huge sport for this and so is football and basketball also. Immigration makes it so that people can make it here in sports and help take care of their families back home and there are many immigrants being drafted to the professional leagues. Some examples of Immigrants who have made it big here in sports are: Yao Ming, Paul Gasol, Peja Stolakivich, and many more. So as you can see, Immigration ties right into this topic and actually affects it a lot more than most people think.

Another major role in this topic is what kind of high school you have attended. This is a big deal because there are basically two types of schools. There are public schools and private schools. As we all know most public schools are very poor funded and usually do not have a lot of money to spare. In private schools they usually have tons of money and could spare some. This is a huge factor for athletes; athletes who attend a private school have more opportunities and privileges than athletes at public schools. For example, private schools usually have very nice facilities and equipment and do not charge very much for athletes to play the game. At a public school the prices are a lot and there are not nice facilities and not very much money in the program. At private schools there are just coaches. They teach at the school also but are very intelligent in there sport. At public schools they take volunteers or pay a teacher very little to do it that has really no experience and not very well suited for the job. The private schools usually make better athletes because they can spend time, money, and the right training to make them good. In public schools this is hard and the athletes are kind of at a disadvantage. This affects them making to the Professionals and could make them not even be able to play in college. There are many great athletes out there but some have better situations and will make it farther because of that. This is how public schools affect high school athletes.

All in all in my opinion I believe that athletes should be allowed to be drafted straight out of high school but I think there should be specific leagues just for rookies or high school athletes. I believe in like football there should be a league like the MLB. They will have some minor league teams and have all their young athletes play in that. Then if an athlete does very well in this league you can bring him up or send him back down whenever need be. I think this will help a lot on this issue. Don’t get me wrong I believe athletes should be student athletes but some people are just not cut out for school. It should be the person’s choice and they get to decide. The smart athletes that care about their future will still go to college and get a degree or they will do it online or something like that. Athletes will realize that they need a backup plan because their bodies are not going to last forever. So in my opinion I believe they should be able to go professional.