Should College Athletes Be Rewarded Financially for Playing a Sport for Their School?

Introduction:

Should college athletes be rewarded financially for playing a sport for their school ? According to an article by ncaa.org on April 9th, 2019 “More than 480,000 compete as NCAA athletes, and just a select few within each sport move on to compete at the professional or Olympic level.” So, should they get paid for playing a sport. I say yes, because I believe that if only a small percentage of college athletes go big time then wouldn’t it help if a college athlete gets paid to have money to fall on if it does not work out. But let me give you some more reasons why I say yes.Today we will be discussing why college athletes should be paid and three myths why. First with how they are not more motivated then regualr college students, secondly why they are not fully cover even on a full ride,and thirdly how they don’t have it easier than regular college students.

Mainpoint 1: College Athlete are more motivated

So let us talk about the myth that college athletes are more motivated to go to college just because they made the team or have been offered onto the team. Being able to play a sport in college is a big deal. It means you have the determination and skill set to compete with the other well skillful athletes. But let us be honest do you think making or being asked to be on the team is enough to motivate someone to go to that college.  If you were to get paid for doing the sport you wanted to do and a fully paid or some what paid scholarship, wouldn’t that make you ecstatic. It would make you feel accomplished and at ease in your decision. It would motivate you to wanna not only do your best, but make sure you focus more on your education just as much as your sport because your grades decide if you pay. And not having the worry of so much debt. But even a full ride student can not feel secure, because the cost of college isn’t there only issue.  There are the issues of how your going to eat if you go out, trips out of the state for games, dorm/ housing needs, if they have a car, etc. But if we are talking money just to give you some background on cost of college as of 2018 year. According to an article from StudentDebtRelief.com in 2019, May 9th  “Tuition at a four-year private college costs an average of $34,740. Public universities charge in-state students $9,970 and out-of-state students $25,620.” If your schooling doesn’t get fully paid for then being paid for doing your sport you would be able to put at least a dent in whatever amount was left to pay.

Mainpoint 2: College Athletes fully covered for

 Now my second myth on  how college athletes are fully covered and don’t have to worry. Not every student gets a full ride to be clear. Not all athletes have that luxury. Just like I stated before college tuition alone is expensive, and if your not on a full ride then money can be an issue. In most cases most families only have so much money to give to their child’s school and their child themselves and provide for themselves. So having to pay college athletes would help take the pressure off the student and the family. According to a survey that was carried out by the Hope Center for College Community and Justice at Temple University in Philadelphia where Nearly 86,000 Students Participated in which is published on hope4college.com “45% of respondents were food insecure.” Which means they were limited to or had no uncertain access to nutritious food. So how is one supposed to function well during school and then on top of that fully participate in playing a sport with no nutritious food, because they either can’t afford it or have no means to get it. 

Mainpoint 3: College athletes have it that easy

Thirdly that myth that college athletes have it easy. According to an article published by Businessinsider.com on Jan. 27, 2015 “Officially, the NCAA restricts student-athletes’ in-season practice to 20 hours per week, or four hours per day. Many student-athletes, however, reported that they practice at least 30 hours a week on average, with some sports reporting weekly practice commitments of more than 40 hours, according to a 2011 NCAA survey cited in the UNC lawsuit” If we are going to make college athletes put in 30 or more hours into their sports, we at least can pay them. Working that may hours on top of school, should in any case be considered a job. That’s at least 4 and a half hours a day, which is a normal shift for retail. So I believe they should be paid for this very reason. According to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar an American retired professional basketball player says on an article from theguardian.com on January 9th, 2018, “Top college coaches make between $4m and $9m per year, plus outside fees. In 40 out of the 50 states, they are the highest paid state employees.” He also states “like football at the University of Texas made $92m in profit in 2015, making it more profitable than most NFL teams. Yet, their players made nothing.” Now does this seem fair the player put in all the work and take the hits just so they see none of that money. That’s absurd to me, because $92 million is a lot of money that I am sure isn’t entirely going to even helping not just the athletes that got the win or the participation from fans for that money but the students that attend the college as well. On top of all this there is no guarantee that one even stays on the team due to injuries that occur during the sport or academic problems they face.

Get Help With Your Essay

If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!
Find out more about our Essay Writing Service

 In conclusion we talked about why college athletes should be treated like professional sportspeople and get paid. We talking first how getting paid for doing a sport can help motivate athletes, help obtain essentials for college, participe for long hours, and due to injuries if they can’t play anymore. Hopefully I have persuaded you or push a little more to siding with the cause that college athletes should be paid for participating in sports. Thank you guys for listening.

Reference Page

●       Beelineweb.com. (2019, June 05). Should College Athletes Be Paid? You May Not Like the Answer. Retrieved from https://www.trade-schools.net/articles/college-athlete-pay.asp

●       Abdul-Jabbar, K. (2018, January 09). It’s time to pay the tab for America’s college athletes | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jan/09/its-time-to-pay-the-tab-for-americas-college-athletes

●       Patterson, T. (2019, May 29). Should College Athletes Be Paid? Retrieved from https://smartasset.com/retirement/should-student-athletes-be-paid

●       Thomas, J. (2019, July 12). Frequency of Injury Among College Athletes. Retrieved from https://www.sportsrec.com/8080884/frequency-of-injury-among-college-athletes

●       Engle, J. (2019, February 26). Should College Athletes Be Paid? Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/26/learning/should-college-athletes-be-paid.html

●       Smeyers@ncaa.org. (2019, April 09). Estimated probability of competing in college athletics. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/estimated-probability-competing-college-athletics

●       Goldy-Brown, S. (2019, May 09). The Average Cost of College in 2018 – Student Debt Relief. Retrieved from https://www.studentdebtrelief.us/news/average-cost-of-college-2018/

●       Berman, J. (2019, May 03). Nearly half of college students didn’t have enough money for food last year. Retrieved from https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nearly-half-of-college-students-didnt-have-enough-money-for-food-last-year-2019-04-30

●       Jacobs, P. (2015, January 27). Here’s The Insane Amount Of Time Student-Athletes Spend On Practice. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/college-student-athletes-spend-40-hours-a-week-practicing-2015-1

Via UNC Lawsuit

Via UNC Lawsuit

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/estimated-probability-competing-college-athletics