Should College Athletes Be Paid???

The life of a college student-athlete has NEVER been easy! With the title “Collegiate Student-Athlete”, there also comes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. I’m not too sure “society” as a whole is familiar with the hard work and dedication that is put worth by student-athletes. As a student-athlete, I can personally say that “it is your life”. Everything revolves around school, and the sport that you play for your school; there isn’t much time for anything else.

There has been a particular question/debate that has been brought to the attention of the NCAA for many years now, and now that I am in the category of being a college student-athlete, I understand the importance of this issue. Many people have various opinions regarding this topic, and that’s completely fine. However, I will tell you this; there is definitely a GREAT debate behind this question and it should be settled in some kind of way!

Should college athletes be paid to play??? Hmmm… That’s a great question… Many of you probably instantly said “no”, and others may have instantly said “yes”; some of you still might be thinking of an answer. In my opinion, I would answer this question by saying “YES, college athletes should receive some type of funding for performing their sport”. There are many variables that need to be taken into consideration when it comes to this question; including all the pros as well as cons depending on one’s outlook. Let me briefly outline a few things and tell you why I believe they should be paid…

If you really think about it, the NCAA will NEVER bring up the fact of how much money they make off of their student-athletes for their talents, events, games, etc, right? BUT, they will be the FIRST to take away rights/privileges from an athlete in result of the smallest situation that may have occurred. Not saying they don’t have the right to do this; of course they do! Depending on the level of play (Division 1, 2, or 3), the competition is greater which plays a different role for each institution. Then you have to factor in scholarships depending on the level of play as well. Granite, the “majority” of D1 and D2 athletes more than likely receive free, or close to free education and/or food and room & board, those amounts just don’t even come close to total up to the revenue generated by these colleges and institutions for their athletes and their sports teams. When it comes to an athlete over the period of a year, yes, we can be talking anywhere from $1-$60,000 depending on the school and the amount that is granted to the athlete, but does that compare to millions of dollars that are being made off of games, events, sales, etc????? I don’t think so folks! So my point with that is, these schools are making waaaaay more money off of the athlete’s than their education costs. In the end, if you ask me, thousands just don’t compare to millions.

However, one of the most important factors is the life of the student-athlete. Life revolves around academics, and then the sport which entails various forms of training, games, events, and traveling which is usually year round. The average student-athlete doesn’t have any spare time to work a job to support their selves. So I think if athletes were paid for playing in some sort of way, it would compensate for their inability to work a job. Many people think that Student-Athletes have it “sooo easy” when really it is the other way around. Student-Athletes have it the worst! Our schedules are extremely strict and demanding. Now as far as an actual figure (amount of money) that athletes should be paid would be the major thing for debate. I personally think possibly a minimum wage rate or a set amount for the hours put forth each month that they are in season. Not a lot, just enough to be able to satisfy their needs: food, toiletries, etc.  Like I stated above, I realize how much money the NCAA and these institutions make off of the athletes, I just feel it would only be right to at least spread the wealth throughout the whole field. Some people may argue the fact of these athletes only being amateurs and not being “professionals”, I agree, however, this level of athletics is the transitioning point to becoming professionals, so why not create some type of contract maybe stating that the athlete must consent to staying all four years and obtaining their bachelors degree in order to receive the funding up throughout their term in college…? Or possibly make them sustain a certain G.P.A. in order to keep their funding, that way we are producing more intelligent and productive student-athletes as well…?

I’m not saying that I’m right about this issue; However, I am just trying to bring awareness to the need  of most student-athletes around the country. Maybe this will open people’s eyes and raise possible options and alternatives of thinking for people. Most people bring up this question without the opinion of an actual student-athlete, so here I am; a current collegiate student-athlete giving my thought on the issue… It’s definitely something to think about! Let me know what you guys honestly think about this scenario, I would like to know!  Should college athletes be paid to play their sport???