College Athletes Should Be Paid Essay

The NCAA believes “that a student-athlete is a student first and athlete second.” Student-athletes benefit more than from playing a sport that they love. The graduation rate is higher among the student athletes than the general student body. “NCAA studies show that student-athletes enjoy high levels of engagement in academics, athletics and community: have positive feeling about their overall athletics and academic experiences: attribute invaluable life skills to being a student-athlete: and are more likely to earn similar or higher wages after college than non-student athletes.”

All the expenses that they have to acquire overwhelm many students that attend college. When this occurs, they tend to dropout, or struggle with taking on college courses and working. What is so amazing is that high school athletes think that is they attend college for a year or two, they can go on and make a career on a professional level. They do not understand that if they do go professional, it will not always last. They will eventually have to go to college anyway. So, why not go ahead, get a good education, and have a successful career.

     The typical high school/college athlete is distracted by all the glitter of things and money that schools are offering to the athlete rather than being consured about the education the schools can offer. Let’s say an athlete named Edward Thomas is rated number one in the nation in high school basketball. He has every big time college (university) wanting him badly, even a couple of NBA scouts are checking him out. Thomas even has a couple of highlights on Sports Center already. Now he has it in his head he can go straight to the league in the pros and get paid and finish school later. Thomas thinks that he can go to college for two years to develop better skills, and then he would stack up his paper by playing the pros, making $100,000 a year without a college degree.

College sports have been the heart and soul of America for quite some time. But, what lies underneath this extravagant organization? Are they able to get a good education while playing sports? Well, college athletes have to travel a lot. For example, the Indiana Hoosiers basketball team recently went to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational. Although they didn 't do the best, they still had to miss several days of class because the tournament was held during the week. Were they able to make up the missed class time? Unfortunately we won 't be able to find out, but according to CNN, most of the student athletes that go to college aren 't there for an education...they are there for the sport. In an interview, Rashad McCants—a former North Carolina basketball player— told CNN 's

A lot of people throughout the world go into college thinking that playing a division one sport would be something that would be a really significant thing to do and that it won’t be so difficult to do, as the individuals who are getting recruited and going to play a college sport to play the game. In college athletics today, teams are practicing and working out usually around five times a week. Student athletes have to manage their time between all their school work, practices, and sometimes even a part time job on the side. Not only is it a lot of stress put on these particular students, as they have a lot to do throughout the week juggling between all these aspects of being a college athlete, but it is a lot of sleepless nights as well.

Today, sports are no longer just fun and games, sports are now a business, and college sports are no different. College sports provide a huge source of universities’ income. The school takes in money from ticket sales, television contracts, and sport-related merchandise, just to name a few. With these sources of great revenue, comes the feeling of a “professionalization” of college athletics and in turn college athletes. The line between college athletes as Student-Athletes and college athletes as Athlete-Students has continued to blur, causing some major issues to arise with regards to athletics and academics. Some of the most primary issues currently affecting NCAA athletes are: academic support, the NBA age rule, eligibility and

Leagues such as the NFL, NBA, MLB, WNBA, and many more bring us entertainment on a daily bases, thanks to the athletes that strive everyday by practicing as hard as they can so when game day comes they can perform for us. But what if these same athletes and other athletes that never made it to the professional level of sports focus and put for the same effort as they do for sports they love, to their academics while they were in school, could a better future be planned for them. As many know when a student is recruited to play in a collegiate sport at any college/university sports seem to be that students main focus rather than academics. Athletes not understanding the importance of education and earning a degree, has been the cause of athletes not having a back up plan after their college careers are over. Not every athlete makes it to the professional, so once they graduate from college or leave the real world is awaiting and starting a career can be very challenging. So now, rather than later its time to showing student-athletes the importance of why they need to work as hard as possible to be able to create a better future for themselves. Sometimes sports are emphasized more than schoolwork and test scores throughout the media. So a different path has to start being taught to student athletes. This path has to start in their homes and in the classrooms that they students learn in. Understanding why these student athletes love sports so much and showing them that loving

The article describes the qualification for an athlete to participate college sports as well as professional sports. It describes how athletes do not have to finish their bachelor degree program in order to play in professional sports. It also concludes that athletes only have to acquire a 2.0 grade point average to play their desired sports. This article shows that colleges are letting athletes take the easy way out as far as education.

Walt Disney once said, “if you can dream it, you can do it”. This quote is relevant because student athletes must believe they can achieve their academic and athletic goals. High school athletes should have to maintain a certain GPA in order to participate in high school athletics. First, making the commitment to practice and play a sport requires hours of practice. This does not give a student much time to complete homework assigned at school. Second, students who play sports do not always get a full athletic scholarship. Therefore, playing ability should not be fully relied on. Lastly, if athletes are not academically excelling, this might ruin their chances of getting into a good college or finding their dream job.

For those students that are lucky enough to attend a college or university to further their education I applause them. This is something that not everyone can do or wants to do. Extending one’s education takes hard work and determination to say the least. But an education should be treasured, and at what price would you pay to defer one’s schooling for a chance to play college sports? While doing various sports activities is great and a chance of lifetime. Nonetheless, having that opportunity to improve one’s life through sports activities can either make or break you depending on the sport. On the other hand is it necessary to jeopardize one’s education over it. However, if there was a chance that by being in college sports had certain

Because of the hectic schedules student-athletes undergo, they are forced into specific majors that are not very challenging or conflict with practice time. How is an athlete that is considered a student first supposed to have time to study when from sun up until sundown they are slave to a schedule that prioritizes their sport obligations? Furthermore, these athletes can lose their scholarships if they do not perform up to par athletically regardless of academic standing. Now some may argue that it is the athlete’s fault that they did utilize the free education provided to them, but many schools recruit athletes who fit the mold of a superstar but incapable of doing college work. As a result, schools such as the University of North Carolina have faced scrutiny for having athletes take no show classes for a grade and illegal tutoring.

The same goes with athletes such as Shaquille O'Neal, and Michael Jordan. They are idols that all young children look up to. These people work day in and day out, even in the "off season." The off-season is barely a few months off from a full season of games that go on almost every other day. Some times there is no off-season. For example, if an NBA championship team wins, they only have a few weeks to get rest, and head back to training camp. Out of a whole year of games, the athlete gets about two weeks of rest. An athlete will work about 35 to 40 years, but his career will only last seven to 12 of those years (Reinhold). These people abuse their bodies, and that is why most retire before they reach the age of forty. Their bodies have been worked too much to continue, and they need to rest their bodies. They work hard to get where they are at their careers. Just like the way doctors study, athletes spend many years training to be the best they can be in order to compete against the rest of the players in the league. The draft is a lot like the MCAT that doctors take to become a doctor. The smarter doctor is like the better athlete. The doctor would pass the test, and the athlete would be drafted into a team. The main difference is the amount of money they earn once they have both passed the "test."

Bringing up any memories for the wellbeing of young actors who occupy Disney and Nickelodeon airways? Absolutely not, this did not occur. Just like there were no halts when my teammate and classmate got drafted sixth overall by the San Francisco Giants and became their pitcher right out of high school in 2011. Our culture loves young talent and readily stands behind them chasing their goals and passions. Except when it pertains to basketball. The one and done initiative, which requires the player be one year removed from high school and nineteen, is awful and has little to no effect. Most of the athletes drafted are Black Americans who stem from under privileged socioeconomic backgrounds. Their families would profit in life altering ways from the million dollar contracts the NBA has to offer. By going directly to the NBA players can get initiated into the salary cap immediately. The faster they get into the league, the quicker their first paycheck comes, which is guaranteed money for all individuals drafted, and one step closer to a larger contract. If the athlete has to go to college for a year or two he is missing out on two years of being compensated for playing the game of basketball. For instance, Tony Gallon, former 47th overall pick in 2010 draft was projected to be a lottery pick straight out of high school, but the one and done protocol made

Having higher education is more important than sports. Everyone can't just depend on going pro while they’re in school. If the young adult wants to make more money in college, they need to also be smart. The student also needs to show commitment while they’re in high school. It’s important because everyone needs to be smart in case they don't go to professional sports. That's why everyone should have to have a certain GPA in high

Bobby Unser once said “Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.”. This quote is relevant to this subject, because if the athlete works hard at preparing himself to excel at his grades he should be granted the opportunity to play sports. High school athletes should be required to acquire a certain GPA in order to participate in sports for a multitude of reasons, including: First, having higher grades would teach the players to work hard in order to participate in activities they enjoy. Second, after the student graduates from high school, colleges are going to look at their GPA in order for the athletes to qualify for a scholarship whether for athletics or academics (Blake). Lastly, playing sports is a privilege, not a priority (Reeves).