Student Athlete Research Paper

High School sports are a big part in the high school experience. Many kids participate in high school sports each year. Some kids do many more sports than others and kids get injured during them. Playing a sport in high school is difficult because you have to worry about school work and family & friends. Also, many people do not make some of the sports team they will try out for and be embarrassed of themselves. Schools should not continue to fund sports because of school work, injuries, and embarrassment.

Donald Delahaye, a kicker for UCF you may have heard of him. Lost his NCAA eligibility for making and profiting of his YouTube videos. Another name you may know LiAngelo Ball. Couldn’t profit or promote his family made business of Big Baller Brand (BBB) because of NCAA eligibility rules. His little brother LaMelo Ball could lose his NCAA eligibility for making and profiting off his own signature shoe. These athletes all have something in common. All these athletes, these people have either had their eligibility taken or in jeopardy because they were profiting off their image, content, or likeness. College coaches, programs, and schools make millions off their student athletes and the NCAA billions off the student athletes. As more people

(Attention Getter) What if I told you that for decades, students have worked over 40 hours a week and received absolutely no pay. College athletes are expected to balance the immense workload of school work and represent their school well in athletics.

These student athletes spend so much time practicing for their team that they have no time for a sustainable job that will support them through college. My article along with research, states that college athletes spend 40+ hours training for their game, while they spend almost 40

The title “student-athlete” does not label college athletes well, the label should read “athlete-student”. Currently, it seems that college sports are a full time job. College athletes have to balance their time between the enormous amount of time in the gym, on the court, or on the field and the significant amount of homework each night. Brad Wolverton wrote an article titled, “NCAA Considers Easing Demands on Athlete’s Time” and stated, “Elite college athletes say they spend 40 or more hours a week on sports, with little downtime between seasons… Other students - particularly those who think they might play professional sports someday - want to dedicate even more time to athletics” (Wolverton 16). With college athletes becoming better through hours of practice and determination, colleges are able to accumulate large sums of money.

I chose the topic are college athletes given preferential treatment over non-athletes while in college because it is something very controversial in college athletics. Besides being controversial, I also find the topic very interesting. It is interesting to me to find out why college athletes get special treatment to play a sport when in reality the special treatment is probably a disservice to the athletes. Another reason I enjoy this topic is that I love sports in general and college athletics are some of my favorites to watch.

Imagine a large group of employees in a company working grueling hours, some of them far from home, going to school full time, and helping bring millions of dollars to their employer. Does this sound like a sweatshop making Nike’s or Michael Jordan clothing? Actually, this describes the everyday athlete in a big business producing sport at a National Collegiate Athletic Association member institution.

Should college athletes be paid for the efforts in their respective sport? Athletes are being paid by the education they receive from the university. Letting universities pay athletes would make the student athlete responsible for taxes and other major choices making them a professional and not an amateur.

Student athletes need to focus more on their education than on their sport. Few athletes are asked to join a pro team or even asked to train for the Olympics. According to NCAA “fewer than two percent will go pro”; often times injuries get in the way during college training. If these athletes were not focused in their majors and minors and working on getting a degree, then they could wind up working at fast food restaurants trying to figure out what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Non-athletes who enter college for education end up having a stable job and yearly income. It makes all the difference when students come out of college and can get a job and begin a successful life. The Institute of Education Sciences states that “the percentage of young adults working full time, year round was generally higher for those with higher levels of educational attainment.” (“Income of Young Adults”) Education is the most important necessity for one to have a successful future, but if student athletes are not taking studies seriously, then this could affect their future success in

High school sports are a good pass time for high school kids, it keeps some out of trouble or gets kids out of the house. On the other hand high school sports have gotten very serious, instead of just having fun. It’s turned into if you don’t win then what’s the point, it not for the fun. It’s been drilled into everyone heads that they have to be a really good player and their only way they’re getting into college is through sports. Everyone dream is to play for a division I team, which that’s not a bad goal to have but in reality not every athlete can go division I. High school athletes have this mentality that they have to win all the time or be the best they put a lot of pressure on themselves. Not in all cases but, if someone wants to

“What’s in the Name of High School Football,” “Are High School Sports Good for Kids,” and “a video Kids and Sports” all include writing about if school sports are good, harmful to students, or affect education purposes. “What’s in the Name of High School Football” talked about how sports programs took over the school newspaper, morning announcements, and all of the money. Money and fairness were not distributed well between sports and other programs. “Are High School Sports Good for Kids” talked about if sports were hurting some students education and what other people were doing to benefit that. The video talked about how sports were helping the kids that had trouble making friends or just weren’t social at all. All three resources have good facts and opinions about school sports, however, I feel all schools should keep funding school sports. I think this because sports help social life, takes stress off kids, and it gets everyone involved.

It is a normal day, and you decide to go bike riding with your son. You hear wheezing all of the sudden, and the next thing you know, your son is crashing onto the cement unconscious. What happened to him? Is he okay? These are questions that you have to answer because you happen to have a blind spot in your knowledge when it comes to your family’s heart health. Unfortunately, you are not the only one who has heart disease in your family and isn’t knowledgeable on the subject. Education about one’s heart health, such as blood tests for HCM, an appropriate diet, and exercise, are able to help save thousands of lives of everyday high school athletes.

Student-athletes are given great chances to go to school and do something they love to do, but they have not been able to perform at their best in school and on the court/field. With the demands of playing a college sport, it is difficult to keep up with all the required studying and homework. “Athletes deserve an equal voice when it comes to their physical, academic, and financial protections” (Patterson 1). When playing a college sport, athletes must attend multiple practices a day, games on the weekend, and practices when there is no game, except for maybe Sunday. In between practice, they have school, homework, and a social life. Some also have to work in order to go to school, because the cost of going to school is so high. When they are done with practices a lot of the time the cafeteria is closed, so they can not get any food. As Curry quotes Ed Butowksy, an investment strategist who specializes in managing athletes’ investments:

Being a student requires 40 hours of work per week including classes and adequate study time. As an average college student, classes for one week are 10 hours total. With the required 4 hours of studying per week per class, school takes up 40 hours per week. With this 40 hours of school work, they are putting another 40 hours into their sports. This is equivalent to 2 full-time jobs. As a high school student soon to be entering college, I couldn’t possibly imagine keeping up with the rigorous academic work load and play a sport under these guidelines. Specially entering college when you have to acclimate to new surroundings, study habits and learning how to live on your own. There is enough stress and expectations without having to worry about how to make money and keep up with all

There are 347 division 1 schools among 23 sports there are 420,000 athletes. Most days of Americas 420,000 athletes D1 athletes include of multiple interactions majority involving something to do with the sport they play. Waking up at 5:30 am for a 6:00 am practice for about an hour, then going to classes through the day which student athletes have to be full time students in order to be eligible to play so they are taking up to 4, 5 classes. Not to mention D1 athletes also have individual workouts throughout the day they have to attend also treatments for their body and still managing to eat throughout the day. But that’s just half the day until practice for about 2 hours in the evening or maybe even the night, so that leaves no time to study or even do homework, unless throughout the day you had to go to study hall which last for about 2 hours. Well over half the time of your day is dedicated to the sport you play, doesn’t that sound like a full time job, as to why college athletes should be paid not only because the time commitment but the revenue college athletics make and also the risk of injury while playing a sport.