The Realm Of Collegiate Athletics

In recent history it has been evident that some of the most popularize sports in America have been dominated and overran by African American and other minority athletes. In turn when the coaching and management positions in sports are analyzed and broken down, the number of minority coaches and managers in sport are almost non-existent and have been since those sports organization became established.

The topic of race in sport, particularly African Americans in sport, has long been a controversial yet, widely discussed matter. Human and social issues are never easy subjects to discuss or debate, and racial differences tend to provoke very strong reactions. To begin, we will explore those whom claim that black athletes excel in sports as a result of their biological make up. Of all players in the NBA, more than 75% of them are black; of all players in the WNBA, more than 70% of them are black; of all players in the NFL, more than 65% of them are black (Hoenig, 2014). Evidently, black athletes make up a vast majority of these sports in the United States. Athletes must be of elite caliber to have the ability to play at this level, so this

When looking at the topic of academic success of African American student athletes you need to look at all the factors involved. The problems that African American student athletes face are much the same that all African American students at higher education institutions face but the student athletes have other stressors that the normal students do not have. Such as In addition to the daily student routine (attending classes, going to the cafeteria, and participating in social events), student athletes also have their sport-related activities (practicing every day, visiting the athletic trainer for injury treatment, traveling for away games, studying team plays) (Watt, Moore 2001).

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.”

Black student-athletes are taught to value sports over academics at a young age because it is seen as the “only way out”. Black student-athletes are heralded for their athletic prowess from middle school up, so they begin to focus less on their education and more on their sport. Unfortunately, so do the teachers. Black student-athletes are more often than not just given passes, as schools value what their athletic abilities could do for them over the academic success of the athlete. Even normal black students can be seen the same way just because of the perception that they might be an athlete. The sad truth is that the athletes that don’t make it to the professional level are left without the education needed to be successful.

Are college athletics becoming the new face of professional sport leagues? What is the value of going to college when you have a $24-million-dollar contract on the table to go play for the Yankees, Celtics, or the Broncos? Is there any person that would give the opportunity, experience, or money to go play for a college on a scholarship? Because that amount of money is so insignificant, it will not pay for his/her whole tuition and have a chance at a career ending injury in result. These are the questions that loom around the mind of a student-athlete entering this stage in their career. However, there is a serious fight to having high school students attend college, earn a degree, and then enter a draft to a professional team. The disgrace with college sports makes us ask: should Division l athletes be paid over and beyond their scholarship?

It is also important to examine the impacts of Title IX on racial diversity as well, not only gender diversity. In 1972, it was reported that 30% of white girls and women were playing sports which increased to 40% after the passage of Title IX (Picket et. all, 2012). Participation levels among black women have actually decreased from 35% in 1972 to only 27% in 2002 (Picket et. all, 2012). This leads to the conclusion that in 1972 Black women played more sports then their White counterparts, and since that time White women have begun to participate in more sports and this progression is continuing (Picket et. all, 2012). As Title IX continues to alter the ratio of males to females, society will continue to change. This change will not only be observed in sports but also in education and the workplaces, as organizations strive to create equality between the genders. Although sometimes difficult, change is often required to continue to develop sports and push athletic organizations and athletes to the highest level they can achieve.

For these students, their academic pursuit is warded off by negatives such as being underprepared for college and not ready for the rigor of college academics (Reynolds, Lacey, Dawlah Fisher, and Kenyatta Cavil). A large portion of young black children are not going to be prepared for college life because of the athletic environment that they are placed in at a young age. College is commercialized in every aspect of the experience. Thus, for millions of black youth who aspire to becoming a professional athlete as a major goal, education matters only to the extent that maintaining eligibility to participate in sports in elementary and secondary schools through college is necessary in order to fulfill externally imposed requirements (Marvin, Dawkins). Today’s generation of a good grade is a 70 or higher. A child can carry that type of mind-set throughout their entire school experience until college approaches. The school systems are settling for mediocre and colleges are expecting exceptional. School, media, and surroundings of the young generation create this visual of these hopeful children getting into a college through athletics and mediocre academics.

There are these ongoing stereotypes that student athletes are “dumb,” “lazy,” and “privileged.” It’s understandable that people believe these stereotypes, news magazines and reports are always talking about how athletes are “coddled” and “cheat” their way to success. Though it is nowhere near true for the majority of student athletes, a select few situations encourage this negative categorization of us, thus putting student athletes under even more pressure to perform. Student athletes are constantly misjudged and the assumptions are affecting us.

I would like to discuss the issue of race and ethnicity in sports. We will also explore the bigger questions. How much does race and ethnicity matter in the sports world? Are certain races dominant in certain sports? Is there a difference in how we treat players based on race and ethnicity? Does it matter? I would like to answer some of these questions and gain a better understanding of how much of a part they play.

Charles H. Martin wrote a compelling monograph about the journey of segregation in college sports. The book showed readers how the “color line” in college football, specifically in southern football, reflected the traditions and beliefs of southern society. The reader gets a glance into the complete segregation of college sports to the complete integration of all college sports. In the beginning, African American students could not play sports on all-white teams and they could not go to the same schools at white students or even drink from the same water fountain as white students. The reader gets to walk through the history of the integration of college sports with Martin to eventually see full integration.

There has been amplified debate on the treatment, education, training of the college athlete. To avoid exploitation of athletes, “The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), formed in 1905, set bylaws requiring college student-athletes to be amateurs in order to be eligible for intercollegiate athletics competition” (Schneider n.p.). Intercollegiate athletics have dramatically changed over the last several decades. Currently, intercollegiate athletics generate tremendous amounts of revenue, remarkably in football and basketball. College sports in America is a

Diversity in sports is deeper than just what you see on the outside, it goes internally into an organization. The discussion that was held on Thursday had a three person panel consisting of Dr. Burton, Dr. Nicole Melton from UMass Amherst and Fleurette King from the Rainbow center at UConn. Discussions were centered on how organizations can become more diverse and the importance of diversity.

I am a huge fan of collegiate athletics. Pro sports has never really done much for me, but I can watch any two random schools play football, basketball, or baseball. One of the main reasons is because of what my best friend and I call the showmanship and pageantry. There is something about all of the zany traditions and the students and the bands that really fire us up. One thing that makes NCAA football so exciting is the rivalries. The Army-Navy rivalry perfectly exemplifies the showmanship and pageantry that draws me to love college sports.

Our study included a 109 varsity athletes from UC Merced athletic department. The athletic training staff of UC Merced was contacted to participate for the collection of subject data. Female athletes accounted for 51.4% of the subjects and males the remaining 48.6%. The average age of all athletes was 19.7. Of the athlete respondents, 68.8% live off campus, and the remaining 31.2% live on campus. Thirteen varsity sports were represented in the study. The number of participating athletes for each sport is noted in the list below.