College athletes who already receive scholarship money should not be paid by their school to play sports.
According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, student-athletes already get plenty of gratuities. They get gear, meal plans, facilities, travel, room and board and even textbooks in some cases. Although some receive partial scholarships, they still receive exceedingly more aid than the average student gets from the university.
The experience of playing on a college team itself is valuable. It should be paralleled with working an unpaid internship for other students. For non-athlete students, however, the experiences of unpaid internships do not come along with a full-ride scholarship. In a way, college athletes are already getting paid. Universities should never have to shell out more finances just to satisfy their athletes. After all, playing on the team is a choice.
Paying athletes would lead to bidding wars that would ruin the purpose of college sports. If universities paid college athletes, the disparity between large and small universities would be even bigger. Larger schools with more revenue would essentially be able to buy out the best players for their teams, putting smaller universities at a greater disadvantage.
College sports should not be centered on money. Athletes should focus on their passion for whatever sport they play and be grateful that they can receive the aid they do for getting an education.
Without a doubt, athletes dedicate copious amounts of time practicing and training to the point where it seems like a job; but, it’s not. They’re simply being rewarded for doing something that they love in a different form. It’s almost as if their “paychecks” are being compiled into one big paycheck that takes care of their tuition, while they’re being prepared and conditioned to possibly become professional athletes.
Some athletes argue that they should get paid for playing the sport to compensate for the fact that it’s impossible for them — time-wise — to get a job. This is true, but they can always get a job in the off season if they need it. But, with their education paid for, what more is needed?
Student-athletes get a priceless opportunity to both receive an education and get the exposure to win a major professional contract that can reward them for their efforts. The NCAA’s goal is to bring college athletics closer to academics rather than distance it.
Student athletes shouldn’t get paid for their own good. If they got paid they wouldn’t make much more than a minimum wage job, which will only cover a fraction of their tuition money. So, they’re getting the better deal as it is now.
So, yes, there are still moral and legal concerns to paying student-athletes. Just because the NCAA and its member institutions can afford it, doesn’t mean that they should be willing to shift their resources to pay student-athletes.
Follow the sports editor on Twitter @RNDranda1
