Arguments of Whether College Athletes Should Be Paid

Should college athletes be paid for playing? Although College sports is an integral part of learning of that level and important in the development of a student’s social capacity in society, it should be noted that impartation of knowledge is the major responsibility of any educational institution to all of its students and its priority is to ensure academic excellence in each and every one of them. The most significant relationship that a college needs to cultivate between them and the students is an in a class relationship, creating an on-field contact with student-athletes usually leads to an employer to employee relationship where the student gets used and minimally paid for his athletic prowess and ends up neglecting his academic growth. This is outright gross misconduct on the institutions part. Paying college athletes is biased and should not be encouraged or supported by the education authorities as it undermines the integrity of the Colleges as learning institutions.

In order to understand the genesis of this debate of college athletes getting paid or not, it is imperative to look at the history of how collegiate athletics started and grew into a revenue creating the industry. College Athletics in America has a rich history dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. According to the article History Of Athletics In U.S. Colleges And Universities, Collegiate sports began over 150 years ago. Before that, the only Physical activities that the college administrations allowed students were manual labors such as clearing boulders and farming. These manual labors did not live up to the craving of the students, and so they began organizing their form of ferocious football contests which the college administrations did not approve. These contests grew and with time became more elaborate as teams from different institutions engaged in refereed matches. As the growth of these well-organized contests increased, college administrations unwillingness and disapproval of these “distractions from serious scholarly work.” persisted, however by the 1890s College students had established well-funded athletics associations and many colleges and alumnus had joined these associations. At this point, the college administration had little power over these installed programs. By 1900 the sports enigma had spread to the all-girls schools, and in 1910 Theodore Roosevelt Founded the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a body which regulates and organizes athletic programs for American colleges and universities. Over the 20thcentury, more and more organizations and partnering entities donated their support to the college sports fraternity to date.

Since the establishment of collegiate athletics, the primary issue has been how the financial revenue collected is being handled by the college authorities and how the college athletes who mostly raise these revenues are benefitting from the same. Those in support of student-athletes being paid argue that student-athletes are being exploited. Scholar Dalton Thacker in the article Amateurism vs. Capitalism: A Practical Approach to Paying College Athletes states that, “It is hypocritical for the NCAA to claim that its focus is on protecting the players when those same players do not receive a penny for their efforts and lack fundamental rights”. He continues to state that most of these athletes come from poor backgrounds and undergo a demanding schedule playing for the college and at the same time keeping up with their academic studies. In his opinion, these are all persuasive grounds for college athletes to be paid.

While it is plausible that their schedule is demanding and that some may be exploited, that does not justify them getting paid. Sport Journal Contributor Dennis Johnson argues that “On top of a full scholarship, student-athletes receive other benefits such as workout facilities, sports medicine care, specialized meals, best coaches and probably the most rewarding benefit is gaining a high-profile name recognition.” This by far is more beneficial to an up and coming athlete who has a vision for his career growth and future as compared to just being splashed with money and no value added to their development. Following Johnson’s persuasive argument, issues of exploitation of the student-athlete would be left in the past by student-athletes having access to these benefits they get everything that they need for their sports careers rather than getting paid and be involved in struggles with the authorities over their pays. With this option, they can comfortably attend to their sports obligations without worries and also comfortably cover their studies.

Furthermore, many student athletes are inexperienced in handling money due to their young age. From an article by Malcolm Lemmons, a former athlete turned author and entrepreneur, he agrees by stating, “Amateur players receiving compensation seems like a complete disaster. They don’t know how to manage their money, and there wouldn’t be anyone to guide their financial decisions.” From a former athlete himself, these words could not have been any more valid. Colleges will be exposing these students to early destruction instead of guiding them on a step by step basis until they are mature enough to handle finances. Having been an athlete himself, he continues to say that getting a person who has these student-athletes financial interest at heart to guide them will prove difficult as evident from many other famous athletes and entertainers who find themselves in financial ruin.

Besides, how will these institutions be able to control these students once they start earning and uphold their academic integrity? Author Reed Karaim asks such pertinent questions in his article, “A college education is a principal benefit that most scholarship athletes receive in return for their efforts on the field, but critics say many athletic programs do little to make sure their college football players receive a meaningful education.” Author Kareem puts this topic into its most crucial perspective by stating “Rather than paying college athletes as employees, some experts say universities and the NCAA should stiffen admission and academic standards to make sure athletes are competing in the classrooms and not just on the playing field.” These sentiments expressed are evidence enough that colleges have become more focused on these student-athletes’ abilities on the field and the revenues they contribute to the school rather than offering them a decent education. To add on to these statements by experts, many examples of athletes have come out and admitted to either paying tutors to do their term papers or being accepted in college despite their minimal performances.

In conclusion, trying to answer the question 'should college athletes be paid?', this essay without a doubt proves that paying college athletes is biased and wrong and should not be encouraged or supported by the education authorities as it undermines the integrity of the Colleges as learning institutions. It is evident College authorities have turned student-athletes into money, making employees and cash cows. Some college institutions no longer have their student-athletes’ academic interest at heart and go further in jeopardizing the institution’s integrity by admitting student-athletes not based on their academic performances but because of their field talents. In the end, they create an environment where other students who are not talented in sports feel inferior and find it difficult to compete with the favored student-athletes. Statistics also show the unfortunate truth that only a handful of college athletes make it to the professional stage. According to NCAA statistics, only one sport (baseball) had more than 2% of NCAA athletes go pro leaving a majority vulnerable and ambivalent about their futures plus without a strong academic background their chances of ending up unsuccessful increases.

Works Cited

1. Johnson, Dennis A., and John Acquaviva. 'Point/counterpoint: Paying college athletes.' The Sport Journal 15.1 (2012).
2. Karaim, Reed. 'Paying College Athletes.' CQ Researcher by CQ Press. CQ Press 11 (2014).
3. Lemmons, Malcolm. “College Athletes Getting Paid? Here Are Some Pros and Cons”. 2017.huffpost.com
4. Thacker, Dalton. 'Amateurism vs. Capitalism: A Practical Approach to Paying College Athletes.' Seattle J. Soc. Just. 16 (2017):188-191
5. Thelin, J. R., and J. R. Edwards. 'History of athletics in US colleges and universities.' (2015).