Should College Athletes Get Paid?

806 Words2 Pages

The scholarships given to college athletes are not sufficient enough to sustain them throughout the year, which is why I believe they should get paid and receive benefits. Student athletes, especially football and basketball players, play a major role in generating revenue for schools, businesses, coaches and the players do not see a penny. College athletes often do not have money in their pockets for extra food, clothes, housing and extracurricular activities. They also can potentially get dropped from their teams due to injury, leaving them incapable of paying for college. College athletes should be treated like every other employee because they work hard, and make everyone but themselves a lot of money. College athletes receive scholarships based on the fact that they can play. What happens when they get injured and they are ultimately dropped from the team? They are left unable to pay for college, with hospital bills and the dream of becoming a professional athlete is flushed down the drain. Some might argue that they can get an academic scholarship, after all school should have been their priority. That sounds great, but in actuality a lot of them have been pushed through school and will not qualify. They spend so much time practicing that they do not have much time or energy to put into schoolwork. Then there are the off campus/out-of-state games that they attend. Those do not just take place on the weekends; they are during classes too, and they will almost always be considered an official excused absence. These coaches and other people in charge of athletes do not have the student’s best interest at heart. All they care about is that they can get out there and win. In my first year of college, I found out that a couple... ... middle of paper ... ... money to live. They are most likely not capable of getting a part time job, especially during season because of their hectic schedule. They do not always have the financial support of family while they are away. College athletes are also at risk multiple injuries that could lead to them being let go from the team. It would be great if they were allowed to keep their scholarships as long as they kept their grades up. They also should be able to make at least a percentage off of their own names. Businesses make products using their names, jersey numbers, faces and can make thousands of dollars and none of it will go to the athlete. That is not right and it is really just another form of slavery. College athletes are controlled by these organizations and their contracts that tell them what they can and cannot do; yet, they are not paying them anything.

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