Almost everybody loves college. I mean, what’s not to like? Many consider it to be some of the best years of their life. But what happens after? How does one hold on to the place that shaped the beginning of their adult lives? College sports provide that connection to many graduates to continue to support their school during games by either attending or watching from home. Today, most people know college sports to be very well disciplined with lots of referees and regulations to ensure proper and fair play. However, college sports were not always as organized and civil as they appear to be now. In the late 1800s, many student athletes were getting hurt to the extent of serious injury or death (Smith 12). The schools were constantly cheating
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2). Since then, the NCAA has added and changed many regulations they consider necessary to protect student athletes, which has helped shape college sports into the well-established part of society they are today. One of the NCAA’s most strict and controversial topics is that of amateurism. The NCAA states “Student athletes shall be amateurs in an intercollegiate sport”, defining amateur as someone who has never been paid (or signed an agreement to get paid) for their athletic talents, or played in a professional event (NCAA Division 1 Manual, sec. 12.1.2). The NCAA expresses student athletes should go to college “primarily for the aspect of higher education” and play sports for “the physical, mental and social benefits to be derived” (“A Short Treatise” 66). In other words, they are students first and athletes second. If the student does not comply, they will be banned from playing college sports and lose their amateur status (“Agents and Amateurism” …show more content…
According to the NCAA, teams are allowed a maximum of 20 hours of practice per week (“14 Surprising Facts” par. 11). In truth, student athletes can spend more than 50 hours a week during the season (average 43.3 hours according to Forbes), either from coaches overstepping their jurisdiction or the student practicing independently. This is equivalent to having a full time job. Not only does this take away from the student athlete’s time in academics, but also does not allow any time for an actual, paying job. The average college student works 19 hours a week or more (Fang par. 2). Looking at the essentials of an average of 12 hours of classes a week with a suggested 24 hours of studying per week according to the University of Michigan, a given 25 hours to eat, get ready in the morning, and get places, and 56 hours of sleep as recommended by many medical organizations including Mayo Clinic, student athletes are left with just over an hour to do anything not directly related to getting their degree. Add those 19 hours of work in there to pay for college, and almost 2 hours a day of something else has to go. This encourages a decrease in the player’s health, grades, and/or athletic performance. However, some student athletes do need the money a job provides to get through college, and are forced to adapt a different quality of life,
2). Since then, the NCAA has added and changed many regulations they consider necessary to protect student athletes, which has helped shape college sports into the well-established part of society they are today. One of the NCAA’s most strict and controversial topics is that of amateurism. The NCAA states “Student athletes shall be amateurs in an intercollegiate sport”, defining amateur as someone who has never been paid (or signed an agreement to get paid) for their athletic talents, or played in a professional event (NCAA Division 1 Manual, sec. 12.1.2). The NCAA expresses student athletes should go to college “primarily for the aspect of higher education” and play sports for “the physical, mental and social benefits to be derived” (“A Short Treatise” 66). In other words, they are students first and athletes second. If the student does not comply, they will be banned from playing college sports and lose their amateur status (“Agents and Amateurism” …show more content…
According to the NCAA, teams are allowed a maximum of 20 hours of practice per week (“14 Surprising Facts” par. 11). In truth, student athletes can spend more than 50 hours a week during the season (average 43.3 hours according to Forbes), either from coaches overstepping their jurisdiction or the student practicing independently. This is equivalent to having a full time job. Not only does this take away from the student athlete’s time in academics, but also does not allow any time for an actual, paying job. The average college student works 19 hours a week or more (Fang par. 2). Looking at the essentials of an average of 12 hours of classes a week with a suggested 24 hours of studying per week according to the University of Michigan, a given 25 hours to eat, get ready in the morning, and get places, and 56 hours of sleep as recommended by many medical organizations including Mayo Clinic, student athletes are left with just over an hour to do anything not directly related to getting their degree. Add those 19 hours of work in there to pay for college, and almost 2 hours a day of something else has to go. This encourages a decrease in the player’s health, grades, and/or athletic performance. However, some student athletes do need the money a job provides to get through college, and are forced to adapt a different quality of life,