Pay for Play: College Athletes - Essay Example

?Topic – Pay for Play Introduction Every college is active in sports as this is one segment which boosts the ego and good will of an education institution among its counterparts. Many a times, Sports players are a huge asset for the colleges as it keeps up their reputation and prestige. However , it is normally seen that the athletes or sportsmen are not given much consideration when it comes to upholding their rights When it comes to my college ,I have seen that our college athletes are not given due respect in regard to their rewarding. I have chosen to write about this topic as I have seen college athletes undergoing much sacrifice and bring money but they are not paid in return. Second reason I chose this topic is because I have been a football player in college and I understand what it means to work to get money for extra spending. So I believe that college athletes should be paid has they put lot effort in bringing advantage to college. (Thesis) College athletes have developed into uncrowned and undefined athletic heroes who strive and struggle to bring a well -defined fame and earn an overly demarcated reputation for the institute, which has been over the years counted as their performing duty that calls for no justification to be paid financially. However, I strongly believe that the regulations regarding payment of college athletes be changed because these players bring in too much money and put in too much work for them to not be earning a paycheck. Major sports played at college-Sports have been an integral part of college education and it has always encouraged and inspired students to be more active and contribute to the college heritage. The colleges hold sport events on a regular basis and it has been a way to explore the talent and skill of students from a different dimension. Sports have united and inspired young men to be able and fit to become a professional sportsman. The major sports played at college and university level are football, basketball, baseball and softball. The history of sports at college and university can be traced back to couple of centuries History of college sports-The history of college sports is thought to be originated around 1850s and since then it has been evolved to become a major mission in educational campuses across America. It has been regarded as the perfect physical activity and the desire of the young men. The competitive spirit and vigor which consisted in college sports hiked the mental and physical pleasure of the students. The college authorities elaborately planned sports activities which motivated the students immensely and sports event on college and national level became a prestigious venture and money making phenomena for college authorities. On the other hand, the students athletes remained thrilled about being college’s selected people and representatives of college on state level. Moreover, the media kept the young athletes in the lime light and the scholarship provided by colleges to them stood as a bonus. Recruitment of college athletes -Recruiting is a significant phase in college sports. The recruitment process is headed by college coach and large amount of power is vested with him in selecting the college athletes. It has been experienced that the selection procedure of athletes many a times is subjected to bias and discriminations. For the recruitment procedure, the athletes are required to do rigorous practice and this take lot of energy and time of the students which ruined their academics. The most important point in consideration is that these institutes that have been developed to nurture, maintain and enhance the intellectual minds at the professional level and speed up the purpose of taming the existing skills into more sophisticated commercial and other practical uses, when they employ physical strengths of the same youth alongside to the above mentioned rational goals, how could they be ignorant of giving the youth the required motivation to grow in athletics? (ESPN Colleeg Sports, 2013)However, when it comes to payment and benefits less is been done by the college authorities to encourage college athletes. Actually, in the recruitment stage, the right candidates must be given opportunity and favors and bias should be avoided by appointing right judgment panel in the sport category. Payments -Payment is highly essential for the college athletes as they put in lot of effort and hard work into becoming sportsmen. So it is appreciating if the college provide at least 2, 00,000 dollar for the players for a period of four years. In a more deeply studied chapter of college athletics payment schedules, the events show that the earlier era was not very well cognizant about the importance of sports and it is actually the media that has prompted athletes into a wider limelight since past some thirty years (The Shirly Povich Centre for Sports Journalism, 2012). Hence the value of sportsman ship has excelled in recent decades and paying them sufficiently is mandatory. Ethics in college sports -Sports are an interesting event for the college students as well as the authorities but there should be a moral standard when it comes to its functioning. Students do a lot of sacrifice when it comes to college sports as they even compromise on their studies and health. So it is the moral obligation of the college authorities to give right consideration to the college athletes. They should be boosted and encouraged by scholarships, other benefits and pay. Tracing events back to the initiation of College Athletes during the early part of the year 1900 when the National Collegiate Athletic Association was formed the reluctance and non acceptability in the attitudes of the coordinators was evident from their attitude of holding back on the pay offers (Dennis A Johnson, 2012). . This would discourage them from being more motivated and in keeping up the spirits in sports engagement. The college athletes bring in financial benefit and honor to the College or university, so it makes ethically ideal to give privileges and remuneration to them to give them justice. Conclusion I am favoring the idea of college athletes being paid holds a whole different perspective. They should be paid mainly because they bring in huge revenues to the college and universities. It is a fact that paying the student – athletes would motivate the athletes to remain in school and complete their education program without obstacle rather than them leaving college for the professional league. In the past it has been noted that athletes lose interest in sports as well as education due to the unethical stand of the college authorities. So I recommend that enough payment for the play is a conclusive solution to this issue. References Dennis A Johnson. (2012). The Sport Journal Organization. Retrieved from The Sport Journal Organization Website: http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/pointcounterpoint-paying-college-athletes ESPN Colleeg Sports. (2013). Retrieved from http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6778847/college-athletes-deserve-paid The Shirly Povich Centre for Sports Journalism. (2012). Retrieved from http://povichcenter.org/should-college-athletes-be-paid-should-there-be-an-age-restriction-for-pros/ Read More