Joseph Braimah
Mrs. Lopez
English 102
04/26/2015
Should Student-Athletes Be Paid?
The discourse on whether NCAA athletes should be paid or not has always been very
controversial seeing as if they are given some type of salary that would defeat the whole purpose
of amateur sports but relatively speaking, would it really be such a horrible thing compensate
these young men and women for the blood, sweat and tears they put into their respective pro-
grams, day-in and day-out with some time of reward?.
College athletics having gained immense recognition over the past few decades has be-
come the greatest source of revenue for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
and participating institutions, intensifying the debate on if college athletes should be rewarded,
aside from scholarship money, for their efforts and participation. Speaking from personal experi-
ence, being a Division-1 athlete, and on behalf of my fellow counterparts, the reimbursement
would probably be the best thing the NCAA could decide on doing. As surprising it may or may
not seem, a substantial amount of these young athletes come from under-privileged areas and liv-
ing conditions, and were taught from a young age that sports was a way out, with this being said,
one can understand why a compensation could be essential. Every child looks up to the star ath–
lete of their favorite sport and aspires to reach the level they are at someday.
Student-athletes should be compensated if not for anything else, but simply their hard-
work. A college athletes schedule, speaking from firsthand experience, is exceptionally frantic,
both in and out of season and is not for the faint-hearted. It is in point of fact full-time job with
no pay, from waking before the crack of dawn at 5:15AM in the morning for team lifts, right into
practice, back to the weight room and then right into class, falling in and out of sleep through
most of the day until the second practice of the day, team meetings, and then study hall, attempt-
ing to balance all this with a social life and personal time.
An athlete’s schedule shows no mercy, has no wiggle-room for play and absolutely no
time to even consider working a part-time job, making it difficult to stay financially–independent,
having already stated that not all these kids come from a wealthy or well-off background and
with the NCAA and its respective institutions being aware of these facts and struggles their ath–
letes encounter, it is almost inhumane and inconsiderate to not give these young adults a pay
back for not just their efforts, but also the revenue generated from the games played and events
hosted.
