Essay Example on Student-Athletes: Sacrifices Needed to Excel in Sports

Introduction

Sporting activities demands sacrifice from any individual involved in them. Physical sacrifice in the form of tedious body exercises, the sacrifice of time, and devotion to the sports activity. The sacrifices may get tough for a student-athlete who equally has a packed timetable. Though the colleges classify the sports activities as extracurricular, the student-athletes have to sacrifice their study time to attend training and sports events hosted and televised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Sanderson, Allen, and John 98). As such, the paper seeks to answer why the NCAA should pay athletes.

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Athletes come from the various social background; paying them will prevent a needy student-athletes from dropping off college because of college fees. It will avoid the painful strains some families go through just to see one of their own in college, and it will also make their stay in college comfortable. The health risks the athletes take when involved in the sports activities call for remuneration from NCAA (Edelman 43). The injuries might be lifetime injuries that would even jeopardize their career goals. NCAA should address the risks by ensuring their payment.

Discourse Analysis

The research question is "should the NCAA pay athletes?" The topic of research arises from a close focus on the life of young people in college having their financial needs that encompass the college fees and personal upkeep. Some travel from far and wide to the college to become outstanding sportspersons with big names in the sports world through the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The primary concern is, however, on why are they not reaping off their fame and big profiles? The NCAA has reported annual revenues of topping one billion U.S dollars on the strength of television rights and marketing fees with reference to its most prominent sports and events. Why then is it hesitating to pay the student-athletes? Is NCAA supportive of the public advocacy to pay student-athletes? Washington Senator Chris Murphy released a critical report on the failure of NCAA to protect student-athletes from devastating and fatal injuries which have left behind athletes who are poor and have broken bodies. Sen Chris Murphy challenged the NCAA to make right decisions regarding its system of operation. Kyle Hardrick, an NCAA player lost his basketball scholarship at Oklahoma after he tore his meniscus. After a series of meetings and legal interventions, California has now passed a law that is allowing student-athletes to get paid for endorsement deals and hire personal sports agents.

The question on whether the NCAA is willing to pay the student-athletes despite the public advocacy remains unresolved because California being the first state to pass a law for payment of student-athletes has faced controversies. The NCAA has said that the California law is likely unconstitutional, and has questioned why it is hesitant to implement an already passed law that should take effect in 2023? After a thorough evaluation of my sources, the research question would get modified to "why is the NCAA reluctant to pay student-athletes?" It is challenging to harmonize the information from my research sources, yet it is fulfilling combining these ideas into one piece for good research. Doing research is exposing yourself into new dimensions of thoughts and ideas that make it interesting.

Works Cited

Edelman, Marc. "The District Court Decision in O'Bannon v. National Collegiate Athletic Association: A Small Step Forward for College-Athlete Rights, and a Gateway for Far Grander Change." Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 71 (2014): 2319. https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4428&context=wlulr

Sanderson, Allen R., and John J. Siegfried. "The Economics of the National Collegiate Athletic Association." The SAGE Handbook of Sports Economics (2019): 112. https://home.uchicago.edu/~arsx/Sage%20Sports%20Downward%20et%20al_Chp12_First%20Proof%20Corr..pdf