ALLOWS COLLEGE ATHLETES TO PROFIT FROM THIER NAMES LEAH WESLEY Reporter
As of October 29, 2019, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) shocked the sports world when they announced that they voted unanimously to permit college students participating in athletics the opportunity to benefit from the use of their name, image and likeness in a manner consistent with the collegiate model. What does this all mean? Since the NCAA does not allow college athletes to be paid for the sport they play, they decided to let these athletes choose to make money through marketing themselves. Furthermore, it is directing all three divisions to immediately consider “updates to relevant bylaws and policies for the 21st century.” Giving future college athletes the opportunity to make money off of their title is a very abrupt change to our culture, so is this change in our future a good or bad thing? There are many positive outlooks to this highly controversial topic. The NCAA also released many rules to make this new change more fair to college students who may not play sports or even have the opportunity. This new law could potentially help these struggling athletes to support themselves and their families. Many of these college athletes train several times a week all while giving their best performance on and off the court or field. They are then left to defend themselves with little money to pay for the costs of tuition, food, books, and sometimes even sports gear. If college athletes are given this opportunity, it will push them to work harder in school and on the court or field, which will result in fewer college dropouts and potentially, a much higher graduation rate. There are also many negative aspects to this debatable topic. A majority of people would argue that this law is not a good idea. Paying student-athletes based on their image and likeness would result in less than a very small percentage of football and basketball players being paid while most all other collegiate athletes, especially women, would be hung out to dry. The popularity
20 Feb. 2020
of college sports is simply not equal across all teams. Universities are only able to fund less-popular sports by using the resources brought in by donors and television contracts associated with the more popular sports. That diversity is good for universities, for the athletes on those teams, and for the fans who love to watch and cheer as classmates, alumni, or community members. “Should college athletes be paid? Maybe to a certain percentage, or they should get paid but it should be set aside somehow for future living expenses or their education, something to fall back on - I think we could do a better job of rewarding those kids,” says Tim Fitzpartick, a Physical Education Teacher & Girls Basketball Coach. “I find it confusing, I know that they’ve been opposed to paying players for a very long time and then a sudden decision to pay players in a limited fashion I think may just be a hedge, so I’m kind of undecided. Unsure, we’ll see what happens,” says Jeb Davis, an Athletic Trainer with Mercy Sports Medicine for DHS. “Overall, it’s a good thing. I remember hearing this interview with Derrick Rose where he had borrowed money from another player to get lunch, and on his way to lunch, he walked by a footlocker that had his jersey that was on sale for 70$. And he couldn’t even afford lunch. I think it’s a really good thing, the way they’re approaching it with giving a percentage of merchandise that has their name on it is fair, but I worry that it could be the start and the tip of an iceberg to a bigger conversation of how college athletes are compensated that could water down college sports, and that scares me.” Says Ryan Knorr, DHS District Athletic Director. There are many future college athletes at our school, whether they have been recruited or plan to walk on to a team. While this is a highly debatable and controversial topic, it is overall a good thing for struggling college athletes, but many would argue that they are receiving a free education. For the most part, many of our sports influencers at DHS share their positive outlooks on this topic but still give their outlooks on how it may lead to a downfall. So do you think allowing college athletes to benefit off of their name is a good or bad thing?
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