College athletes should get paid

Imagine if instead of college taking students’ money, colleges paid them. I don’t mean pay all students; that would be ridiculous. I mean student athletes. What I'm talking about is paying our college athletes for their effort and devotion beyond what they get in scholarships. While I fully understand why some people might think that college athletes don't deserve to get paid because of the scholarships and perks they already get, this money is not always enough for them to survive comfortably. College athletes fully deserve the right to get paid, and here's why.

College athletes practice every day of the week, which means that they do not have enough time to get a job and actually earn money. One research article from BusinessInsider.com shows that college athletes practice an average of 40 hours a week, and the average work week is also about 40 hours. This means that college athletes who have a job, and go to practices will be busy for an average of 80 hours a week. When will they have time to do school work?

Even if collegiate athletes wanted to work, NCAA rules make this difficult. While working a part time job is not totally against the rules, the sheer volume of legalese regarding what is and is not allowed can be overwhelming. The rules do state that “Earnings from a student-athlete's on- or off-campus employment that occurs at any time is exempt and is not counted in determining a student-athlete's full grant-in-aid or in the institution's financial aid limitations.” However, other phrases in the NCAA rules stating players become ineligible if “you ever have accepted money, transportation or other benefits from an agent or agreed to have an agent market your athletics ability or reputation in that sport,” if “ you accept any pay for promoting a commercial product or service or allow your name or picture to be used for promoting a commercial product or service,” or if “you were paid at a rate higher than the going rate or were paid for the value an employer placed on your reputation, fame or personal following” might discourage athletes from even trying to get jobs just for fear of accidentally violating a rule. Popular college jobs like social media influencer and brand rep would be violations, for instance.

Another reason college athletes should get paid relates to the sheer risk involved in playing many sports. Every time a college athlete steps onto the field, during a practice or game, or lifting weights they run the risk of getting severely injured. According to the NCAA, from 2004 to 2009 over 41,000 college football players got injured. That's a lot! This means that they might have to pay for their medical expenses, but wouldn’t it be nice if the school helped?! I mean if the school paid athletes for playing, the medical expenses would not be as challenging to pay, and maybe they will return to doing what they love sooner.

If colleges pay their athletes, much relief will be provided to families. The average cost of tuition is $32,410 a year, so if athletes get paid more, much relief will be provided for those families in paying for college education.

I know why some people might feel differently than me, but my arguments are more reasonable. Some people say that college athletes already get scholarships and taxes would be too much stress on taxpayers, but if you take away scholarships then all the tax money transfers from scholarships to paying these athletes. Another reason people think athletes shouldn't get paid is because they would prioritize their athletics over academics. But I know from personal experience that if a student does not get good grades, then the would get kicked off the team, or get benched.

Caryn Y. of the AHS softball team says that college athletes do not deserve to get paid because they already get scholarships to college.

An AHS baseball player says, “College athletes deserve to get paid because they put in a lot of hard work to get to the point they are at now, and they deserve it.”

Another member of the AHS baseball team had a different perspective on the matter. This player says, “ Athletes should not get paid, because this is the thing that separates college baseball, and professional baseball. But if they are being sponsored by a company, then they should be paid a little sum of money.”

“Yes ,” says Foster B. of the AHS baseball and football team, “ athletes spend a lot of time playing sports in college, so they don't have time for a job.” Which was the same reason I think this.

College athletes deserve to get paid while they are in college. College athletes never have enough time to work and earn money, they will provide a bunch of relief to their families, and every time that one of these athletes steps foot onto the field or court they run the possibility of getting injured. Above all, college athletics is a huge source of revenue for college. Isn’t it time for student athletes to see a share of the profits?