To Pay or Not To Pay?

At this point, I truly am undecided. By the end of writing this I may feel decided but will probably change my mind on it about 7 times today.

First, let’s go to the side pushing for student athletes to receive more funding:

• The student athletes are making A LOT of money for the university
• The student athletes live under strict rules to maintain the compliance to amateur status though they are generating A LOT of money
• Those hours go above and beyond a normal work week (up to 60+ at times)
• These are not amateurs, they are professionals brought in by the universities for the purpose of playing sports
• They deserve a piece of what they are bringing in to the schools

On the other hand:

• They are student athletes
• The schools exist primarily for education
• The education and money as scholarships is fair pay for these STUDENT athletes

Both of these are very basic frames of the stories. For more detailed analysis here are some links:

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2013/1/31/3934886/ncaa-lawsuit-ed-obannon

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/3/27/5551014/college-football-players-union-northwestern-nlrb

The idea that the athletes are employees is an interesting new twist.

There are two big questions that remain unanswered:

Are the rights of these athletes being violated because they are not actually going to school for school but to play a sport, and are being treated as amateurs though they really are not (their “profession” of choice is sport)?

Should these schools (places of higher education) even have athletic programs that are run as money generating entities and not just extracurricular activities for students?

These two questions go to the heart of the issue and need to be sorted out before addressing to pay or not.

Either way, adapted sports will struggle at the collegiate level. Athletic departments are seeking to build bigger and better programs so they can bring in more money. Adapted sports do not bring in the dollars. Club sports are hard to organize without enough participants at the school trying to start them. Perhaps a change in adapted sport thinking is needed. Adapted sports need to be available to everyone and played by everyone so that the programs can take off. If they are sold not as sport for those with disabilities, but as sports that people with disabilities can take part in along with everyone else, then it might be easier to have more adapted sports on college campuses. If everyone is playing, and wants to play, then the number issue is taken care of. More student participation brings more attention from the administration and better opportunities for adapted sports.