As you sit at the stadium or in your home and watch college football,
basketball, or even baseball, do you ever wonder where the money goes from all
the ticket sales? Colleges make a lot of money from their athletics. I feel that
the profit that is made should partly go back to the student athlete. College
athletes should be paid for their participation in sports, since sports make a
lot of money for the college. A student athlete's schedule is very hectic. There
are many activities that have to be attended daily. A student athlete is
expected to go to class every day; and later in the day they are expected to
meet at practice, no matter what the sport. After practice, the student athlete
must eat dinner. Then the person has to go home to their dorm to do homework,
which can last for hours. There is very little time during the day, to allow the
student athlete to get a job. Most of the time coaches will not allow the
students to work, due to schedule conflict, and it is also hard on the student's
studies. If the coach doesn't allow a job and there is no time for one, where
does the student get money? Student finances are very limited. Most of the money
that students have is from parents or student loans. Students need money for
food, gas and laundry. If a student eats three meals a day, it would usually
cost then about fifteen dollars. For a five-day week it would be around
seventy-five dollars. Usually the student athletes do not travel much, so gas
expenses would be minimal. However there are those occasional trips home to see
family. The student also needs money for laundry. Laundry runs around five or
six dollars per week. Several years ago, student athletes at colleges and
universities were given laundry money, which was twenty-five to thirty dollars a
week. The money could be spent freely. It was like an allowance that your
parents would give you every week. I feel that this little support would at
least help the student when money is hard to come by at home. With the financial
help of the college a student athlete parents would only have to supply around
fifty or sixty dollars per week instead of eighty or ninety dollars. A student
would have less financial troubles if they were compensated for athletics. If
athletes were paid they could have a better start out of college. For instance
if the student athlete has to get a loan during college because he or she has no
money for necessities, that student athlete has started to dig a financial hole.
That hole will be a burden to the student athlete when her or she graduates from
college. Also the student athletes parents will not be financially troubled when
the student graduates from college. It would make it easier on student athletes
and their parents mentally and physically if student athletes were paid.
Mentally the parents would not have to worry about paying the bills when tuition
is due. Physically the parents and students would not have to break their back
to work overtime, or to have a job while in school, and play athletics as well.
I feel that student athletes have a lot to worry about. One is their grades; two
is there performance in games. I feel the last thing a student athlete should
worry about is how they are going to make money to pay for the education, since
the student plays a sport that makes money for the college. Student athletes
should be compensated for their participation in athletics while attending
college.