A Qualm About the NCAA

In our class we discussed plenty about Conflict Theory and the price of entry into sports, even though mainstream thought is that sports is a field were merit and hard work are the only factors. Sadly by the NCAA level, that price of entry is that much higher.

We pride our athletes on hard work and excelling in their sports, yet we expect them to eat right, sleep right, train right, study right, and still manage to go to work to make money to live. The current system burns out student-athletes. Yet we look down upon athletes who take money from people trying to help them out?

Even after winning a local 5k race, I had to deny taking a $100 gift card (which was the prize) because I was scared of what would happen. Would I lose my amateurism? Would that mean in the NCAA's eyes' that I was a professional athlete?

An athlete has worked so hard to get to this point, and even to get to this point they had to have had some financial help on the way but why is it that the NCAA puts so many restrictions on the athlete making it hard to live. Let athletes take prize money, let athletes be able to make money off their image, or the NCAA should at least pay them when use their image.

There are plenty of good things the NCAA does, and plenty of other bad things. This one was just on my mind.

-Gabriel Hilbert

Tuesday/ Thursday 12:30-1:45 pm

Kin 332i