Long Hours
Playing a sport for a Division I school in the United States requires full commitment and serious training, which takes up most of a student athlete's time. They often have some form of weight or conditioning training in the early hours of the morning, along with classes to attend, which is followed by a study session, and finally an evening practice that could last up to two and a half hours. From the early hours in the morning to the late evening, these athletes are consumed with both school and the sport that they play. These kids are not allowed to have a job at all as it would be a violation. Which means that they have no money to either eat, put gas in their car if they own one or just to buy clothes.The grueling schedule that these student athletes hardly allows for any off time. Not only do these student athletes have to go through grueling hours some might also have to come home to take care of their children, siblings, or other family members that they might live with.Football players in Division I schools go through demanding physical work outs and practices throughout the week. This is a lot of stress on the body especially when you add 11-12 regular season games and possibly two more in the postseason. The possibility of injury is increased in football because of the violent nature of the game, and a lot of players have career ending injuries, which leaves some wondering what they'll do in life because they did't take their education seriously enough. That is why we believe that students athletes should be paid.
"They lift weights each morning- before class. They take care of their coursework in the morning. Then comes football practices that are physically demanding. Team meetings comes next, which are followed by dinner and study hall… it is the equivalent to two full-time jobs” (Sangimino).
"They lift weights each morning- before class. They take care of their coursework in the morning. Then comes football practices that are physically demanding. Team meetings comes next, which are followed by dinner and study hall… it is the equivalent to two full-time jobs” (Sangimino).
"We do have hungry nights that we don't have enough money to get food in. Sometimes money is needed. I don't think you should stretch it out to hundreds of thousands of dollars for playing, because a lot of times guys don't know how to handle themselves with money. I feel like a student athlete. Sometimes, there's hungry nights where I'm not able to eat, but I still gotta play up to my capabilities." - Shabazz Napier, Mens basketball player at the University of Connecticut from 2010-2014. Quote from a 2014 interview
"No, I don't think college athletes are given enough time to really take advantage of the free education that they're given, and it's frustrating because a lot of people get upset with student-athletes and say they're not focused on school and they're not taking advantage of the opportunity they're given. I would love for a regular student to have a student-athlete's schedule during the season for just one quarter or one semester and show me how you balance that. Show me how you would schedule your classes when you can't schedule classes from 2-to-6 o'clock on any given day. Show me how you're going to get all your work done when after you get out at 7:30 or so, you've got a test the next day, you're dead tired from practice and you still have to study just as hard as everybody else every day and get all the same work done. Most of these kids are done with school, done with class by 3 o'clock, you've got the rest of the day to do as you please. You may spend a few hours studying, then you may spend a few hours at the library checking out books and doing casual reading, and then you may go hang out with friends and have a coffee. When you're a student-athlete, you don't have that kind of time. You wake up in the morning, you have weights at this time. Then after weights you go to class and after class, you go maybe try to grab you a quick bite to eat. Then after you get your quick bite to eat, you go straight to meetings and after meetings, you've got practice and after practice, you've got to try to get all the work done you had throughout the day you've got from your lectures and from your focus groups.
And those aren't the things that people focus on when talking about student-athletes. They are upset when a student-athlete says they need a little cash. Well, I can tell you from experience, I had negative-40 bucks in my account. Usually my account was in the negative more time than it was in the positive. You've got to make decisions on whether you get gas for your car or whether you get a meal for the day. You've got one of the two choices." Richard Sherman, College Football Player at the University of Stanford from 2006 to 2010. Quote from a 2015 interview
And those aren't the things that people focus on when talking about student-athletes. They are upset when a student-athlete says they need a little cash. Well, I can tell you from experience, I had negative-40 bucks in my account. Usually my account was in the negative more time than it was in the positive. You've got to make decisions on whether you get gas for your car or whether you get a meal for the day. You've got one of the two choices." Richard Sherman, College Football Player at the University of Stanford from 2006 to 2010. Quote from a 2015 interview
"In any facet of college life, only one class of people have any financial restriction on them at all and that’s athletes. So the idea that it's based on education is a lie. No other student is told what they can and cannot make, and if it affects their education, or scholarship, or anything.
"If you’re a music student, who's on a full music scholarship, you can apply your trade in any professional sense you want. You’re not kicked out of the band. Not kept from performing on campus. Doesn’t affect your academic status in any way. You’re celebrated for that.
"If you’re an athlete that happens to make the schools in the NCAA machine billions of dollars, then the athletes are told, 'You get only your expenses.' And one of the biggest components of the expenses you get, we pay to ourselves, and claim it cost us money." Jay Bilas, College Basketball Player at the Univeristy of Duke from 1986 to 1989. Quote from a 2015 interview
"If you’re a music student, who's on a full music scholarship, you can apply your trade in any professional sense you want. You’re not kicked out of the band. Not kept from performing on campus. Doesn’t affect your academic status in any way. You’re celebrated for that.
"If you’re an athlete that happens to make the schools in the NCAA machine billions of dollars, then the athletes are told, 'You get only your expenses.' And one of the biggest components of the expenses you get, we pay to ourselves, and claim it cost us money." Jay Bilas, College Basketball Player at the Univeristy of Duke from 1986 to 1989. Quote from a 2015 interview
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