Do you think college athletes should be paid?

[eliza61]

I don't know exactly what you mean but this statement but my dd a d2 athlete does not spend the summer training. She has a fitness test to prepare for in August and trains a couple of days a week with her former club team. She has plenty of time to have a full time job over her summer break.

If she didn't have time, for whatever reason, that would be her dad and my problem. No way in hell should she get paid.

Depends on the school, program and athlete.
For example my son is a collegiate football player. HIs school is division I, which pretty much means the football program is intense and brings in a wad of dough.
He gets home around mid may for summer break. His scholarship is based on his performance and ability to play. Usually he relaxes through June. In July he is in conditioning camp (usually 4-5 hours a day). By August he is back at school for "drills". by the second week in August he is on campus full time at practice.

So he pretty much has a grand total of 4 weeks to work a full time job. Now I don't know what sport your daughter plays but yeah if he doesn't have time, he has a choice. LOL don't play, lose your scholarship. Penn state, Ole Miss, Ohio state, etc really are not very interested in if the parents have a problem with it. they are the ones with 500 kids per spot and they are the ones giving out the scholarship money.

The amount of his scholarship is way more than what he would ever make at a minimum wage job over the summer. Heck if they only covered his room and board which is about 4K a year, it would be more than he'd make over the summer. So it's a no brainer for me.

I don't think they should get paid either so he gets an allowance from us.

 

[rwdavis2]

I don't know exactly what you mean but this statement but my dd a d2 athlete does not spend the summer training. She has a fitness test to prepare for in August and trains a couple of days a week with her former club team. She has plenty of time to have a full time job over her summer break.

If she didn't have time, for whatever reason, that would be her dad and my problem. No way in hell should she get paid.

I think most if not all of us advocating that athletes get paid are talking about Division I football and basketball where many colleges and the NCAA are pulling in 10's of millions of dollars on an athlete's ability. They should get a cut or at least be free to sell the likeness, autograph, etc. We are not talking about minor sports that don't make a profit.

No one would prevent a computer science major on a scholarship from selling his ideas to Microsoft or Apple would they? Then why are athletes different?

 

[Hannathy]

I don't know exactly what you mean but this statement but my dd a d2 athlete does not spend the summer training. She has a fitness test to prepare for in August and trains a couple of days a week with her former club team. She has plenty of time to have a full time job over her summer break.

If she didn't have time, for whatever reason, that would be her dad and my problem. No way in hell should she get paid.

Yeah but you are talking about a SHE and at div 2.

Look at div one, different story.

 

[jrmasm]

Depends on the school, program and athlete.
For example my son is a collegiate football player. HIs school is division I, which pretty much means the football program is intense and brings in a wad of dough.
He gets home around mid may for summer break. His scholarship is based on his performance and ability to play. Usually he relaxes through June. In July he is in conditioning camp (usually 4-5 hours a day). By August he is back at school for "drills". by the second week in August he is on campus full time at practice.

So he pretty much has a grand total of 4 weeks to work a full time job. Now I don't know what sport your daughter plays but yeah if he doesn't have time, he has a choice. LOL don't play, lose your scholarship. Penn state, Ole Miss, etc really are not very interested in if you and her dad have a problem with it. they are the ones with 500 kids per spot.

The amount of his scholarship is way more than what he would ever make at a minimum wage job over the summer. Heck if they only covered his room and board which is about 4K a year, it would be more than he'd make over the summer. So it's a no brainer for me.

A statement was made about other divisions that was untrue. I was responding to that poster.

It does sound (based on your description of his classes) like football is getting in the way of your son's education so what is the real value of the scholarship?

I think most if not all of us advocating that athletes get paid are talking about Division I football and basketball where many colleges and the NCAA are pulling in 10's of millions of dollars on an athlete's ability. They should get a cut or at least be free to sell the likeness, autograph, etc. We are not talking about minor sports that don't make a profit.

No one would prevent a computer science major on a scholarship from selling his ideas to Microsoft or Apple would they? Then why are athletes different?

No pay for any student athletes ever IMO. The income generating athletes are getting a free education. That should be enough. If it's not, they always have a choice.

 

[LisaR]

LOL. I'm taking it that you did not go to a SEC division school.

Yes, if an college football player has any aspirations what soever to make it into the pros. If they are first string and get on tv, they are dedicating their entire lives to the sport.

No different than athletes that train for the Olympics. It is their lives.

But if they are truly dedicating their entire lives to their sport, how are some of these guys playing two sports? The star quarterback for Florida State University is also on the baseball team. If he didn't play baseball, isn't it conceivable that he could use the baseball season to get a job a few hours a week? Doesn't that also say that his commitment to football isn't taking up his entire year if he is able to make time for baseball?

 

[jrmasm]

Yeah but you are talking about a SHE and at div 2.

Look at div one, different story.

Again, read the poster I quoted.

 

[eliza61]

A statement was made about other divisions that was untrue. I was responding to that poster.

It does sound (based on your description of his classes) like football is getting in the way of your son's education so what is the real value of the scholarship?


.

In order to keep his scholarship he has to maintain a passing average. those are NCAA rules and the University's. My job is to make sure the classes he gets are of value. that's the time commitment I have to put in. Those classes are what they would have signed him up for had we not went back to his advisors and talked about it and I'm still in his face at the end of every semester about when his grades come out. The first thing we did during orientation was to put my name on his FERPA form. Yep, I check his grades. yep, I threaten him..."going be really hard to play football if I break your legs, keep fooling around".

Now like I said, my kid knows the probability of him becoming a pro is 0.00001% so he doesn't have the superstar thing going on but he enjoys playing and he so far enjoys his teammates.

I remind him to look around at his classmates. When he graduates he will be one of the few that will have no student loan debt. I remind him, maybe way too much if you ask him that he doesn't have 5 years to twaddle around. Once his eligibility is up, whether he's got a degree or not, his scholarship is gone.

You are absolutely right in that, when it's all said and done, he's the one that has to handle the responsibility. I just let him know as lovingly as I can that he has a great opportunity. He's away from home having the proverbial college experience, he's getting to participate in a sport he really loves and he's getting it cheaply. I pray constantly that he's really absorbing that and in 20 years he isn't regretting this opportunity.

Sports can be a wonderful tool.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I don't know exactly what you mean but this statement but my dd a d2 athlete does not spend the summer training. She has a fitness test to prepare for in August and trains a couple of days a week with her former club team. She has plenty of time to have a full time job over her summer break.

If she didn't have time, for whatever reason, that would be her dad and my problem. No way in hell should she get paid.

I was thinking mostly football whose team members seem to be profited off the most except maybe for basketball.

And as someone posted--division I.

I think others commented that swim might be year round.

For gymnastics (as an example)--I cannot imagine a gymnast taking any time off in any division because they would not be ready when the season comes. I know the girls train 5 or 6 days a week for several hours at our gym. I often wonder how they manage homework. And this is elem, middle, and High school students. There really is no time for a job, though I'm sure a few may manage one somehow.

 

[luvsJack]

Yeah but you are talking about a SHE and at div 2.

Look at div one, different story.

I see the difference in division 1 and division 2 but what the heck does being a she have to do with anything? Female athletes work just as hard as male. They practice just as many hours and just as much goes in to keeping their scholarship as does the males.

You seem to think that college male athletes are the only ones that have limited time and resources to find and keep employment. That is simply not true at all.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Again, read the poster I quoted.

You quoted me. You bolded the statement about division I, not my comment about other divisions.

There are sports they don't take "summers" off. So while my generalization is just that, your daughter having the summer off is not indicative that all sports do.

Above I cited gymnastics. If that is your daughter's sport, I would be most impressed that she would be in competitive shape by September to prepare for the season. Our level 4-10 girls at a regular gym for kids elementary through High school train year round with, at most a week or 2 off a couple of times a year where there are no scheduled workouts. And these are not collegiate gymnasts.

 

[eliza61]

You quoted me. You bolded the statement about division I, not my comment about other divisions.

There are sports they don't take "summers" off. So while my generalization is just that, your daughter having the summer off is not indicative that all sports do.

Above I cited gymnastics. If that is your daughter's sport, I would be most impressed that she would be in competitive shape by September to prepare for the season. Our level 4-10 girls at a regular gym for kids elementary through High school train year round with, at most a week or 2 off a couple of times a year where there are no scheduled workouts. And these are not collegiate gymnasts.

Man Lisa, god bless you. I have two neighbors who's daughters are in competitive gymnastics. OMG!!! I can't believe the amount of time they put in. I mean it's darn near Olympic type training.
One of the girls is in it because she wants to get into competitive CHEERLEADING.

When the heck did cheerleading even become competitive?? what the heck happen to "gimme a G", 'gimme an O" what's that spell???

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I see the difference in division 1 and division 2 but what the heck does being a she have to do with anything? Female athletes work just as hard as male. They practice just as many hours and just as much goes in to keeping their scholarship as does the males.

You seem to think that college male athletes are the only ones that have limited time and resources to find and keep employment. That is simply not true at all.

I think the main thing is that football tends to be the most profitable and physically demanding sport (my generalization, I could be wrong). There is no female equivilant.

My earlier generalization that seemed to offend you had that in mind when I responded. I believe the Gators (my Alma mater) are already in workouts. If they waited until August, they would never be ready. (I could be mistaken, but the Orange and Blue game that everyone looks forward to is the first time they can scrimmage. But my memory may be off as I do not follow football that closely.)

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Man Lisa, god bless you. I have two neighbors who's daughters are in competitive gymnastics. OMG!!! I can't believe the amount of time they put in. I mean it's darn near Olympic type training.
One of the girls is in it because she wants to get into competitive CHEERLEADING.

When the heck did cheerleading even become competitive?? what the heck happen to "gimme a G", 'gimme an O" what's that spell???

Oh sorry--didn't mean to imply my daughter is competitive. She never made or our of recreational. Just not her sport and she is wrapping that part of her life up next week. But I have spoken to lots of moms. It's crazy and I know there is no such thing as summers off for those girls.

 

[jrmasm]

I was thinking mostly football whose team members seem to be profited off the most except maybe for basketball.

And as someone posted--division I.

I think others commented that swim might be year round.

For gymnastics (as an example)--I cannot imagine a gymnast taking any time off in any division because they would not be ready when the season comes. I know the girls train 5 or 6 days a week for several hours at our gym. I often wonder how they manage homework. And this is elem, middle, and High school students. There really is no time for a job, though I'm sure a few may manage one somehow.

You said:

"At Division I schools, the summer is spent training. I'm sure that is the case for other divisions as well."

I responded to bolded.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

You said:

"At Division I schools, the summer is spent training. I'm sure that is the case for other divisions as well."

I responded to bolded.

With one sports person. I have explained myself.

You have a great day.

 

[jrmasm]

You quoted me. You bolded the statement about division I, not my comment about other divisions.
There are sports they don't take "summers" off. So while my generalization is just that, your daughter having the summer off is not indicative that all sports do.

Above I cited gymnastics. If that is your daughter's sport, I would be most impressed that she would be in competitive shape by September to prepare for the season. Our level 4-10 girls at a regular gym for kids elementary through High school train year round with, at most a week or 2 off a couple of times a year where there are no scheduled workouts. And these are not collegiate gymnasts.

You are correct, my mistake. I fixed it in a later post.

Not gymnastics, soccer. And they don't take the summer off. The kid has played year round since she was 7. Last summer (after she graduated) she did not average more than an hour or two a day of training. I do not anticipate this summer being any different. So again, plenty of time to work. Her friends that play D1 soccer work over the summer too.


But I guess know you and other are saying that only football and basketball players count. Ok, that's fine. I have no personal knowledge of how it works for those athletes but it still doesn't change my opinion.

 

[jrmasm]

I see the difference in division 1 and division 2 but what the heck does being a she have to do with anything? Female athletes work just as hard as male. They practice just as many hours and just as much goes in to keeping their scholarship as does the males.

You seem to think that college male athletes are the only ones that have limited time and resources to find and keep employment. That is simply not true at all.

No, the point that poster is trying to make is that people only pay money to watch boys play college sports.

But once you make it about revenue generating athletes, the arguement that they don't have time becomes a red herrring. Plenty of non reveue generating athletes are training and playing just as many hours as football and basketball players.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

You are correct, my mistake. I fixed it in a later post.

Not gymnastics, soccer. And they don't take the summer off. The kid has played year round since she was 7. Last summer (after she graduated) she did not average more than an hour or two a day of training. I do not anticipate this summer being any different. So again, plenty of time to work. Her friends that play D1 soccer work over the summer too.


But I guess know you and other are saying that only football and basketball players count. Ok, that's fine. I have no personal knowledge of how it works for those athletes but it still doesn't change my opinion.

No, I didn't say that at all.

However, wouldn't the decision have to be across the board?

So I would apply by opinion on the stipend plus cut of profits made from the likeness of an athlete across the board.

The reason for my opinion has more to do with athletes who have too demanding of a schedule to reasonably accommodate any employment
But your daughter would be permitted the same courtesy as an NCAA athlete. She likely would make less than a football player who has his name on souvenir shirts. But if she became a star whose image could be used for profit, I would expect she receive the same percent cut as a Division I Heisman winner.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

No, the point that poster is trying to make is that people only pay money to watch boys play college sports.

But once you make it about revenue generating athletes, the arguement that they don't have time becomes a red herrring. Plenty of non reveue generating athletes are training and playing just as many hours as football and basketball players.

Maybe. But as you stated, your daughter does not.

The revenue generation argument is the reason, but a break even or operate at a loss sport should have the same compensation structure (however they apportion to make if fair) for the very reason you state. Some do put in just as much time depending upon the sport and have the same income generation issue of not enough time for a job.

 

[EMAW_KSU]

I think most if not all of us advocating that athletes get paid are talking about Division I football and basketball where many colleges and the NCAA are pulling in 10's of millions of dollars on an athlete's ability. They should get a cut or at least be free to sell the likeness, autograph, etc. We are not talking about minor sports that don't make a profit.

No one would prevent a computer science major on a scholarship from selling his ideas to Microsoft or Apple would they? Then why are athletes different?

So you want the players paid based on profits? A football player at Texas would get paid while a football player at San Diego State would not.

A couple years ago the BCS conferences voted to allow a $2000 stipend to each athlete but it was voted down when it went to a full vote. $2000 is also the limit players are allowed to earn and least for NCAA 1-A