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Sports in high school students'lives
Sports in high school students'lives
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The Disadvantages of Early Recruiting in Collegiate Athletics
Samantha is an 8th grader on a very competitive club volleyball team. Since she was ten years old, Samantha has been on a club team that travels to various national tournaments in hopes of being noticed by college recruiters. Because of Samantha’s physical features and athleticism at such a young age, she has been noticed by many major collegiate volleyball programs, and has been given verbal offers three times before entering high school. She has visited many schools unofficially and has attended many college camps in hopes to impress college coaches around the country. When Samantha was offered college scholarships she was given a deadline to verbally commit to the college which
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As young athletes compete in their respective sports, they have dreams of competing at the highest level for the biggest collegiate programs and potentially going to play sports professionally. Merwhirter writes in his article:“You’re losing the joy of it because all of a sudden its become too competitive, its all you think about” (Mewhirter, 2015 p.18). The recruiting world has evolved into a competition between young athletes and coaches. Furthermore, one can assume that athletes now recognize how early their friends and classmates are being recruited, and are taking any necessary actions in order for them to get recruited as well. As the competition rises between coaches and universities,, the effects are shown through the athlete as they start to lose their love for the sport. Coaches have to start recruiting athletes early in order to keep up with competing universities (Lee, 2016). Although most college coaches believe that extremely early recruiting is unethical, some college coaches believe it is the only way to find the best athletes to compete for their university (Lee, 2016). As college recruiting has evolved, coaches are forced to keep up with the upcoming trends of recruiting despite their view on early recruiting. As a result, athletes are made more susceptible to discrepancies that happen in early recruitment. The few coaches that recruit extremely early force other competing schools to take early action on those recruits because of the desire for top caliber athletes to compete for their program. This constant competition creates more bewilderment for the athletes and lack of clarity in where they will continue their education. Early recruiting in collegiate athletics should not be allowed because its turns into a competition between universities and
Most student-athletes grow up as very innocent lads bedecked with tremendous talents and become very promising in sports. Thus, they become rays of hope for their families, neighborhoods, and schools yet to be determined. Like the lamb in William Blake’s poem The Lamb, they are fed “by the stream & o’er the mead; gave…clothing of delight, softest clothing, wooly, bright…making all the vales rejoice.” (Smith 24) Then they are exposed to the life of hard work in which only the fittest survives. This makes them ready for the different challenges in the sports scene.
There are thousands of high school football players across the nation, and a handful of them have what it takes to play at the college level. Those that do have the raw talent normally get reached by college football recruiters and coaches. The NCAA, the National College Athletic Association, has many rules and regulations especially surrounding the rules and conduct of recruiting student athletes. Men's football takes the most notice, as well as basketball, of all collegiate sports in the U.S. today (Smith, 2015). According to Langelett (2003), the NCAA limits each school to 85 football scholarships. With a limited number of scholarships available, schools spend a considerable amount of time and money on recruiting players.
College athletes have a goal that they pursue. The jump to the professional sports leagues is an accomplishment that most college athletes wanted to achieve. But most college athletes go to college and forego completing their senior year and don’t get a degree. In basketball most athletes are one and done. This means they go to college for only one year then enter the NBA draft. For the NFL players have to be out of high school for three years and necessarily don’t have to go to college.
Almost all colleges have friendly classes or teachers that understand the stresses of the student athlete that has to practice and study. But they do not understand the young man or woman who works full time and is trying to make a better life for themselves. These teachers are selected by the coaches and ADs as the teaches to have. These friends of the program will make sure that a student is eligible to play. These teachers will also sometimes waive assignments and even allow slacked attendance. Were as when the average Joe misses he will loose credit and not be allowed to make up missed work.
College recruiting is something that was created for the good of college sports, but is often used for such unethical actions that will make anyone with a soul cringe. In 2004, University of Colorado’s athletic department used alcohol, drugs, and sex to lure recruits during official campus visits (Gerdy). These actions are immoral on a number of levels, and should not be tolerated. If this type of behavior continues to be seen in college sports, then serious changes need to be made. Illegal recruiting that takes place in NCAA athletics is unethical, gives colleges unfair advantages, and jeopardizes player’s eligibility.
When I was accepted into the University of Oklahoma, I was not aware of the tradition or prestige that the football team carried. Moreover, I had no idea about the honor it was to don the crimson and cream in the arena of athletics. And, I never envisioned rooming with them. I enjoyed sports, but I loved reading and writing more. Initially, I was focused on building a collegiate career that one day would propel me to my goal of studying law. Yet, the more time I spent interacting with the athletes, the more parallels I noticed between their personalities and mine. Their diligence, perseverance and compassion were all traits that I could identify with since they were reflective of me. For the most part, the majority of the athletes were hungry to achieve and they desired knowledge at all costs; a combination that still resonates with me today.
The story of Korleone Young is a saddening one. Korleone was one of the top high school basketball players in the nation while he was in high school. At all the summer basketball camps, he played above his high school peers. During his senior season he dominated all his team’s competition. He had every major Division I basketball program wanting to give him a full scholarship. All of the national powerhouses like Duke, North Carolina, Michigan State, and many more all recruited Korleone heavily. He also had another bug in his ear. The recent trend of high school stars like Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant skipping college to go to the pros appealed to him. He figured since he was a star he could skip college too. This was a big mistake. While his counterparts, Garnett and Bryant were drafted in the first round, Korleone fell to the second round. Once he got into camp he proved he was not ready for the physical style of play. After a couple seasons spent on injured reserve he is now out of the league.
Throughout the country young men and women are losing their priority for an education. To attend a university should be a highly cherished privilege, and it should be an even greater honor to play athletics for the university. Therefore, the writer supports the decision that the “student” comes before “athlete” in student-athlete. Playing for pay should be considered a job for “professionals”. In the rulebook, the NCAA views college athletes as armatures. This statement sums it up best. When athletes go to college, not all of them go in with the mindset that athletics is going to be their future job....
Paul Dietzel, former head coach of LSU, once said, “You can learn more character on the two-yard line than anywhere else in life.” Ever since the beginning, not only children but also college athletes have been playing sports for the love of the game and have used it as a way to grow character, teamwork, and leadership. Although when playing for a University an athletes job is to bring in profit for the school, this is not why these young men and women have continued with these sports they love. It is usually these students passion, a way for them to express themselves like others have art and music. The question has been up whether these college athletes should be paid for their loyalty and income for the University but by paying these students more than their given scholarship, it would defeat the purpose and environment of a college sport versus a professional sport, cause recruiting disputes, and affect the colleges benefits from these school athletics.
College athletes are manipulated every day. Student athletes are working day in and day out to meet academic standards and to keep their level of play competitive. These athletes need to be rewarded and credited for their achievements. Not only are these athletes not being rewarded but they are also living with no money. Because the athletes are living off of no money they are very vulnerable to taking money from boosters and others that are willing to help them out. The problem with this is that the athletes are not only getting themselves in trouble but their athletic departments as well.
College is a time for young people to develop and grow not only in their education, but social aspects as well. One of the biggest social scenes found around college campuses are athletic events, but where would these college sports be without their dedicated athletes? Student athletes get a lot of praise for their achievements on the field, but tend to disregard the work they accomplish in the classroom. Living in a college environment as a student athlete has a great deal of advantages as well as disadvantages that affect education and anti-intellectualism. Around the country, college athletic programs are pushing their athletes more and more every day.
“The odds of a high school basketball player making it to the “next level” to play college basketball (DI, II, or III) is slim. In fact, only 3.4% of high school players go on to play college basketball. Taking it even further, only 1.2% of college basketball players go on to get drafted in the NBA” (Winters, 2016). There are two types of players in the game. There are the kids who play basketball because they are athletic, and all they are seeking to gain is the recognition and awards. They want to be known. Those players are self-centered, they do not play for the team, and generally don’t play because they love the game. These are the types of players who don’t usually go on to play at the next level. On the other hand, there are the players that absolutely dedicate their life to the game of basketball just because they love the game. That is what coaches are looking for in a player, and that is the kind of player I am striving to be.
Since colleges started to compete against each other in the 19th century, competition between them has grown rapidly. Recruiting is the greatest example as schools will give so much for the athlete that’ll bring championships. Schools are willing to forfeit millions of dollars for full ride scholarships. In return the athlete is to give his best on and off the field of play. The athlete would do this for four or maybe three years and if talented enough he or she would then pursue a professional career in the sport. This way of play would less until the end of the 20th century. Players would only play one year and would then go into a the pros. This new style- which is prominent in basketball- led to a new way of recruiting. A program would either embrace it or reject the coined term one and done athlete.
For decades there has been a debate on student athletes and their drive to succeed in the classroom. From the very beginning of organized college level athletics, the goal to want to succeed in athletics has forced students to put academics to the back burner. In spite of the goal to want to succeed over a hundred years of attempts to check limits of intercollegiate athletic programs on colleges' academic standards still seems to struggle to this day. This brings to surface one of the most asked questions in sports, “What effect does college sports have on academics and economics?” Herbert D. Simons, Derek Van Rheenen, and Martin V. Covington, authors of “Academic Motivation and the Student Athlete” researched the topic on whether athletics and academics benefit each other. Bryan Flynn, the author of “College Sports vs. Academics” poses the question “Should institutions of higher learning continue to involve themselves in athletic programs that often turn out to be virtual arms races for recruiting talented players who bring big money and prestige, but put academics to the back burner?” Although both authors agree that sports have an impact on an athlete’s academics, the focus of their argument differs.
Why is this so problematic within the sport industry? The individual getting drafted out of college after two years is not necessarily a problem, for the problem lies within the school itself. As a huge sports fan I have seen multiple cases on student athletes being associated with fake classes, as well as just receiving an A allowing them to compete on the field. This becomes a huge