The History Of College Athletics

Swindling All-Stars

The topic of college athletics has always been very prominent in the news. Most recently, members of the Northwestern University football team have joined together to start the first college sports union (Novy-Williams & Soshnick, 2014). Their goal is to obtain control over their collegiate athletic career, including what they believe are long overdue financial benefits. This case has reopened the longstanding debate concerning whether or not college athletes should be paid.

The History of College Athletics

The Beginning of College Athletics

College athletics began specifically as a “leisure” activity (Sack & Staurowsky, 1998, p. 3). Today, college athletics is far from its humble beginnings of over a hundred years ago. It wasn’t until 1906 that the National Collegiate Athletic Association, referred to as the NCAA, was created. Football violence was the main reason the NCAA was formed; however, eligibility rules and amateurism were also top priority issues. The consensus of the NCAA was that college sports should be for student amateurs only. In 1916, the NCAA formally defined the term amateur athlete in article VI(b) of their bylaws stating that “an amateur is one who participates in competitive physical sports only for the pleasure, and the physical, mental, moral, and social benefits directly derived therefrom” (Sack & Staurowsky, 1998, p. 34). In 1922, this definition was amended to include the statement “to whom the sport is nothing more than avocation” which means nothing more than a hobby (Sack & Staurowsky, 1998, p. 35). As time passed, college sports became much more than a hobby to the athletes and to the colleges. As many colleges began seeing huge profits from athletic events, the NCA...

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...lleran, 2013). If athletes were paid, they may no longer be considered amateurs which may affect how people view college sports. Finally, if athletes were paid, they may have a difficult time seeing themselves as students and abiding by all the school, team, and league rules.

Conclusion

The topic of whether or not to pay college athletes has been one of debate for many years. Although it will be quite difficult to implement a payment system for college athletes, with many legal and ethical issues to consider, the facts show that it is long overdue. These college athletes, who give their heart and soul to their teams, are being exploited when millions of dollars are made each year and they cannot afford to buy toothpaste. It is time for the NCAA and the colleges to correct this mistake and compensate these student athletes in a way that is fair to all involved.