How Much Is Too Much?

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An amateur is one who pursues an activity for pleasure instead of material gain (Morehead 33). A professional is one who engages in a sport for pay (Morehead 567). The definition of an amateur and a professional has one key difference: the word pay. Should student athletes be paid to play their sports? College athletes are amateurs who are playing a sport in which they have limited big time stage playing experience. College athletes are not professionals. Student athletes should not be paid to play their sports while attending college. Amateur student athletes are first and foremost in college to receive an education not for financial gains. Students become a professional once they graduate with a degree. The same concept applies with athletes playing sports in college. Playing a sport in college gives an athlete more training, knowledge and experience before moving on to play professionally at the next level. Student athletes should not be paid to do a job in which they have little high stakes experience in. When the athletes signed to play their sports in college, they knew playing a sport at the college level meant sacrificing certain opportunities. The athletes knew that playing at a college level would mean putting in numerous hours per day towards practicing, in addition to maintaining a certain grade point average (GPA) to remain eligible to play. Playing a sport in college also means not having the time to have a job. Student athletes are on a limited monetary budget just like most non-student athletes. However, non-student athletes have the liberty to earn additional income from jobs in their spare time. Even though non-student athletes have the advantage of obtaining a job, student athletes were aware of their financi... ... middle of paper ... ...resents further issues such as competitive disadvantage between universities, decline in team morale, and less profitability. Works Cited Morehead, Albert H., Loy Morehead, and Philip D. Morehead. The new American Webster handy college dictionary: includes abbreviations, geographical names, foreign words and phrases, forms of address, weights and measures, signs and symbols. 4th ed. New York: Signet, 2006. Print. " Should College Athletes Be Paid to Play?." Fool.com: Stock Investing Advice | Stock Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. . “Why student-athletes are not paid to play - NCAA.org." NCAA Public Home Page – NCAA.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. .

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