“We will cheer you all the time, Go U Northwestern!
Break right through that line.
With our colors flying,
We will cheer you all the time”
It seems like now Northwestern football players have more to cheer about then just a winning game.
On Wednesday, the National Labor Board relations gave Northwestern University Football players the approval to form a union. Meaning, these athletes can get a full scholarship to school, get to play the sport they love and will soon be getting paid to do so.
Where should I sign up then? It seems like such a great idea on the surface but when I look at what this does as a whole to college athletics it makes me wonder if this was fully thought through.
The most obvious concern I have with this is that it singles out one sport to get paid for the physical work they do. What about the other sports and athletes that participate in them? Are their sports not as important?
The second concern I have is if this will take away from college player’s motivation.
The reason why college sports do so well, the reason why players play better in college in comparison to professionally, is because they have higher goals in mind.
If students are paid to play, then who’s to say they won’t get complacent of their athletic skills and stop aiming to be better?
Allowing students to get paid to play defeats the point of trying to go professional.
And what about the effect is has on scholarships? Depending on how much the students are paid, scholarships become a moot point of necessity. It can be argued that paying the students to play can take the stress of trying to juggle sports, school, and work off of the students.
Northwestern made a statement saying, “Northwestern believes strongly that our student-athletes are not employees, but students,” and along that line by paying the students it could make them better scholars and athletes.
I understand practice and games take time, but there are plenty of students who work full-time as well as go to school full time without any scholarships; while still participating in sports.
If we’re going to go on the route of being concerned about taking monetary stress off students, then paying select athletes of only certain sports doesn’t seem like the best way to go.
It’s been proven that athletes can do exceptionally well in school and show up to practice and games. If the NCAA is going to be paying for anything, it should be for things like players medical bills.
Not just for certain sports, but all of them. Although there are sports, like football, where the athletes are more easily hurt, athletes give blood, sweat, and tears in all sports and should be treated equally to that extent.
After looking at all this, I am against college athletes getting paid for playing sports, and I am definitely against this idea of forming a union for only select sports.
If we’re going to do something for our college students it needs to be done with the best interest of our entire student athletic body in mind and the intentions behind doing it have to be clear.
Northwestern Will Offer Scholarships and Pay Their Athletes
