Being a student athlete in college could be difficult when having to balance classes, work, practices and playing in games.
While they do more than the average student does, they should not be given pay for playing a sport.
Being on a sports team is a privilege. It is not a requirement for students to actively be a part of. Although there may be some who want to play it professionally after their education, there are those who want to participate simply to be active in their college community.
If students were given money for being on the team, the incentive to play might change from wanting to compete for the fun of it to a cash grab.
Another factor would be is when, how much and who gets paid. Do they get cash for all the practices and games they do or only the game they get to play in? Do they get a total sum once the season is over or after each practice?
Like any other job, what would happen if a player gets injured? Do they get compensated for all the games they don’t play because they were hurt “on the job” or lose out on pay for something that is out of their control? Questions like these can make payment difficult.
Tensions would rise between the players. What was once a team that played together and for each other has become a work environment. The pressure players would have to do well in each game would increase because money is what they’re essentially competing for. Rather than working for improvement, blame might be placed on each other for messing up certain plays or altogether losing a game.
While coaches do have more control than them, the power imbalance is usually equal. The coaches do teach, but they’re there to win the game just as much as the players. Everyone is there as a team against the other teams. However, if payment was involved the relationship between the players would become one where there are employees and bosses.
There are many organizations, such as clubs on campus that a majority of students put time and effort into. An argument could be why don’t they get paid for putting in the extra time simply because they don’t have any sporting abilities.
If everyone was compensated for doing more than the average of classes and homework, then most of Pierce would be considered employees. Another issue that would arise then would be where this money would be coming from. With the large deficit that Pierce is in, there is no money to be giving students a salary.
Students also don’t have the best spending habits. College students on the most part don’t know how to manage money, credit card debt and most don’t keep a stable budget. According to research in an article by U.S. News, about 83 percent of students at a two-year colleges check their bank account balances and 60 percent of those students use a budget.
Having this extra income without the hard work that comes with doing a traditional job, such as retail or customer service could lead to worst spending habits. Some may think to quit their other priorities because they’re getting money from doing sports.
College students should be on the team for the experience and the love of playing sports, not for the opportunity to get paid.
