I play for the Lady Lions, so you can probably understand why my stance would be for student athletes getting paid for play. I’m not saying we should be paid wages or a salary, but instead in scholarships, one of the funds supporting our education.
People mainly see the glory of being a student athlete: being more involved in the university, playing for everybody to see, being a part of a team, but what most don’t know are the hours and hours of work that go into one game, let alone one season. My average week goes like this: Mondays-Fridays we have practice from 10 a.m. to around 11:45 a.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays weight training before practice, starting at 9 a.m. We also have fitness training on Friday before practice. We normally have classes around our soccer schedule, and many of our days end around 4:45 p.m. This is not including the extra training we do individually on the side to stay fit. And I’m only describing our off-season spring schedule; I didn’t even get into our fall, summer and preseason.
There are no such things as breaks; we need to constantly stay on top of our game if we want to continue to succeed, something we hold ourselves to religiously. On top of everything, we still have to perform well in school. It’s a juggling act that could sometimes get overwhelming, especially when you’re playing two games almost every weekend.
I could imagine the argument against paying student athletes:
“Well, you wanted to play in college. It’s something you want to do, so why do you need money if you enjoy it?”
First, we usually don’t have enough time in the day or even week to get an actual job. Our lives are centered solely around sports and school, so we rely on the scholarships to support us in both education and livelihood. Don’t get me wrong; I love playing soccer. I love waking up everyday and going to practice, but it’s not like high school sports. You don’t just show up, play and go home. You’re expected to go to every practice, every meeting, even some social events. You’re also expected to do well in school. Both your team and coach hold you accountable for this. So, you have about 23 people watching every step you take. Then, you have to schedule study time around all of this.
Without the financial aid we receive, many of us wouldn’t even be in college because we rely on scholarships to cover our tuition and even some of our living expenses such as rent. Scholarships help us to be able to play the sport we love for our university as well as get an education at the same time.
I don’t mean to complain, “Oh why me?” I love playing soccer, but it’s a job. It’s an extremely fun and fulfilling job, but still a job. All I’m saying is give us some credit. We work hard ,and we deserve something in return.