Hi, my name is Kevin Jennings. College athletes who go to school on scholarship are living the life. I know this because I am one myself. I play football at the University of South Carolina. I hear about the pay to play debate all the time at the school. You want to know something, it is usually the non-athletes who are the ones fighting for athlete compensation. Cooper states “athletes attend college as a privilege and are provided the unique opportunity to earn a degree and at the same time compete in intercollegiate athletics” and that is exactly the way we all feel about it too. Sure a journalist may be able to find a player who feels he needs more compensation every now and then, but they are outliers. We all feel blessed enough to be given the chance to play the sport we love at such a high level of competition while going to school for free.
Many people do not realize that tuition is not the only thing universities provide us with. We are given “clothes, dental work, access to tutors, computers and transportation,” and a monthly stipend on top of all of that (Ford). According to Ford, “It is not a pay for play. The NCAA sees this as an investment for [their] student athletes in a college education." We work so much during the school year between football and school that there is no time for me to spend all that stipend money, so essentially I am being paid by the university to play football for all those out there who feel like athletes deserve more compensation. The fact of the matter is, we already receive more than I could have ever hoped for and have never felt taken advantage of at any point during my time here at South Carolina.
Working classes into my busy schedule can be tough at times. However, there are definitely solutions to working around football games and practices. I might have to “postpone taking [a certain] course until summer or the team could take an NCAA-mandated day off,” but the coaching staff always finds time to give us to stay caught up on our academics (Cooper).
Word count: 367
Many people do not realize that tuition is not the only thing universities provide us with. We are given “clothes, dental work, access to tutors, computers and transportation,” and a monthly stipend on top of all of that (Ford). According to Ford, “It is not a pay for play. The NCAA sees this as an investment for [their] student athletes in a college education." We work so much during the school year between football and school that there is no time for me to spend all that stipend money, so essentially I am being paid by the university to play football for all those out there who feel like athletes deserve more compensation. The fact of the matter is, we already receive more than I could have ever hoped for and have never felt taken advantage of at any point during my time here at South Carolina.
Working classes into my busy schedule can be tough at times. However, there are definitely solutions to working around football games and practices. I might have to “postpone taking [a certain] course until summer or the team could take an NCAA-mandated day off,” but the coaching staff always finds time to give us to stay caught up on our academics (Cooper).
Word count: 367
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