By Mackie Chandler
Special to In Motion
Money is tight for college students, especially student-athletes, who have a hard time handling a budget. And in the United States, about 10 percent or 450,000 are student athletes, as estimated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Based on the sheer numbers of student-athletes and how much money many of them contribute to their college or university, critics say they deserve to get paid for their performance since they can’t hold a job. Not that they can’t get a job. NCAA rules prohibits them from working while playing a sport.
According to U.S. News & World Report, in 2013 the NCAA made $6 billion annually from the Final Four men and women’s basketball tournaments.
Coaches who don’t necessarily make it to the championship, but were in the tournament, are paid for their participation. Proponents of paying student-athletes argue that it is not just basketball players, but all athletes who risk injury, as well as coaches. But athletes jeopardize their future sporting careers any time at any given day. With the enormous amount of money pouring in to both the NCAA and individual colleges, come questions from those within the athletic industry as to why student-athletes are not being paid?
Daytona State baseball player Brian Brooker, 20, has his own perspective.
Brooker said, “I would consider baseball as a job absolutely. Just because baseball is just a sport and I am passionate about the game does not mean it isn’t hard work. The people that say baseball isn’t a job, it’s just a game, don’t realize all the behind-scenes work that goes into it.
“In the fall season we spent around seven hours a day on baseball-related things such as 6 a.m. lifting, school between the hours of 8 to noon, and practice from two to six.”
Brooker further explained that the average person does not realize how much time per week is put in by college athletes trying to better themselves at their sport, as well as in the classroom, especially those seeking difficult degrees.
From a coaches’ point of view, yes student-athletes put in a lot, but they get a lot in return.
“Some college sports create a lot of revenue, for instance football and basketball,” said DSC head softball coach Sabrina Manhart. “These two sports are on prime-time television bringing in the excitement and money. Other sports such as rowing or lacrosse might not have the same opportunity.”
As a head coach on campus and a former collegiate athlete, she knows both sides of the story. Manhart believes being a student-athlete is equivalent to having a job because technically, the College is paying for athletes’ education through its scholarship program.
It doesn’t stop there either. Two years ago, the Congressional Quarterly Researcher took on the topic. Founded in 1923, the CQ Researcher looks at controversial issues in the United States through a panel of experts who examine the pros, cons and future outlook for such dilemmas.
Its in-depth report concluded that high rates of return on college sports programs for the NCAA are such that many say they are getting rich, while college athletes’ scholarships fail to cover the true cost of school. Even New York Times columnist Joe Nocera has campaigned against the “glaring, and increasingly untenable discrepancy between what football and basketball players get and what everyone else in their food chain reaps.”
The NCAA counters that 90 percent of revenues goes to its member institutions. A large share is returned to schools and conferences participating in the March Madness tournament, but other programs support athletes more directly. In 2013, the article says, that included $73.5 million for a Student Assistance Fund, which makes money available to Division I athletes for costs associated with family emergencies, academic supplies, uncovered medical expenses, clothing and other expenses. The NCAA also provided another $25 million for academic support programs at Division I schools.
One of the largest revenue-sharing programs returned $188 million to schools in Division I for scholarship funds. The NCAA also spends another $63 million to support grants and services for college athletes at the Division II and III levels.
At DSC, assistance varies from athlete to athlete, but most get some sort of scholarship tuition reimbursement. Some teammates get tuition and books, while others get that, plus housing and meals. Scholarships come from the DSC Foundation, as well as the Falcon Athletic Association, which solicits donations ranging from the platinum ($500) to the bronze level ($50.)
Whether or not DSC’s players, or student-athletes in general, ever get paid, no one can argue with the success of the program, which focuses on academics as much as athletics. The cumulative GPA of the student athlete cohort is consistently high, reaching 3.4 in the 2014-2015 academic year and 3.34 in 2015-2016.
As Athletic Director Will Dunne points out, last year, “Our athletes proved once again that Daytona State’s philosophy of putting academics first is helping to prepare tomorrow’s leaders on and off the field. “
Among those academic honors were: National Academic Team of the Year (9th time) – Baseball (3.62 team GPA); National Academic Team of the Year (4th time) – Women’s Golf (3.90 team GPA, the highest in the NJCAA across all sports offerings); and FCSAA Male Academic Team of the Year – Baseball (10th consecutive.