I’ve had some interesting discussions regarding what it means to be a college athlete these days. If you’re not aware, a college athlete gets a scholarship to attend college and play a sport in exchange.
Part of the agreement is that they cannot accept gifts or any other compensation from anyone during their college career.
I get frustrated when college athletes leave school early to pursue a professional career in the NFL, NBA or MLB. I get frustrated because I think they’re throwing away the opportunity for a great education at their school. The more I think about it though, if I were in their position, would I turn down the opportunity to immediately cash-in on a sports contract, or wait to finish school and risk injuring myself as I finished my college career.
What if the scenario could change, what if a college recruited athletes to play for their team? Their “scholarship” would be a voucher that could be exchanged to pursue their education. So, a “student athlete” could play four years for a college in exchange for the ability to come back to that school and get their education at any time.
Then, an athlete could capitalize on their athletic skills in the prime of their lives and focus on their “career” as an athlete. Then, when they go injured or decided to retire from professional sports they could return to school, all expenses paid and then focus on their education.