When the NCAA first began, it’s goal was mainly to ensure and regulate safety in the game of football, which even involved a debate on whether or not the sport should even be legal. As the NCAA evolved and encompassed more sports, the rules and goals changed. According to Laura Freedman, the purposes of the NCAA now is to:
“promote student-athletes and college sports through public awareness; [p]rotect student-athletes through standards of fairness and integrity; [p]repare student-athletes for lifetime leadership; [and p]rovide student- athletes and college sports with the funding to help meet these goals. Approximately fifty years after it’s original formation, the 1940 NCAA convention “authorized the NCAA Executive Committee to investigate the alleged violations of the NCAA’s amateurism regulations and to issue interpretations of the NCAA constitution.” The issue of amateurism, however, has been present since the NCAA’s establishment. (676)”
With this being the goal, the NCAA has created many regulations regarding amateurism, however, somehow those rules always seem to get broken. If student athletes were compensated many people such as “former NCAA Executive Director Richard Schultz commented that… a stipend may halt some of the illegal activity occurring in big time athletics, because athletes would be less desperate for ‘under the table’ compensation” (Schott 44). As the world of college sports continues to grow, so does illegal activity, but if a simple solution such as paying athletes could help eliminate this issue, many would agree it would be worth it.
“promote student-athletes and college sports through public awareness; [p]rotect student-athletes through standards of fairness and integrity; [p]repare student-athletes for lifetime leadership; [and p]rovide student- athletes and college sports with the funding to help meet these goals. Approximately fifty years after it’s original formation, the 1940 NCAA convention “authorized the NCAA Executive Committee to investigate the alleged violations of the NCAA’s amateurism regulations and to issue interpretations of the NCAA constitution.” The issue of amateurism, however, has been present since the NCAA’s establishment. (676)”
With this being the goal, the NCAA has created many regulations regarding amateurism, however, somehow those rules always seem to get broken. If student athletes were compensated many people such as “former NCAA Executive Director Richard Schultz commented that… a stipend may halt some of the illegal activity occurring in big time athletics, because athletes would be less desperate for ‘under the table’ compensation” (Schott 44). As the world of college sports continues to grow, so does illegal activity, but if a simple solution such as paying athletes could help eliminate this issue, many would agree it would be worth it.