Should College Athletes Receive Pay?- Sarah Anne Semke

In looking into research topics for this project I want to make sure I find something that not only interests me but also something relevant to my classmates and/or society in general. If I come up with something current and potentially controversial I can have more resources and more opinions to pull from. A topic I believe is very relevant and controversial is whether or not college athletes should be allowed to be paid for doing commercials or have a company sponsor them. With National Signing day occurring just recently, it made me realize how much pressure and expectations there are on Division One athletes. I am aware that there are valid reasons why athletes should not be paid. They are student athletes, the student aspect comes first in the phrase for a reason, they are in college to receive and education first and secondly to excel in their sport. Allowing student athletes to get paid by national companies could cloud a student athletes purpose at the university. Also, if they are working with a company filming a commercial or making appearances they may miss a lot of classes and practices thus hindering their academic success and hindering team practice time. If a young athlete is spending vital training time taking pictures from Under  Armour or Nike, how can they improve more to become even more impressive on the professional level. While those are all incredibly valid reasons against college athletes getting paid or sponsored, there are just as many reasons why an athlete should be allowed to get paid or sponsored by companies. When a dominant athlete is attending college and playing a sport they are more of a role model than ever. Putting focused athletic and academic players in the media could be a fantastic way to motivate children of all ages to work hard in all they do. Being able to get sponsored or paid in college may be a reason why some athletes would stay in college early rather than not finish college in order to enter the professional level of their sport. There are some sports that require incredible focus and athleticism that do not have a professional field and college is as far as they will go with their sport (ie lacrosse, swimming, cross country). These athletes should have the opportunity to share their passion and drive with the public while they are playing their sport. There are many views and opinions on this subject and I feel like it will make an enticing topic for my research paper.