Student athletes, something that seemingly every college student has some sort of opinion on is a topic that is very near and dear to me. I have played soccer at both a NJCAA and D1 level in college. In the years that I have played in college the athletic portion alone was a full-time job. Not only do student athletes have a full course load, but we are daily required to spend anywhere between two to eight hours on our sport practicing, training, travel, and/or playing a game. And a quality student athlete is a marketing boom to the university!
In one of my classes my junior year I will never forget this girls comment about how student athletes have it so easy, and how teachers just grade so much easier on them and they have all these advantages. Yes, teachers may be a little easier on us with exceptions and have extended deadlines, but that’s because we are missing at least 50% of classes a week due to traveling for away games. In addition to that, mandatory study hall is assigned to people who don’t have above a 3.0 GPA. At the end of the day student-athletes are representing the school more than just a normal student. We are in the public eye, if you are a successful team everyone is watching you even more carefully. Johnny Manzel is a great example of this. He was making bad decisions, and because of social media these decisions were being seen by millions of people at a very fast rate.
Not only do student-athletes have all that against them when it comes to their education, but now social media is another thing that has to be used with caution. College recruiters go onto high school students social media that they are interested in recruiting to see if they are someone that they want representing not only their athletic department, but also their school. There are high school students that have had offers taken away from them for talking about woman in a degrading way, or drugs and alcohol. There are some sports programs at college that don’t allow their players to even tweet, that’s how much social media escalates things.
Social media is a great thing for companies; it can make more sales, get consumers to really know a brand. However, just like everything else in life, there are always downfalls to things.
Just Kicking It,
Kristina