I have posted on this situtation before, and I believe that the NCAA graduate rule was one of the best that was implemented in the NCAA. College athletes are going to college to get an education– and if they have the opportunity to go on to graduate school and compete– they should be able to! Why do I bring this up? Well– the NCAA has gotten rid of the new rule with a 196-83 vote. My dad has also wrote about it on his blog.
Okay– here is the NCAA “Mission Statement” that is posted on their web site:
“Our purpose is to govern competition in a fair, safe, equitable and sportsmanlike manner, and to integrate intercollegiate athletics into higher education so that the educational experience of the student-athlete is paramount.”
I think that the NCAA needs to look at this– because I do not think that they are not following it.
The main people I believe that are behind this are the smaller schools who are afraid that their athletes are going to leave to go to a better university or program. What happened to universities trying to help their students excel in academics? I feel that these universities feel that their athletes are basically “owned” by them and they can’t leave if they want to. But what happens if a student-athlete graduates, has an extra year of eligibility, and wants to go to graduate school– but their current university doesn’t offer the program they want? What do they do? This rule would have helped these students– and the NCAA took this option away. Personally, I think that the NCAA forgot that athletes are first and foremost student-athletes.
When I heard about what the NCAA did to this rule, it really hit me. This rule gave me a second chance to have a great experience at USC. It allowed me to go to a great PR graduate program, while competing my last year of eligibility in track and field. I had a fantastic experience this past year as a graduate student as well as an athlete. I am really sad that other athletes now can’t have the same opporunities to advance their college education to have a better chance to succeed in the real world.
Part of the NCAA’s Core Values on their Mission Statement web site includes stating that they share the belief and commitment of “The pursuit of excellence in both academics and athletics.” A note to the NCAA– I think you need to reword your core values to state the previous statement, but add the phrase “unless they want to go on to graduate school at another university and the coaches and athletic administration who really don’t want the best for the athlete.”
The NCAA could have really made the Graduate ruling to promote a positive and upbeat image among student-athletes– it was a great rule to have for student-athletes to get a chance not only to get a Master’s degree, but a chance to be in a better athletic environment. But now with this recent development– I believe that the NCAA will see how this will play out negatively for not only all student-athletes, but for them as well.
0 Comments