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Student athletes work hard for their money
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At Boise State, scholarship athletes are challenged inside the athletic arena as well as inside the classroom each and every day. They are expected to maintain a full academic course load, excel in their sport and dutifully represent their institution as some of the most visible ambassadors for the university.
David Mikell, a junior running back on the Bronco football team said it’s frustrating that despite such efforts, people maintain the idea that athletes ‘have it easy.’
“We worked hard to get where we are, and we are working even harder to keep what we have,” Mikell said.
Athletes train about 20 hours per week during their seasons. These 20 hours do not include taping and training room treatments, travel, community service or fund-raising efforts.
Although various sports place different expectations on their respective athletes, one thing remains constant – training does not end when the season does. Off-season workouts can be just as intense, if not more so, than in-season training.
This February, while the Bronco faithful are still reveling in the 2002 Humanitarian Bowl win over Iowa State, the team will start 5:45 a.m. workouts. During spring ball, roughly six months before the 2003 season opener, the team will begin practicing four days a week. This doesn’t even touch on two-a-days, which last for two excruciating weeks in August, when players’ days extend from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Aside from the athletic requirements placed on scholarship athletes, academic criteria must also be met in order to maintain their scholarships. Student athletes must be enrolled as full-time students both fall and spring semesters, and they are required to pass a minimum of 24 credit hours per year, in order to remain eligible for competition.
A full scholarship pays tuition and fees, room and board and course-required books. If an athlete chooses to live outside the residence halls, they are given a monthly check of $464. That is expected to cover their rent, bills and food. None of this takes into consideration the average everyday living expenses that college students incur.
Despite this, scholarship freshman are forbidden by NCAA rules to work while other scholarship athletes are limited to earning $2,000 per school year.
The excessive obligations placed on athletes, both physically and academically, prevent most from working during the school year. Time won’t allow it, even if the NCAA did. Mikell said that makes it tough, because the money doesn’t go very far.
“It’s hard to live off of $464 a month. Most of that goes to rent, bills and food. By that time your money is more than gone. Most people have to get money from their parents, but we are all pretty much broke all the time,” Mikell said.
Bryan Defares, a junior guard on the men’s basketball team, agreed that it’s very hard to live off of monthly scholarship money. He said that all the athletes he knows get help from somewhere, if not from family, then from financial aid.
Defares said that maintaining stability on and off the court is very difficult. He said that road trips place added stress on the academic end of things, as athletes are forced to miss class, therefore missing in-class notes and group projects. Defares said that the key is to balance both.
“Balancing your time to do your school work is critical. If you don’t have balance off the court, you won’t have it on the court. Stress off the court leads to bad plays on the court,” Defares said.
As far as scholarship athletes having it easy, Defares said being a full-time student athlete is hard work. He said that just because they love what they do doesn’t invalidate it. Defares said that scholarship athletes put in hours of work, just like a job.
“The only thing that makes it easier is the love for the game,” Defares said.
In addition to athletic and academic requirements placed on student-athletes, they also fill another important role on behalf of the university. Every week student-athletes are out in the community reading to grade school students, sending anti-drug messages to school kids, volunteering at athletic events and raising money for the university.
Gymnastics coach Sam Sandmire said this is a huge responsibility.
“The amount of fund raising and community service Boise State University student-athletes perform cannot be underestimated,” Sandmire said.
Sandmire said by representing the university, student athletes also maintain one of their most important functions – their inherent placement as community role models.
“It is especially important for young girls to see competent college women competing, because female athletes do not receive as much coverage as males in most professional sports,” Sandmire said.
Student athletes compete in front of their peers and community, in addition to being seen on local and even national television. They provide name-recognition for their school. In that respect, Sandmire said that student athletes are invaluable representatives of their institution.
Sandmire said that although scholarship student-athletes gain much from their experience, they also give back a lot to the university and to the community.
What’s good for the university’s athletic programs is good for the university. As of yet, 30,000 people have converged to watch a kid take a math test, but the whole nation watched as the Broncos beat Iowa State in the Humanitarian Bowl.
Case in point, Sandmire said, “ESPN’s coverage of the H-Bowl was a three-hour commercial for Boise State.”
Andrea Trujillo, The Arbiter
