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The argumentative essay is one of the most frequently assigned types of essays in both high school and college writing-based courses. Instructors often ask students to write argumentative essays over topics that have “real-world relevance.” The question, “Should college athletes be paid?” is one of these real-world relevant topics that can make a great essay subject! 

In this article, we’ll give you all the tools you need to write a solid essay arguing why college athletes should be paid and why college athletes should not be paid. We'll provide:

• An explanation of the NCAA and what role it plays in the lives of student athletes
• A summary of the pro side of the argument that's in favor of college athletes being paid
• A summary of the con side of the argument that believes college athletes shouldn't be paid
• Five tips that will help you write an argumentative essay that answers the question "Should college athletes be paid?" 

The NCAA is the organization that oversees and regulates collegiate athletics. 

What Is the NCAA? 

In order to understand the context surrounding the question, “Should student athletes be paid?”, you have to understand what the NCAA is and how it relates to student-athletes. 

NCAA stands for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (but people usually just call it the “N-C-double-A”). The NCAA is a nonprofit organization that serves as the national governing body for collegiate athletics. 

The NCAA specifically regulates collegiate student athletes at the organization’s 1,098 “member schools.” Student-athletes at these member schools are required to follow the rules set by the NCAA for their academic performance and progress while in college and playing sports. Additionally, the NCAA sets the rules for each of their recognized sports to ensure everyone is playing by the same rules. ( They also change these rules occasionally, which can be pretty controversial! ) 

The NCAA website states that the organization is “dedicated to the well-being and lifelong success of college athletes” and prioritizes their well-being in academics, on the field, and in life beyond college sports. That means the NCAA sets some pretty strict guidelines about what their athletes can and can't do. And of course, right now, college athletes can't be paid for playing their sport. 

As it stands, NCAA athletes are allowed to receive scholarships that cover their college tuition and related school expenses. But historically, they haven't been allowed to receive additional compensation. That meant athletes couldn't receive direct payment for their participation in sports in any form, including endorsement deals, product sponsorships, or gifts.  

Athletes who violated the NCAA’s rules about compensation could be suspended from participating in college sports or kicked out of their athletic program altogether. 

The Problem: Should College Athletes Be Paid? 

You know now that one of the most well-known functions of the NCAA is regulating and limiting the compensation that student-athletes are able to receive. While many people might not question this policy, the question of why college athletes should be paid or shouldn't be paid has actually been a hot-button topic for several years.

The fact that people keep asking the question, “Should student athletes be paid?” indicates that there’s some heat out there surrounding this topic. The issue is frequently debated on sports talk shows , in the news media , and on social media . Most recently, the topic re-emerged in public discourse in the U.S. because of legislation that was passed by the state of California in 2019.

In September 2019, California governor Gavin Newsom signed a law that allowed college athletes in California to strike endorsement deals. An endorsement deal allows athletes to be paid for endorsing a product, like wearing a specific brand of shoes or appearing in an advertisement for a product.

In other words, endorsement deals allow athletes to receive compensation from companies and organizations because of their athletic talent. That means Governor Newsom’s bill explicitly contradicts the NCAA’s rules and regulations for financial compensation for student-athletes at member schools.

But why would Governor Newsom go against the NCAA? Here’s why: the California governor believes that it's unethical for the NCAA to make money based on the unpaid labor of its athletes . And the NCAA definitely makes money: each year, the NCAA upwards of a billion dollars in revenue as a result of its student-athlete talent, but the organization bans those same athletes from earning any money for their talent themselves. With the new California law, athletes would be able to book sponsorships and use agents to earn money, if they choose to do so. 

The NCAA’s initial response to California’s new law was to push back hard. But after more states introduced similar legislation , the NCAA changed its tune. In October 2019, the NCAA pledged to pass new regulations when the board voted unanimously to allow student athletes to receive compensation for use of their name, image, and likeness. 

Simply put: student athletes can now get paid through endorsement deals. 

In the midst of new state legislation and the NCAA’s response, the ongoing debate about paying college athletes has returned to the spotlight. Everyone from politicians, to sports analysts, to college students are arguing about it. There are strong opinions on both sides of the issue, so we’ll look at how some of those opinions can serve as key points in an argumentative essay.

Let's take a look at the arguments in favor of paying student athletes!

The Pros: Why College Athletes Should B e Paid

Since the argument about whether college athletes should be paid has gotten a lot of public attention, there are some lines of reasoning that are frequently called upon to support the claim that college athletes should be paid. 

In this section, we'll look at the three biggest arguments in favor of why college athletes should be paid. We'll also give you some ideas on how you can support these arguments in an argumentative essay.

Argument 1: The Talent Should Receive Some of the Profits

This argument on why college athletes should be paid is probably the one people cite the most. It’s also the easiest one to support with facts and evidence. 

Essentially, this argument states that the NCAA makes millions of dollars because people pay to watch college athletes compete, and it isn’t fair that the athletes don't get a share of the profits

Without the student athletes, the NCAA wouldn’t earn over a billion dollars in annual revenue , and college and university athletic programs wouldn’t receive hundreds of thousands of dollars from the NCAA each year. In fact, without student athletes, the NCAA wouldn’t exist at all. 

Because student athletes are the ones who generate all this revenue, people in favor of paying college athletes argue they deserve to receive some of it back. Otherwise, t he NCAA and other organizations (like media companies, colleges, and universities) are exploiting a bunch of talented young people for their own financial gain.

To support this argument in favor of paying college athletes, you should include specific data and revenue numbers that show how much money the NCAA makes (and what portion of that actually goes to student athletes). For example, they might point out the fact that the schools that make the most money in college sports only spend around 10% of their tens of millions in athletics revenue on scholarships for student-athletes. Analyzing the spending practices of the NCAA and its member institutions could serve as strong evidence to support this argument in a “why college athletes should be paid” essay. 

I've you've ever been a college athlete, then you know how hard you have to train in order to compete. It can feel like a part-time job...which is why some people believe athletes should be paid for their work!

Argument 2: College Athletes Don’t Have Time to Work Other Jobs

People sometimes casually refer to being a student-athlete as a “full-time job.” For many student athletes, this is literally true. The demands on a student-athlete’s time are intense. Their days are often scheduled down to the minute, from early in the morning until late at night. 

One thing there typically isn’t time for in a student-athlete’s schedule? Working an actual job. 

Sports programs can imply that student-athletes should treat their sport like a full-time job as well. This can be problematic for many student-athletes, who may not have any financial resources to cover their education. (Not all NCAA athletes receive full, or even partial, scholarships!) While it may not be expressly forbidden for student-athletes to get a part-time job, the pressure to go all-in for your team while still maintaining your eligibility can be tremendous. 

In addition to being a financial burden, the inability to work a real job as a student-athlete can have consequences for their professional future. Other college students get internships or other career-specific experience during college—opportunities that student-athletes rarely have time for. When they graduate, proponents of this stance argue, student-athletes are under-experienced and may face challenges with starting a career outside of the sports world.

Because of these factors, some argue that if people are going to refer to being a student-athlete as a “full-time job,” then student-athletes should be paid for doing that job.  

To support an argument of this nature, you can offer real-life examples of a student-athlete’s daily or weekly schedule to show that student-athletes have to treat their sport as a full-time job. For instance, this Twitter thread includes a range of responses from real student-athletes to an NCAA video portraying a rose-colored interpretation of a day in the life of a student-athlete. 

Presenting the Twitter thread as one form of evidence in an essay would provide effective support for the claim that college athletes should be paid as if their sport is a “full-time job.” You might also take this stance in order to claim that if student-athletes aren’t getting paid, we must adjust our demands on their time and behavior.

Argument 3: Only Some Student Athletes Should Be Paid

This take on the question, “Should student athletes be paid?” sits in the middle ground between the more extreme stances on the issue. There are those who argue that only the student athletes who are big money-makers for their university and the NCAA should be paid.  

The reasoning behind this argument? That’s just how capitalism works. There are always going to be student-athletes who are more talented and who have more media-magnetizing personalities. They’re the ones who are going to be the face of athletic programs, who lead their teams to playoffs and conference victories, and who are approached for endorsement opportunities. 

Additionally, some sports don't make money for their schools. Many of these sports fall under Title IX, which states that no one can be excluded from participation in a federally-funded program (including sports) because of their gender or sex. Unfortunately, many of these programs aren't popular with the public , which means they don't make the same revenue as high-dollar sports like football or basketball . 

In this line of thinking, since there isn’t realistically enough revenue to pay every single college athlete in every single sport, the ones who generate the most revenue are the only ones who should get a piece of the pie. 

To prove this point, you can look at revenue numbers as well. For instance, the womens' basketball team at the University of Louisville lost $3.8 million dollars in revenue during the 2017-2018 season. In fact, the team generated less money than they pay for their coaching staff. In instances like these, you might argue that it makes less sense to pay athletes than it might in other situations (like for University of Alabama football, which rakes in over $110 million dollars a year .) 

There are many people who think it's a bad idea to pay college athletes, too. Let's take a look at the opposing arguments. 

The Cons: Why College Athletes Shouldn't Be Paid

People also have some pretty strong opinions about why college athletes shouldn't be paid. These arguments can make for a pretty compelling essay, too! 

In this section, we'll look at the three biggest arguments against paying college athletes. We'll also talk about how you can support each of these claims in an essay. 

Argument 1: College Athletes Already Get Paid

On this side of the fence, the most common reason given for why college athletes should not be paid is that they already get paid: they receive free tuition and, in some cases, additional funding to cover their room, board, and miscellaneous educational expenses. 

Proponents of this argument state that free tuition and covered educational expenses is compensation enough for student-athletes. While this money may not go straight into a college athlete's pocket, it's still a valuable resource . Considering most students graduate with nearly $30,000 in student loan debt , an athletic scholarship can have a huge impact when it comes to making college affordable . 

Evidence for this argument might look at the financial support that student-athletes receive for their education, and compare those numbers to the financial support that non-athlete students receive for their schooling. You can also cite data that shows the real value of a college tuition at certain schools. For example, student athletes on scholarship at Duke may be "earning" over $200,000 over the course of their collegiate careers. 

This argument works to highlight the ways in which student-athletes are compensated in financial and in non-financial ways during college , essentially arguing that the special treatment they often receive during college combined with their tuition-free ride is all the compensation they have earned.

Some people who are against paying athletes believe that compensating athletes will lead to amateur athletes being treated like professionals. Many believe this is unfair and will lead to more exploitation, not less. 

Argument 2: Paying College Athletes Would Side-Step the Real Problem

Another argument against paying student athletes is that college sports are not professional sports , and treating student athletes like professionals exploits them and takes away the spirit of amateurism from college sports . 

This stance may sound idealistic, but those who take this line of reasoning typically do so with the goal of protecting both student-athletes and the tradition of “amateurism” in college sports. This argument is built on the idea that the current system of college sports is problematic and needs to change, but that paying student-athletes is not the right solution. 

Instead, this argument would claim that there is an even better way to fix the corrupt system of NCAA sports than just giving student-athletes a paycheck. To support such an argument, you might turn to the same evidence that’s cited in this NPR interview : the European model of supporting a true minor league system for most sports is effective, so the U.S. should implement a similar model. 

In short: creating a minor league can ensure athletes who want a career in their sport get paid, while not putting the burden of paying all collegiate athletes on a university. 

Creating and supporting a true professional minor league would allow the students who want to make money playing sports to do so. Universities could then confidently put earned revenue from sports back into the university, and student-athletes wouldn’t view their college sports as the best and only path to a career as a professional athlete. Those interested in playing professionally would be able to pursue this dream through the minor leagues instead, and student athletes could just be student athletes. 

The goal of this argument is to sort of achieve a “best of both worlds” solution: with the development and support of a true minor league system, student-athletes would be able to focus on the foremost goal of getting an education, and those who want to get paid for their sport can do so through the minor league. Through this model, student-athletes’ pursuit of their education is protected, and college sports aren’t bogged down in ethical issues and logistical hang-ups. 

Argument 3: It Would Be a Logistical Nightmare

This argument against paying student athletes takes a stance on the basis of logistics. Essentially, this argument states that while the current system is flawed, paying student athletes is just going to make the system worse. So until someone can prove that paying collegiate athletes will fix the system, it's better to maintain the status quo. 

Formulating an argument around this perspective basically involves presenting the different proposals for how to go about paying college athletes, then poking holes in each proposed approach. Such an argument would probably culminate in stating that the challenges to implementing pay for college athletes are reason enough to abandon the idea altogether. 

Here's what we mean. One popular proposed approach to paying college athletes is the notion of “pay-for-play.” In this scenario, all college athletes would receive the same weekly stipend to play their sport . 

In this type of argument, you might explain the pay-for-play solution, then pose some questions toward the approach that expose its weaknesses, such as: Where would the money to pay athletes come from? How could you pay athletes who play certain sports, but not others? How would you avoid Title IX violations? Because there are no easy answers to these questions, you could argue that paying college athletes would just create more problems for the world of college sports to deal with.

Posing these difficult questions may persuade a reader that attempting to pay college athletes would cause too many issues and lead them to agree with the stance that college athletes should not be paid. 

5 Tips for Writing About Paying College Athletes

If you’re assigned the prompt “Should college athletes be paid," don't panic. There are several steps you can take to write an amazing argumentative essay about the topic! We've broken our advice into five helpful tips that you can use to persuade your readers (and ace your assignment).

Tip 1: Plan Out a Logical Structure for Your Essay

In order to write a logical, well-organized argumentative essay, one of the first things you need to do is plan out a structure for your argument. Using a bare-bones argumentative outline for a “why college athletes should be paid” essay is a good place to start. 

Check out our example of an argumentative essay outline for this topic below: 

• The thesis statement must communicate the topic of the essay: Whether college athletes should be paid, and 
• Convey a position on that topic: That college athletes should/ should not be paid, and 
• State a couple of defendable, supportable reasons why college athletes should be paid (or vice versa).
• Support Point #1 with evidence
• Explain/interpret the evidence with your own, original commentary 
• Support Point #2 with evidence
• Explain/interpret the evidence with your own, original commentary
• Support Point #3 with evidence
• New body paragraph addressing opposing viewpoints
• Concluding paragraph

This outline does a few things right. First, it makes sure you have a strong thesis statement. Second, it helps you break your argument down into main points (that support your thesis, of course). Lastly, it reminds you that you need to both include evidence and explain your evidence for each of your argumentative points. 

While you can go off-book once you start drafting if you feel like you need to, having an outline to start with can help you visualize how many argumentative points you have, how much evidence you need, and where you should insert your own commentary throughout your essay. 

Remember: the best argumentative essays are organized ones! 

Tip 2: Create a Strong Thesis 

T he most important part of the introduction to an argumentative essay claiming that college athletes should/should not be paid is the thesis statement. You can think of a thesis like a backbone: your thesis ties all of your essay parts together so your paper can stand on its own two feet! 

So what does a good thesis look like? A solid thesis statement in this type of argumentative essay will convey your stance on the topic (“Should college athletes be paid?”) and present one or more supportable reasons why you’re making this argument. 

With these goals in mind, here’s an example of a thesis statement that includes clear reasons that support the stance that college athletes should be paid: 

Because the names, image, and talents of college athletes are used for massive financial gain, college athletes should be able to benefit from their athletic career in the same way that their universities do by getting endorsements. 

Here's a thesis statement that takes the opposite stance--that college athletes shouldn’t be paid --and includes a reason supporting that stance: 

In order to keep college athletics from becoming over-professionalized, compensation for college athletes should be restricted to covering college tuition and related educational expenses.

Both of these sample thesis statements make it clear that your essay is going to be dedicated to making an argument: either that college athletes should be paid, or that college athletes shouldn’t be paid. They both convey some reasons why you’re making this argument that can also be supported with evidence. 

Your thesis statement gives your argumentative essay direction . Instead of ranting about why college athletes should/shouldn’t be paid in the remainder of your essay, you’ll find sources that help you explain the specific claim you made in your thesis statement. And a well-organized, adequately supported argument is the kind that readers will find persuasive!

Tip 3: Find Credible Sources That Support Your Thesis

In an argumentative essay, your commentary on the issue you’re arguing about is obviously going to be the most fun part to write. But great essays will cite outside sources and other facts to help substantiate their argumentative points. That's going to involve—you guessed it!—research. 

For this particular topic, the issue of whether student athletes should be paid has been widely discussed in the news media (think The New York Times , NPR , or ESPN ). 

For example, this data reported by the NCAA shows a breakdown of the gender and racial demographics of member-school administration, coaching staff, and student athletes. These are hard numbers that you could interpret and pair with the well-reasoned arguments of news media writers to support a particular point you’re making in your argument. 

Though this may seem like a topic that wouldn’t generate much scholarly research, it’s worth a shot to check your library database for peer-reviewed studies of student athletes’ experiences in college to see if anything related to paying student athletes pops up. Scholarly research is the holy grail of evidence, so try to find relevant articles if you can. 

Ultimately, if you can incorporate a mix of mainstream sources, quantitative or statistical evidence, and scholarly, peer-reviewed sources, you’ll be on-track to building an excellent argument in response to the question, “Should student athletes be paid?”

Having multiple argumentative points in your essay helps you support your thesis.

Tip 4: Develop and Support Multiple Points

We’ve reviewed how to write an intro and thesis statement addressing the issue of paying college athletes, so let’s talk next about the meat and potatoes of your argumentative essay: the body paragraphs. 

The body paragraphs that are sandwiched between your intro paragraph and concluding paragraph are where you build and explain your argument. Generally speaking, each body paragraph should do the following: 

• Start with a topic sentence that presents a point that supports your stance and that can be debated, 
• Present summaries, paraphrases, or quotes from credible sources--evidence, in other words--that supports the point stated in the topic sentence, and
• Explain and interpret the evidence presented with your own, original commentary. 

In an argumentative essay on why college athletes should be paid, for example, a body paragraph might look like this: 

Thesis Statement : College athletes should not be paid because it would be a logistical nightmare for colleges and universities and ultimately cause negative consequences for college sports. 

Body Paragraph #1: While the notion of paying college athletes is nice in theory, a major consequence of doing so would be the financial burden this decision would place on individual college sports programs. A recent study cited by the NCAA showed that only about 20 college athletic programs consistently operate in the black at the present time. If the NCAA allows student-athletes at all colleges and universities to be paid, the majority of athletic programs would not even have the funds to afford salaries for their players anyway. This would mean that the select few athletic programs that can afford to pay their athletes’ salaries would easily recruit the most talented players and, thus, have the tools to put together teams that destroy their competition. Though individual athletes would benefit from the NCAA allowing compensation for student-athletes, most athletic programs would suffer, and so would the spirit of healthy competition that college sports are known for. 

If you read the example body paragraph above closely, you’ll notice that there’s a topic sentence that supports the claim made in the thesis statement. There’s also evidence given to support the claim made in the topic sentence--a recent study by the NCAA. Following the evidence, the writer interprets the evidence for the reader to show how it supports their opinion. 

Following this topic sentence/evidence/explanation structure will help you construct a well-supported and developed argument that shows your readers that you’ve done your research and given your stance a lot of thought. And that's a key step in making sure you get an excellent grade on your essay! 

Tip 5: Keep the Reader Thinking

The best argumentative essay conclusions reinterpret your thesis statement based on the evidence and explanations you provided throughout your essay. You would also make it clear why the argument about paying college athletes even matters in the first place. 

There are several different approaches you can take to recap your argument and get your reader thinking in your conclusion paragraph. In addition to restating your topic and why it’s important, other effective ways to approach an argumentative essay conclusion could include one or more of the following: 

While you don’t want to get too wordy in your conclusion or present new claims that you didn’t bring up in the body of your essay, you can write an effective conclusion and make all of the moves suggested in the bulleted list above. 

Here’s an example conclusion for an argumentative essay on paying college athletes using approaches we just talked about:

Though it’s true that scholarships and financial aid are a form of compensation for college athletes, it’s also true that the current system of college sports places a lot of pressure on college athletes to behave like professional athletes in every way except getting paid. Future research should turn its attention to the various inequities within college sports and look at the long-term economic outcomes of these athletes. While college athletes aren't paid right now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that a paycheck is the best solution to the problem. To avoid the possibility of making the college athletics system even worse, people must consider the ramifications of paying college students and ensure that paying athletes doesn't create more harm than good.

This conclusion restates the argument of the essay (that college athletes shouldn't be paid and why), then uses the "Future Research" tactic to make the reader think more deeply about the topic. 

If your conclusion sums up your thesis and keeps the reader thinking, you’ll make sure that your essay sticks in your readers' minds.

Should College Athletes Be Paid: Next Steps 

Writing an argumentative essay can seem tough, but with a little expert guidance, you'll be well on your way to turning in a great paper . Our complete, expert guide to argumentative essays can give you the extra boost you need to ace your assignment!

Perhaps college athletics isn't your cup of tea. That's okay: there are tons of topics you can write about in an argumentative paper. We've compiled 113 amazing argumentative essay topics so that you're practically guaranteed to find an idea that resonates with you.

If you're not a super confident essay writer, it can be helpful to look at examples of what others have written. Our experts have broken down three real-life argumentative essays to show you what you should and shouldn't do in your own writing.

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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How to Write a Non-Cliche College Essay About Sports + Examples

What’s covered:, what makes a sports essay cliche.

• How To Make Your Sports Essay Unique

Great Examples of College Essays About Sports

Where to get your college essay edited for free, or by an expert.

You’ve been brainstorming essay topics for your college applications, and you think you’ve finally found the right one: an extended metaphor likening your experience on the field with overcoming personal struggles. The problem: many other students have this same thought. 

The purpose of a college essay is to make yourself stand out as a unique individual, but when students write about sports, they often blend in. Because of that, students are usually advised to pick a different topic.

That being said, it is possible to write a non-cliche college essay about sports if you put in a little extra effort. Read along to learn how to make your sports essay different from all the other sports essays.

Sports essays are cliche when they follow a standard trajectory. Some of these trajectories include writing a story about:

• An agonizing defeat
• Forging bonds with teammates
• Overcoming adversity
• Overcoming an injury
• Refusing to quit
• Victory during a big game

Because sports essays have very similar themes and “lessons learned,” it can be difficult to make your story stand out. These trajectories also often focus too much on the sport or storyline, and not enough on the writer’s reflections and personality.

As you write your essay, try to think about what your experience says about you rather than what you learned from your experience. You are more than just one lesson you learned!

(Keep in mind that the sports essay is not the only college essay cliche. Learn about other essay cliches and how to fix them in our complete guide).

How to Make Your Sports Essay Unique

1. focus on a specific moment or reflection..

The college essay is a way for students to humanize themselves to admissions officers. You do not feel human if you are describing yourself as just another player on the field!

One important way to make your essay about you (not just about sports) is by focusing on a specific moment in time and inviting the reader to join you in that moment. Explain to the reader what it would be like to be sitting in that locker room as you questioned the values of the other players on your team. Ask your reader to sit with you on the cot in the trainer’s room as your identity was stripped away from you when they said “your body can’t take this anymore.” Bring your reader to the dinner table and involve them in your family’s conversation about how sports were affecting your mental health and your treatment of those around you.

Intense descriptions of a specific experience will evoke emotions in your reader and allow them to connect with you and feel for you.

When in doubt, avoid anything that can be covered by ESPN. On ESPN, we see the games, we see the benches, we even see the locker rooms and training rooms. Take your reader somewhere different and show them something unique.

2. Use sports to point out broader themes in your life.

The main risk when writing about sports is neglecting to write about yourself. Before you get started, think about the main values that you want to express in your sports essay. Sports are simply your avenue for telling the reader what makes you unique. 

As a test, imagine if you were a pianist. Would you be able to talk about these same values? What if you were a writer? Or a chemist? Articulating your values is the end, and sports should simply be your means.

Some values that you might want to focus on:

• Autonomy (you want to be able to set your mind to anything and achieve it on your own)
• Growth (you seek improvement constantly)
• Curiosity (you are willing to try anything once)
• Vulnerability (you aren’t afraid to fail, as long as you give it your all)
• Community (you value the feedback of others and need camaraderie to succeed)
• Craft (you think that with deliberate care, anything can be perfected)
• Responsibility (you believe that you owe something to those around you and perhaps they also owe something to you)

You can use the ESPN check again to make sure that you are using sports as an avenue to show your depth.

Things ESPN covers: how a player reacts to defeat, how injuries affect a player’s gameplay/attitude, how players who don’t normally work well together are working together on their new team.

Things ESPN doesn’t cover: the conversation that a player had with their mother about fear of death before going into a big surgery (value: family and connection), the ways that the intense pressure to succeed consumed a player to the point they couldn’t be there for the people in their life (value: supporting others and community), the body image issues that weigh on a player’s mind when playing their sport and how they overcame those (value: health and growth).

3. Turn a cliche storyline on its head.

There’s no getting around the fact that sports essays are often cliche. But there is a way to confront the cliche head-on. For example, lots of people write essays about the lessons they learned from an injury, victory, and so on, but fewer students explain how they are embracing those lessons. 

Perhaps you learned that competition is overwhelming for you and you prefer teamwork, so you switched from playing basketball to playing Dungeons & Dragons. Maybe, when your softball career ended abruptly, you had to find a new identity and that’s when you became obsessed with your flower garden and decided to pursue botany. Or maybe, you have stuck with football through it all, but your junior-year mental health struggle showed you that football should be fun and you have since started a nonprofit for local children to healthily engage with sports.

If your story itself is more cliche, try bringing readers to the present moment with you and show why the cliche matters and what it did for you. This requires a fair amount of creativity. Ensure you’re not parroting a frequently used topic by really thinking deeply to find your own unique spin.

Night had robbed the academy of its daytime colors, yet there was comfort in the dim lights that cast shadows of our advances against the bare studio walls. Silhouettes of roundhouse kicks, spin crescent kicks, uppercuts and the occasional butterfly kick danced while we sparred. She approached me, eyes narrowed with the trace of a smirk challenging me. “Ready spar!” Her arm began an upward trajectory targeting my shoulder, a common first move. I sidestepped — only to almost collide with another flying fist. Pivoting my right foot, I snapped my left leg, aiming my heel at her midsection. The center judge raised one finger. 

There was no time to celebrate, not in the traditional sense at least. Master Pollard gave a brief command greeted with a unanimous “Yes, sir” and the thud of 20 hands dropping-down-and-giving-him-30, while the “winners” celebrated their victory with laps as usual. 

Three years ago, seven-thirty in the evening meant I was a warrior. It meant standing up straighter, pushing a little harder, “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am”, celebrating birthdays by breaking boards, never pointing your toes, and familiarity. Three years later, seven-thirty in the morning meant I was nervous. 

The room is uncomfortably large. The sprung floor soaks up the checkerboard of sunlight piercing through the colonial windows. The mirrored walls further illuminate the studio and I feel the light scrutinizing my sorry attempts at a pas de bourrée, while capturing the organic fluidity of the dancers around me. “Chassé en croix, grand battement, pique, pirouette.” I follow the graceful limbs of the woman in front of me, her legs floating ribbons, as she executes what seems to be a perfect ronds de jambes. Each movement remains a negotiation. With admirable patience, Ms. Tan casts me a sympathetic glance.   

There is no time to wallow in the misery that is my right foot. Taekwondo calls for dorsiflexion; pointed toes are synonymous with broken toes. My thoughts drag me into a flashback of the usual response to this painful mistake: “You might as well grab a tutu and head to the ballet studio next door.” Well, here I am Master Pollard, unfortunately still following your orders to never point my toes, but no longer feeling the satisfaction that comes with being a third degree black belt with 5 years of experience quite literally under her belt. It’s like being a white belt again — just in a leotard and ballet slippers. 

But the appetite for new beginnings that brought me here doesn’t falter. It is only reinforced by the classical rendition of “Dancing Queen” that floods the room and the ghost of familiarity that reassures me that this new beginning does not and will not erase the past. After years spent at the top, it’s hard to start over. But surrendering what you are only leads you to what you may become. In Taekwondo, we started each class reciting the tenets: honor, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, courage, humility, and knowledge, and I have never felt that I embodied those traits more so than when I started ballet. 

The thing about change is that it eventually stops making things so different. After nine different schools, four different countries, three different continents, fluency in Tamil, Norwegian, and English, there are more blurred lines than there are clear fragments. My life has not been a tactfully executed, gold medal-worthy Taekwondo form with each movement defined, nor has it been a series of frappés performed by a prima ballerina with each extension identical and precise, but thankfully it has been like the dynamics of a spinning back kick, fluid, and like my chances of landing a pirouette, unpredictable. 

Why it works:

What’s especially powerful about this essay is that the author uses detailed imagery to convey a picture of what they’re experiencing, so much so that the reader is along for the ride. This works as a sports essay not only because of the language and sensory details, but also because the writer focuses on a specific moment in time, while at the same time exploring why Taekwondo is such an important part of their life.

After the emotional image is created, the student finishes their essay with valuable reflection. With the reflection, they show admissions officers that they are mature and self-aware. Self-awareness comes through with statements like “surrendering what you are only leads you to what you may become” and maturity can be seen through the student’s discussion of values “honor, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, courage, humility, and knowledge, and I have never felt that I embodied those traits more so than when I started ballet.” These are the kinds of comments that should find their way into a sports essay!

“Advanced females ages 13 to 14 please proceed to staging with your coaches at this time.” Skittering around the room, eyes wide and pleading, I frantically explained my situation to nearby coaches. The seconds ticked away in my head; every polite refusal increased my desperation.

Despair weighed me down. I sank to my knees as a stream of competitors, coaches, and officials flowed around me. My dojang had no coach, and the tournament rules prohibited me from competing without one.

Although I wanted to remain strong, doubts began to cloud my mind. I could not help wondering: what was the point of perfecting my skills if I would never even compete? The other members of my team, who had found coaches minutes earlier, attempted to comfort me, but I barely heard their words. They couldn’t understand my despair at being left on the outside, and I never wanted them to understand.

Since my first lesson 12 years ago, the members of my dojang have become family. I have watched them grow up, finding my own happiness in theirs. Together, we have honed our kicks, blocks, and strikes. We have pushed one another to aim higher and become better martial artists. Although my dojang had searched for a reliable coach for years, we had not found one. When we attended competitions in the past, my teammates and I had always gotten lucky and found a sympathetic coach. Now, I knew this practice was unsustainable. It would devastate me to see the other members of my dojang in my situation, unable to compete and losing hope as a result. My dojang needed a coach, and I decided it was up to me to find one. 

I first approached the adults in the dojang – both instructors and members’ parents. However, these attempts only reacquainted me with polite refusals. Everyone I asked told me they couldn’t devote multiple weekends per year to competitions. I soon realized that I would have become the coach myself.

At first, the inner workings of tournaments were a mystery to me. To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side. I learned everything from motivational strategies to technical, behind-the-scenes components of Taekwondo competitions. Though I emerged with new knowledge and confidence in my capabilities, others did not share this faith.

Parents threw me disbelieving looks when they learned that their children’s coach was only a child herself. My self-confidence was my armor, deflecting their surly glances. Every armor is penetrable, however, and as the relentless barrage of doubts pounded my resilience, it began to wear down. I grew unsure of my own abilities.

Despite the attack, I refused to give up. When I saw the shining eyes of the youngest students preparing for their first competition, I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was. The knowledge that I could solve my dojang’s longtime problem motivated me to overcome my apprehension.

Now that my dojang flourishes at competitions, the attacks on me have weakened, but not ended. I may never win the approval of every parent; at times, I am still tormented by doubts, but I find solace in the fact that members of my dojang now only worry about competing to the best of their abilities.

Now, as I arrive at a tournament with my students, I close my eyes and remember the past. I visualize the frantic search for a coach and the chaos amongst my teammates as we compete with one another to find coaches before the staging calls for our respective divisions. I open my eyes to the exact opposite scene. Lacking a coach hurt my ability to compete, but I am proud to know that no member of my dojang will have to face that problem again.

In the beginning, you might think this is another cliche sports essay about overcoming adversity. But instead, it becomes a unique statement and coming-of-age tale that reads as a suspenseful narrative. 

The author connects their experience with martial arts to larger themes in their life but manages to do so without riffing off of tried-and-true themes. Through statements like “I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was” we learn about the students values and their desire to be there for those who depend on them. 

The student also brings it full circle, demonstrating their true transformation. By using the “Same, but Different” ending technique , the student places themself in the same environment that we saw in the intro, but experiences it differently due to their actions throughout the narrative. This is very compelling!

“1…2…3…4 pirouettes! New record!” My friends cheered as I landed my turns. Pleased with my progress, I gazed down at my worn-out pointe shoes. The sweltering blisters, numbing ice-baths, and draining late-night practices did not seem so bad after all. Next goal: five turns.

For as long as I can remember, ballet, in all its finesse and glamor, had kept me driven day to day. As a child, the lithe ballerinas, donning ethereal costumes as they floated across the stage, were my motivation. While others admired Messi and Adele, I idolized Carlos Acosta, principal dancer of the Royal Ballet. 

As I devoted more time and energy towards my craft, I became obsessed with improving my technique. I would stretch for hours after class, forcing my leg one inch higher in an effort to mirror the Dance Magazine cover girls. I injured my feet and ruined pair after pair of pointe shoes, turning on wood, cement, and even grass to improve my balance as I spun. At competitions, the dancers with the 180-degree leg extensions, endless turns, and soaring leaps—the ones who received “Bravos!” from the roaring audience—further pushed me to refine my skills and perfect my form. I believed that, with enough determination, I would one day attain their level of perfection. Reaching the quadruple-pirouette milestone only intensified my desire to accomplish even more. 

My efforts seemed to have come to fruition two summers ago when I was accepted to dance with Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet at their renowned New York City summer intensive. I walked into my first session eager to learn from distinguished ballet masters and worldly dancers, already anticipating my improvement. Yet, as I danced alongside the accomplished ballerinas, I felt out of place. Despite their clean technique and professional training, they did not aim for glorious leg extensions or prodigious leaps. When they performed their turn combinations, most of them only executed two turns as I attempted four. 

“Dancers, double-pirouettes only.” 

Taken aback and confused, I wondered why our teacher expected so little from us. The other ballerinas seemed content, gracing the studio with their simple movements. 

As I grew closer with my Moscow roommates, I gradually learned that their training emphasized the history of the art form instead of stylistic tricks. Rather than show off their physical ability, their performances aimed to convey a story, one that embodied the rich culture of ballet and captured both the legacy of the dancers before them and their own artistry. As I observed my friends more intently in repertoire class, I felt the pain of the grief-stricken white swan from Swan Lake, the sass of the flirtatious Kitri from Don Quijote, and I gradually saw what I had overlooked before. My definition of talent had been molded by crowd-pleasing elements—whirring pirouettes, gravity-defying leaps, and mind-blowing leg extensions. This mindset slowly stripped me from the roots of my passion and my personal connection with ballet. 

With the Bolshoi, I learned to step back and explore the meaning behind each step and the people behind the scenes. Ballet carries history in its movements, from the societal values of the era to each choreographer’s unique flair. As I uncovered the messages behind each pirouette, kick, and jump, my appreciation for ballet grew beyond my obsession with raw athleticism and developed into a love for the art form’s emotive abilities in bridging the dancers with the audience. My journey as an artist has allowed me to see how technical execution is only the means to a greater understanding between dancer and spectator, between storyteller and listener. The elegance and complexity of ballet does not revolve around astonishing stunts but rather the evocative strength and artistry manifested in the dancer, in me. It is the combination of sentiments, history, tradition, and passion that has allowed ballet and its lessons of human connection to become my lifestyle both on and off stage.

This essay is about lessons. While the author is a dancer, this narrative isn’t really about ballet, per se — it’s about the author’s personal growth. It is purposefully reflective as the student shows a nice character arc that begins with an eager young ballerina and ends with a reflection on their past. The primary strength of this essay is the honesty and authenticity that the student approaches it with.

In the end, the student turns a cliche on its head as they embrace the idea of overcoming adversity and demonstrate how the adversity, in this case, was their own stereotypes about their art. It’s beautiful!

“Getting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing.” Coach Rob Stark’s motto never fails to remind me of his encouragement on early-morning bus rides to track meets around the state. I’ve always appreciated the phrase, but an experience last June helped me understand its more profound, universal meaning.

Stark, as we affectionately call him, has coached track at my high school for 25 years. His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running. When I learned a neighboring high school had dedicated their track to a longtime coach, I felt that Stark deserved similar honors.

Our school district’s board of education indicated they would only dedicate our track to Stark if I could demonstrate that he was extraordinary. I took charge and mobilized my teammates to distribute petitions, reach out to alumni, and compile statistics on the many team and individual champions Stark had coached over the years. We received astounding support, collecting almost 3,000 signatures and pages of endorsements from across the community. With help from my teammates, I presented this evidence to the board.

They didn’t bite. 

Most members argued that dedicating the track was a low priority. Knowing that we had to act quickly to convince them of its importance, I called a team meeting where we drafted a rebuttal for the next board meeting. To my surprise, they chose me to deliver it. I was far from the best public speaker in the group, and I felt nervous about going before the unsympathetic board again. However, at that second meeting, I discovered that I enjoy articulating and arguing for something that I’m passionate about.

Public speaking resembles a cross country race. Walking to the starting line, you have to trust your training and quell your last minute doubts. When the gun fires, you can’t think too hard about anything; your performance has to be instinctual, natural, even relaxed. At the next board meeting, the podium was my starting line. As I walked up to it, familiar butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Instead of the track stretching out in front of me, I faced the vast audience of teachers, board members, and my teammates. I felt my adrenaline build, and reassured myself: I’ve put in the work, my argument is powerful and sound. As the board president told me to introduce myself, I heard, “runners set” in the back of my mind. She finished speaking, and Bang! The brief silence was the gunshot for me to begin. 

The next few minutes blurred together, but when the dust settled, I knew from the board members’ expressions and the audience’s thunderous approval that I had run quite a race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough; the board voted down our proposal. I was disappointed, but proud of myself, my team, and our collaboration off the track. We stood up for a cause we believed in, and I overcame my worries about being a leader. Although I discovered that changing the status quo through an elected body can be a painstakingly difficult process and requires perseverance, I learned that I enjoy the challenges this effort offers. Last month, one of the school board members joked that I had become a “regular” – I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Just as Stark taught me, I worked passionately to achieve my goal. I may have been beaten when I appealed to the board, but I certainly didn’t lose, and that would have made Stark proud.

This essay uses the idea of sports to explore a more profound topic—growing through relationships. They really embrace using sports as an avenue to tell the reader about a specific experience that changed the way they approach the world. 

The emphasis on relationships is why this essay works well and doesn’t fall into a cliche. The narrator grows not because of their experience with track but because of their relationship with their coach, who inspired them to evolve and become a leader.

Have a draft of your college essay? We’re here to help you polish it. Students can participate in a free Peer Review, or they can sign up for a paid review by CollegeVine’s experts. Sign up for your free CollegeVine account today to start improving your essay and your chances of acceptance!

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Should College Athletes Be Paid? Essay Examples & Guide

• 👍 Advantages
• 👎 Disadvantages
• 💡 Essay Topics
• 📑 Outlining Your Paper
• 💸 Essay Example #1
• 🙅 Essay Example #2

🔗 References

There are a lot of benefits of doing sports in college, for everyone except the athletes themselves. Surely, your sports achievements can get you recognition and respect. But the issue here is not being paid at all.

You see, sport is arduous labor. And any labor, according to common sense, must be rewarded with a salary. On the other hand, doing sports for the sake of sports can also be justified. There is no clear answer for “Should college athletes be paid?”. Writing an essay, though, can help you find it.

⚖️ Should College Athletes Be Paid: Pros and Cons

This matter is very recent. Therefore, there is a lot of space for discussion here. Some may say that athletes are paid. They actually get scholarships for their work.

Others may argue that only 1% of all the sportspeople get the full amount of money. Both statements are true, and the correct answer doesn’t really exist. To help you form your own opinion on the topic, here are some pros and cons:

• It would be fair to pay sportspeople for their hard work.
• The sport takes a lot of time from studies, and it must be compensated.
• The health risk is very high, and the reward for it is a must.
• The sport would become an excellent alternative for a work-study job.
• Many athletes’ families require monetary support, which athlete payments can give.
• A lot more people would be attracted to doing sports.
• The athletes already enjoy enough compensations.
• The amount of actual future sports pros is depressing.
• It can undermine the overall studying experience.
• Most of the sports programs cannot afford salaries.
• It would create room for inequity.
• Mixing studying and sports would become even more difficult due to increased demand.
• The concept of playing for the love of sports would cease to exist.

We will look into them deeper in the next section.

👍 Paying College Athletes: Advantages

• It is simply fair to pay athletes for their endeavors. A single sportsperson can generate millions of dollars for their college. It would be only fair if the stars themselves got at least some of this money.
• It is a great way to compensate for taking away from studies. Sport is a time-consuming activity. And time is a valuable thing when you are a student. Let’s not forget that college athletes also need time to study. Or at least compensation for the time they put into the sport.
• The money would at least partially make up for possible injuries. While health is priceless, risking it must be rewarded properly. And that’s exactly what college athletes do. They put their well-being on the line for their universities. Unfortunately, universities don’t seem to give the favor back.
• It would be a great way to substitute work. An average athlete puts 40 hours a week into doing sports for his college. You can easily compare this amount of time to a generic work-study job. The only difference is the latter brings you money, and the former does not.
• It’s a great way to motivate athletes to continue their sports careers. After graduation, the majority of college athletes will stop playing for their team. They are far more likely to simply find a job and get a steady income. Paying them would make a choice between sports and career not that obvious.
• It would support a lot of students’ families. While college sportspeople bath in success, their families often suffer financially. Sustaining a starting athlete can be really costly at times. That’s where a salary would be a saving grace for struggling families.
• It is a great motivation for more students to pursue a sports career. The possibility of making money will attract more people into playing for a sports team. And that brings a better chance to find young talent.

👎 Paying College Athletes: Disadvantages

• The athletes already have their compensations. The coach’s advice, the medical treatment, the strength training. All of these cost money. But the athletes don’t have to pay a single cent for these and many other services. They are provided for free as compensation already.
• Not a lot of athletes will actually become professionals. Out of all college athletes, a mere 2% go pro as a result. Most of them see doing sports as a way to receive education and nothing more.
• It can harm other colleges’ programs. Since the salary would come from the college budget, there would be inevitable cutbacks. As a result, every student in the institution suffers.
• There are not many sports that make a profit. More often than not, sport doesn’t bring a lot of money. Exceptions are basketball and football. Should football players make more money than, for example, swimmers? Here’s where the next issue occurs.
• Possible inequity. You see, if some students participate in a sport that has no profit, then why pay them? As a result of such logic, whole college teams will cease to exist.
• Possible study problems. With the appearance of salaries, the expectations from the players will rise. Attending training sessions and games will become a definite must. No skips would be allowed. In this case, ping-ponging your priorities from sports to studies is much more difficult.
• The love for the game would go away. College students play sports mostly because they want to do what they love. Paying them might destroy the compassion for doing sport. The amateur leagues will be filled with players who are in it for the money and nothing else.

💡 Should College Athletes Be Paid Essay Topics

• Balancing college sports and academic mission.
• Payments to collegiate athletes.
• Top college athletes are worth six figures.
• Title IX in the female sports development .
• Kids and sports: Lack of professional sports guides.
• College athletes do not deserve the degrees they’re studying for.
• Steroid abuse in the world of sports .
• Shortage of officials at the high school sports level.
• College sports should be made professional.
• Steroid use effects on professional young athletes .
• Is it justified for college athletes to be paid?
• College sports should not require missing classes.
• Professional athletes allowed to use steroids.
• Paying college athletes: Reinforcing privilege or promoting growth?
• If colleges pay college athletes, it would increase the disparity between small and bigger college teams.
• School athletes and drug tests.
• Arguments for adequate remuneration for college athletes.
• The NCAA definition of college athletes as amateurs is outdated.
• Sports-related problems and conflicts.
• African American studies. Negro baseball league.
• The moral side: “A gentlemen never competes for money” (Walter Camp).
• Running injuries, workout and controversies.
• Should college athletes be paid?
• Ed O’Bannon’s lawsuit: Using athletes’ images in video games.
• Does youth sports play a part in character formation?
• Children participation in sports .
• Where does college sports money go?
• Sports analysis: steroids and HGH in sports.
• Steroid usage in professional sports.
• College athletes work as marketers for their college, as their success in sports improves admission rates.
• Physical activity and sports team participation.
• Using performance-enhancing drugs and in the world of sport .
• Research handbook of employment relations in sport.
• Successfully luring college athletes.
• College athletes should be paid.

Haven’t found anything inspiring in the list above? Try using our topic-generating tool !

📑 Should College Athletes Be Paid Essay Outline

Before writing your work, the first thing you want to do is outline. An argumentative-style essay would be perfect for writing on our topic.

We will go with a generic 5-paragraph format :

• Hook. A flashy sentence or two to evoke interest in your work. A joke or a shocking fact, for example.
• Background information. General info that the reader needs to know before going deeper into the essay.
• Thesis statement. It is a sentence that reflects the main idea of the further text. It leaves room for debate and briefly showcases the arguments you will discuss further.
• Body. The body is the biggest part of your work. In our case, it will be three paragraphs long. Each paragraph names and explains the argument you want to make.
• Conclusion. The end of your essay. Nothing new should be added. Just restate your thesis, summarize the points you made in the body, and be done with it.

💸 Why College Athletes Should Be Paid Essay Example

In 2017 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) made over $1.04 billion in revenue. None of the college athletes have seen any part of this sum. A survey made the same year showed 60% of the sportspeople to be satisfied with the scholarship-only payments. The situation, however, has drastically changed over the years. The same 60% now agree that college athletes need monetary compensation. While college athletes' payments are a controversial topic, their hard work and health must be fairly compensated no matter what, and a salary seems to be the best way for it.

It is no surprise that doing sports consumes a solid number of things. Time is one of them. An average college student puts in their sports activities 35 hours a week. It can be compared to having a generic work-study job. The only difference is the job brings you money as any hard labor should. However, in the case of college sport, it seems to profit anyone but the athletes themselves. While the NCAA executives make six-figure salaries, the players, the actual stars of the competition, have the status of the unpaid workforce.

Another thing consumed by sports activities is health. In 2017 over 60% of all Division I players were reported to suffer a major injury. Although, this phenomenal danger to athletes' well-being seems to go unnoticed as well. The only "compensation" provided to people who risk their soundness for the sake of university is education itself. Usually, the health risk is considered a reason for a salary raise. Unfortunately, in our case, there is nothing to give a raise to.

Putting yourself to the fullest in any activity must be rewarded. And the sportspeople truly give it their best. Time, passion, health, everything is given. And for now, everything they give is given for nothing.

🙅 College Athletes Should Not Be Paid Essay Example

There are hundreds of sports college athletes do. Only two of them bring the college profit. The issue of paying the students involved with the college sports activities has been around for a while. Some are satisfied with their scholarship and the possibility to get an education. Others, however, demand more tangible rewards for their achievements. While payments may seem justified, the fact that the athletes already receive enough compensation for their work via scholarship and education is often overlooked.

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) reports more than $3.6 billion in athletic scholarships to be provided annually to more than 180,000 student-athletes. A simple calculation shows $20.000 a year for each athlete. This sum is more than enough to cover the average cost of an academic year of $17,797.

Furthermore, most college athletic programs make barely enough money to sustain themselves, not to mention paying salaries. The only two kinds of sport that make enough profit to afford salaries are football and basketball. Others, sadly, do not. And this fact creates a significant equity problem. Do we pay all players equally? And if not, who do we pay more? All these questions remain unanswered.

While it seems just, creating salaries brings more problems than solves. The extent of the compensation necessary is, of course, negotiable. But all efforts made by college athletes are compensated in some way. That is a fact.

We hope that this info helped you with your assignment. Make sure to let us know what part you’ve found the most useful in the comments. And also, check out our title page maker . And good luck with your studies!

• 16 college athletes already getting paid under new NCAA rule
• Should College Athletes Be Paid? | BestColleges
• Should College Athletes Be Paid? Reasons Why or Why Not
• All college athletes in California can now get paid – KTVU
• Pay for Play: Should College Athletes Be Compensated?

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Stress in Academic and Athletic Performance in Collegiate Athletes: A Narrative Review of Sources and Monitoring Strategies

Marcel lopes dos santos.

1 School of Kinesiology, Applied Health and Recreation, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, United States

Melissa Uftring

Cody a. stahl, robert g. lockie.

2 Department of Kinesiology, California State University, Fullerton, CA, United States

Brent Alvar

3 Department of Kinesiology, Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, CA, United States

J. Bryan Mann

4 Department of Kinesiology and Sport Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States

J. Jay Dawes

College students are required to manage a variety of stressors related to academic, social, and financial commitments. In addition to the burdens facing most college students, collegiate athletes must devote a substantial amount of time to improving their sporting abilities. The strength and conditioning professional sees the athlete on nearly a daily basis and is able to recognize the changes in performance and behavior an athlete may exhibit as a result of these stressors. As such, the strength and conditioning professional may serve an integral role in the monitoring of these stressors and may be able to alter training programs to improve both performance and wellness. The purpose of this paper is to discuss stressors experienced by collegiate athletes, developing an early detection system through monitoring techniques that identify the detrimental effects of stress, and discuss appropriate stress management strategies for this population.

Introduction

The college years are a period of time when young adults experience a significant amount of change and a variety of novel challenges. Academic performance, social demands, adjusting to life away from home, and financial challenges are just a few of the burdens college students must confront (Humphrey et al., 2000 ; Paule and Gilson, 2010 ; Aquilina, 2013 ). In addition to these stressors, collegiate athletes are required to spend a substantial amount of time participating in activities related to their sport, such as attending practices and training sessions, team meetings, travel, and competitions (Humphrey et al., 2000 ; López de Subijana et al., 2015 ; Davis et al., 2019 ; Hyatt and Kavazis, 2019 ). These commitments, in addition to the normal stress associated with college life, may increase a collegiate-athlete's risk of experiencing both physical and mental issues (Li et al., 2017 ; Moreland et al., 2018 ) that may affect their overall health and wellness. For these reasons, it is essential that coaches understand the types of stressors collegiate athletes face in order to help them manage the potentially deleterious effects stress may have on athletic and academic performance.

Strength and conditioning coaches are allied health care professionals whose primary job is to enhance fitness of individuals for the purpose of improving athletic performance (Massey et al., 2002 , 2004 , 2009 ). As such, many universities and colleges hire strength and conditioning coaches as part of their athletic staff to help athletes maximize their physical potential (Massey et al., 2002 , 2004 , 2009 ). Strength and conditioning coaches strive to increase athletic performance by the systematic application of physical stress to the body via resistance training, and other forms of exercise, to yield a positive adaptation response (Massey et al., 2002 , 2004 , 2009 ). For this reason, they need to understand and to learn how to manage athletes' stress. Additionally, based on the cumulative nature of stress, it is important that both mental and emotional stressors are also considered in programming. It is imperative that strength and conditioning coaches are aware of the multitude of stressors collegiate athletes encounter, in order to incorporate illness and injury risk management education into their training programs (Radcliffe et al., 2015 ; Ivarsson et al., 2017 ).

Based on the large number of contact hours strength and conditioning coaches spend with their athletes, they are in an optimal position to assist athletes with developing effective coping strategies to manage stress. By doing so, strength and conditioning coaches may be able to help reach the overarching goal of improving the health, wellness, fitness, and performance of the athletes they coach. The purpose of this review article is to provide the strength and conditioning professional with a foundational understanding of the types of stressors collegiate athletes may experience, and how these stressors may impact mental health and athletic performance. Suggestions for assisting athletes with developing effective coping strategies to reduce potential physiological and psychological impacts of stress will also be provided.

Stress and the Stress Response

In its most simplistic definition, stress can be described as a state of physical and psychological activation in response to external demands that exceed one's ability to cope and requires a person to adapt or change behavior. As such, both cognitive or environmental events that trigger stress are called stressors (Statler and DuBois, 2016 ). Stressors can be acute or chronic based on the duration of activation. Acute stressors may be defined as a stressful situation that occurs suddenly and results in physiological arousal (e.g., increase in hormonal levels, blood flow, cardiac output, blood sugar levels, pupil and airway dilation, etc.) (Selye, 1976 ). Once the situation is normalized, a cascade of hormonal reactions occurs to help the body return to a resting state (i.e., homeostasis). However, when acute stressors become chronic in nature, they may increase an individual's risk of developing anxiety, depression, or metabolic disorders (Selye, 1976 ). Moreover, the literature has shown that cumulative stress is correlated with an increased susceptibility to illness and injury (Szivak and Kraemer, 2015 ; Mann et al., 2016 ; Hamlin et al., 2019 ). The impact of stress is individualistic and subjective by nature (Williams and Andersen, 1998 ; Ivarsson et al., 2017 ). Additionally, the manner in which athletes respond to a situational or environmental stressor is often determined by their individual perception of the event (Gould and Udry, 1994 ; Williams and Andersen, 1998 ; Ivarsson et al., 2017 ). In this regard, the athlete's perception can either be positive (eustress) or negative (distress). Even though they both cause physiological arousal, eustress also generates positive mental energy whereas distress generates anxiety (Statler and DuBois, 2016 ). Therefore, it is essential that an athlete has the tools and ability to cope with these stressors in order to have the capacity to manage both acute and chronic stress. As such, it is important to understand the types of stressors collegiate athletes are confronted with and how these stressors impact an athlete's performance, both athletically and academically.

Literature Search/Data Collection

The articles included in this review were identified via online databases PubMed, MEDLINE, and ISI Web of Knowledge from October 15th 2019 through January 15th 2020. The search strategy combined the keywords “academic stress,” “athletic stress,” “stress,” “stressor,” “college athletes,” “student athletes,” “collegiate athletes,” “injury,” “training,” “monitoring.” Duplicated articles were then removed. After reading the titles and abstracts, all articles that met the inclusion criteria were considered eligible for inclusion in the review. Subsequently, all eligible articles were read in their entirety and were either included or removed from the present review.

Inclusion Criteria

The studies included met all the following criteria: (i) published in English-language journals; (ii) targeted college athletes; (iii) publication was either an original research paper or a literature review; (iv) allowed the extraction of data for analysis.

Data Analysis

Relevant data regarding participant characteristics (i.e., gender, academic status, sports) and study characteristics were extracted. Articles were analyzed and divided into two separate sections based on their specific topics: Academic Stress and Athletic Stress. Then, strategies for monitoring and workload management are discussed in the final section.

Academic Stress

Fundamentally, collegiate athletes have two major roles they must balance as part of their commitment to a university: being a college student and an athlete. Academic performance is a significant source of stress for most college students (Aquilina, 2013 ; López de Subijana et al., 2015 ; de Brandt et al., 2018 ; Davis et al., 2019 ). This stress may be further compounded among collegiate athletes based on their need to be successful in the classroom, while simultaneously excelling in their respective sport (Aquilina, 2013 ; López de Subijana et al., 2015 ; Huml et al., 2016 ; Hamlin et al., 2019 ). Davis et al. ( 2019 ) conducted surveys on 173 elite junior alpine skiers and reported significant moderate to strong correlations between perceived stress and several variables including depressed mood ( r = 0.591), sleep disturbance ( r = 0.459), fatigue ( r = 0.457), performance demands ( r = 0.523), and goals and development ( r = 0.544). Academic requirements were the highest scoring source of stress of all variables and was most strongly correlated with perceived stress ( r = 0.467). Interestingly, it was not academic rigor that was viewed by the athletes as the largest source of direct stress; rather, the athletes surveyed reported time management as being their biggest challenge related to academic performance (Davis et al., 2019 ). This further corroborates the findings of Hamlin et al. ( 2019 ). The investigators reported that during periods of the academic year in which levels of perceived academic stress were at their highest, students had trouble managing sport practices and studying. These stressors were also associated with a decrease in energy levels and overall sleep quality. These factors may significantly increase the collegiate athlete's susceptibility to illness and injury (Hamlin et al., 2019 ). For this reason, coaches should be aware of and sensitive to the stressors athletes experience as part of the cyclical nature of the academic year and attempt to help athletes find solutions to balancing athletic and academic demands.

According to Aquilina ( 2013 ), collegiate athletes tend to be more committed to sports development and may view their academic career as a contingency plan to their athletic career, rather than a source of personal development. As a result, collegiate athletes often, but certainly not always, prioritize athletic participation over their academic responsibilities (Miller and Kerr, 2002 ; Cosh and Tully, 2014 , 2015 ). Nonetheless, scholarships are usually predicated on both athletic and academic performance. For instance, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requires collegiate athletes to achieve and maintain a certain grade point average (GPA). Furthermore, they are also often required to also uphold a certain GPA to maintain an athletic scholarship. The pressure to maintain both high levels of academic and athletic performance may increase the likelihood of triggering mental health issues (i.e., anxiety and depression) (Li et al., 2017 ; Moreland et al., 2018 ).

Mental health issues are a significant concern among college students. There has been an increased emphasis placed on the mental health of collegiate athletes in recent years (Petrie et al., 2014 ; Li et al., 2017 , 2019 ; Reardon et al., 2019 ). Based on the 2019 National College Health Assessment survey from the American College Health Association (ACHA) consisting of 67,972 participants, 27.8% of college students reported anxiety, and 20.2% reported experiencing depression which negatively affected their academic performance (American College Health Association American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment II, 2019 ). Approximately 65.7% (50.7% males and 71.8% females) reported feeling overwhelming anxiety in the past 12 months, and 45.1% (37.1% males and 47.6% females) reported feeling so depressed that it was difficult for them to function. However, only 24.3% (13% males and 28.4% females) reported being diagnosed and treated by a professional in the past 12 months. Collegiate athletes are not immune to these types of issues. According to information presented by the NCAA, many certified athletic trainers anecdotally state that anxiety is an issue affecting the collegiate-athlete population (NCAA, 2014 ). However, despite the fact that collegiate athletes are exposed to numerous stressors, they are less likely to seek help at a university counseling center than non-athletes (NCAA, 2014 ), which could be related to stigmas that surround mental health services (NCAA, 2014 ; Kaier et al., 2015 ; Egan, 2019 ). This not only has significant implications related to their psychological well-being, but also their physiological health, and consequently their performance. For instance, in a study by Li et al. ( 2017 ) it was found that NCAA Division I athletes who reported preseason anxiety symptoms had a 2.3 times greater injury incidence rate compared to athletes who did not report. This same study discovered that male athletes who reported preseason anxiety and depression had a 2.1 times greater injury incidence, compared to male athletes who did not report symptoms of anxiety and depression. (Lavallée and Flint, 1996 ) also reported a correlation between anxiety and both injury frequency and severity among college football players ( r = 0.43 and r = 0.44, respectively). In their study, athletes reporting high tension/anxiety had a higher rate of injury. It has been suggested that the occurrence of stress and anxiety may cause physiological responses, such as an increase in muscle tension, physical fatigue, and a decrease in neurocognitive and perception processes that can lead to physical injuries (Ivarsson et al., 2017 ). For this reason, it is reasonable to consider that academic stressors may potentiate effects of stress and result in injury and illness in collegiate athletes.

Periods of more intense academic stress increase the susceptibility to illness or injury (Mann et al., 2016 ; Hamlin et al., 2019 ; Li et al., 2019 ). For example, Hamlin et al. ( 2019 ) investigated levels of perceived stress, training loads, injury, and illness incidence in 182 collegiate athletes for the period of one academic year. The highest levels of stress and incidence of illness arise during the examination weeks occurring within the competitive season. In addition, the authors also reported the odds ratio, which is the occurrence of the outcome of interest (i.e., injury), based off the given exposure to the variables of interest (i.e., perceived mood, sleep duration, increased academic stress, and energy levels). Based on a logistic regression, they found that each of the four variables (i.e., mood, energy, sleep duration, and academic stress) was related to the collegiate athletes' likelihood to incur injuries. In summary, decreased levels of perceived mood (odds ratio of 0.89, 0.85–0.0.94 CI) and sleep duration (odds ratio of 0.94, 0.91–0.97 CI), and increased academic stress (odds ratio of 0.91, 0.88–0.94 CI) and energy levels (odds ratio of 1.07, 1.01–1.14 CI), were able to predict injury in these athletes. This corroborates Mann et al. ( 2016 ) who found NCAA Division I football athletes at a Bowl Championship Subdivision university were more likely to become ill or injured during an academically stressful period (i.e., midterm exams or other common test weeks) than during a non-testing week (odds ratio of 1.78 for high academic stress). The athletes were also less likely to get injured during training camp (odds ratio of 3.65 for training camp). Freshmen collegiate athletes may be especially more susceptible to mental health issues than older students. Their transition includes not only the academic environment with its requirements and expectations, but also the adaptation to working with a new coach and teammates. In this regard, Yang et al. ( 2007 ) found an increase in the likelihood of depression that freshmen athletes experienced, as these freshmen were 3.27 times more likely to experience depression than their older teammates. While some stressors are recurrent and inherent in academic life (e.g., attending classes, homework, etc.), others are more situational (e.g., exams, midterms, projects) and may be anticipated by the strength and conditioning coach.

Athletic Stress

The domain of athletics can expose collegiate athletes to additional stressors that are specific to their cohort (e.g., sport-specific, team vs. individual sport) (Aquilina, 2013 ). Time spent training (e.g., physical conditioning and sports practice), competition schedules (e.g., travel time, missing class), dealing with injuries (e.g., physical therapy/rehabilitation, etc.), sport-specific social support (e.g., teammates, coaches) and playing status (e.g., starting, non-starter, being benched, etc.) are just a few of the additional challenges collegiate athletes must confront relative to their dual role of being a student and an athlete (Maloney and McCormick, 1993 ; Scott et al., 2008 ; Etzel, 2009 ; Fogaca, 2019 ). Collegiate athletes who view the demands of stressors from academics and sports as a positive challenge (i.e., an individual's self-confidence or belief in oneself to accomplish the task outweighs any anxiety or emotional worry that is felt) may potentially increase learning capacity and competency (NCAA, 2014 ). However, when these demands are perceived as exceeding the athlete's capacity, this stress can be detrimental to the student's mental and physical health as well as to sport performance (Ivarsson et al., 2017 ; Li et al., 2017 ).

As previously stated, time management has been shown to be a challenge to collegiate athletes. The NCAA rules state that collegiate athletes may only engage in required athletic activities for 4 h per day and 20 h/week during in-season and 8 h/week during off-season throughout the academic year. Although these rules have been clearly outlined, the most recent NCAA GOALS (2016) study reported alarming numbers regarding time commitment to athletic-related activities. Data from over 21,000 collegiate athletes from 600 schools across Divisions I, II, and III were included in this study. Although a breakdown of time commitments was not provided, collegiate athletes reported dedicating up to 34 h per week to athletics (e.g., practices, weight training, meetings with coaches, tactical training, competitions, etc.), in addition to spending between 38.5 and 40 h per week working on academic-related tasks. This report also showed a notable trend related to athletes spending an increase of ~2 more athletics-related hours per week compared to the 2010 GOALS study, along with a decrease of 2 h of personal time (from 19.5 h per week in 2010 to 17.1 in 2015). Furthermore, ~66% of Division I and II and 50% of Division III athletes reported spending as much or more time in their practices during the off-season as during the competitive season (DTHOMAS, 2013 ). These numbers show how important it is for collegiate athletes to develop time management skills to be successful in both academics and athletics. Overall, most collegiate athletes have expressed a need to find time to enjoy their college experience outside of athletic obligations (Paule and Gilson, 2010 ). Despite that, because of the increasing demand for excellence in academics and athletics, collegiate athletes' free time with family and friends is often scarce (Paule and Gilson, 2010 ). Consequently, trainers, coaches, and teammates will likely be the primary source of their weekly social interactivity.

Social interactions within their sport have also been found to relate to factors that may impact an athlete's perceived stress. Interactions with coaches and trainers can be effective or deleterious to an athlete. Effective coaching includes a coaching style that allows for a boost of the athlete's motivation, self-esteem, and efficacy in addition to mitigating the effects of anxiety. On the other hand, poor coaching (i.e., the opposite of effective coaching) can have detrimental psychological effects on an athlete (Gearity and Murray, 2011 ). In a closer examination of the concept of poor coaching practices, Gearity and Murray ( 2011 ) interviewed athletes about their experiences of receiving poor coaching. Following analysis of the interviews, the authors identified the main themes of the “coach being uncaring and unfair,” “practicing poor teaching inhibiting athlete's mental skills,” and “athlete coping.” They stated that inhibition of an athlete's mental skills and coping are associated with the psychological well-being of an athlete. Also, poor coaching may result in mental skills inhibition, distraction, insecurity, and ultimately team division (Gearity and Murray, 2011 ). This combination of factors may compound the negative impacts of stress in athletes and might be especially important for in injured athletes.

Injured athletes have previously been reported to have elevated stress as a result of heightened worry about returning to pre-competition status (Crossman, 1997 ), isolation from teammates if the injury is over a long period of time (Podlog and Eklund, 2007 ) and/or reduced mood or depressive symptoms (Daly et al., 1995 ). In addition, athletes who experience prolonged negative thoughts may be more likely to have decreased rehabilitation attendance or adherence, worse functional outcomes from rehabilitation (e.g., on measures of proprioception, muscular endurance, and agility), and worse post-injury performance (Brewer, 2012 ).

Monitoring Considerations

In addition to poor coaching, insufficient workload management can hinder an athlete's ability to recover and adapt to training, leading to fatigue accumulation (Gabbett et al., 2017 ). Excessive fatigue can impair decision-making ability, coordination and neuromuscular control, and ultimately result in overtraining and injury (Soligard et al., 2016 ). For instance, central fatigue was found to be a direct contributor to anterior cruciate ligament injuries in soccer players (Mclean and Samorezov, 2009 ). Introducing monitoring tools may serve as a means to reduce the detrimental effects of stress in collegiate athletes. Recent research on relationships between athlete workloads, injury, and performance has highlighted the benefits of athlete monitoring (Drew and Finch, 2016 ; Jaspers et al., 2017 ).

Athlete monitoring is often assessed with the measuring and management of workload associated with a combination of sport-related and non-sport-related stressors (Soligard et al., 2016 ). An effective workload management program should aim to detect excessive fatigue, identify its causes, and constantly adapt rest, recovery, training, and competition loads respectively (Soligard et al., 2016 ). The workload for each athlete is based off their current levels of physical and psychological fatigue, wellness, fitness, health, and recovery (Soligard et al., 2016 ). Accumulation of situational or physical stressors will likely result in day-to-day fluctuations in the ability to move external loads and strength train effectively (Fry and Kraemer, 1997 ). Periods of increased academic stress may cause increased levels of fatigue, which can be identified by using these monitoring tools, thereby assisting the coaches with modulating the workload during these specific periods. Coaches who plan to incorporate monitoring and management strategies must have a clear understanding of what they want to achieve from athlete monitoring (Gabbett et al., 2017 ; Thornton et al., 2019 ).

Monitoring External Loads

External load refers to the physical work (e.g., number of sprints, weight lifted, distance traveled, etc.) completed by the athlete during competition, training, and activities of daily living (Soligard et al., 2016 ). This type of load is independent of the athlete's individual characteristics (Wallace et al., 2009 ). Monitoring external loading can aid in the designing of training programs which mimic the external load demands of an athlete's sport, guide rehabilitation programs, and aid in the detection of spikes in external load that may increase the risk of injury (Clubb and McGuigan, 2018 ).

The means of quantifying external load can involve metrics as simple as pitch counts in baseball and softball (Fleisig and Andrews, 2012 ; Shanley et al., 2012 ) or quantifying lifting session training loads (e.g., sum value of weight lifted during an exercise x number of repetitions × the number of sets). Neuromuscular function testing is another more common way of analyzing external load. This is typically done using such measures such as the counter movement jump, squat jump, or drop jump. A force platform can be used to measure a myriad of outcomes (e.g., peak power, ground contact time, time to take-off, reactive strength index, and jump height), or simply measure jump height in a more traditional manner. Jumping protocols, such as the countermovement jump, have been adopted to examine the recovery of neuromuscular function after athletic competition with significant decreases for up to 72 h commonly reported (Andersson et al., 2008 ; Magalhães et al., 2010 ; Twist and Highton, 2013 ). (Gathercole et al., 2015 ) found reductions in 18 different neuromuscular variables in collegiate athletes following a fatiguing protocol. The variables of eccentric duration, concentric duration, total duration, time to peak force/power, and flight time:contraction time ratio, derived from a countermovement jump were deemed suitable for detecting neuromuscular fatigue with the rise in the use of technology for monitoring, certain sports have adopted specific software that can aid in the monitoring of stress. For example, power output can be measured using devices such as SRM™ or PowerTap™ in cycling (Jobson et al., 2009 ). This data can be analyzed to provide information such as average power or normalized power. The power output can then be converted into a Training Stress Score™ via commercially available software (Marino, 2011 ). More sophisticated measures of external load may involve the use of wearable technology devices such as Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, accelerometers, magnetometer, and gyroscope inertial sensors (Akenhead and Nassis, 2016 ). These devices can quantify external load in several ways, such as duration of movement, total distance covered, speed of movement, acceleration, and decelerations, as well as sport specific movement such as number and height of jumps, number of tackles, or breakaways, etc. (Akenhead and Nassis, 2016 ). The expansion of marketing of wearable devices has been substantial; however, there are questions of validity and reliability related to external load tracking limitations related to proprietary metrics, as well as the overall cost that should be considered when considering the adoption of such devices (Aughey et al., 2016 ; Torres-Ronda and Schelling, 2017 ).

Monitoring Internal Loads

While external load may provide information about an athlete's performance capacity and work completed, it does not provide clear evidence of how athletes are coping with and adapting to the external load (Halson, 2014 ). This type of information comes from the monitoring of internal loads. The term internal load refers to the individual physiological and psychological response to the external stress or load imposed (Wallace et al., 2009 ). Internal load is influenced by a number of factors such as daily life stressors, the environment around the athlete, and coping ability (Soligard et al., 2016 ). Indirect measures, such as the use of heart rate (HR) monitoring, and subjective measurements, such as perceived effort (i.e., ratings of perceived exertion), are examples of internal load monitoring. Using subjective measurement systems is a simple and practical method when dealing with large numbers of athletes (Saw et al., 2016 ; Nässi et al., 2017 ). Subjective reporting of training load (Rating of Perceived Exertion—RPE) (Coyne et al., 2018 ), Session Rating of Perceived Exertion—sRPE) (Coyne et al., 2018 ), perceived stress and recovery (Recovery Stress Questionnaire for Athletes—RESTQ-S), and psychological mood states (Profile of Mood States—POMS) have all been found to be a reliable indicator of training load (Robson-Ansley et al., 2009 ; Saw et al., 2016 ) and only take a few moments to complete. In addition, subjective measures can be more responsive to tracking changes or training responses in athletes than objective measures (Saw et al., 2016 ).

Heart rate (HR) monitoring is a common intrinsic measure of how the body is responding to stress. With training, the reduction of resting HR is typically a clear indication of the heart becoming more efficient and not having to beat as frequently. Alternately, increases of resting HR over time with a continuation of training may be an indicator of too much stress. Improper nutrition, such as regular or ongoing suboptimal intakes of vitamins or minerals, may result in increased ventilation and/or increased heart rate (Lukaski, 2004 ). It has been suggested that the additional stress may lead to parasympathetic hyperactivity, leading to an increase in resting HR (Statler and DuBois, 2016 ). This largely stems from research examining the sensitivity of various HR derived metrics, such as resting HR, HR variability (HRV), and HR recovery (HRR) to fluctuations in training load (Borresen and Ian Lambert, 2009 ). HRR in athlete monitoring is the rate of HR decline after the cessation of exercise. A common measure of HHR is the use of a 2 min step test followed by a 60 s HR measurement. The combination of the exercise (stress) on the cardiovascular system and then its subsequent return toward baseline has been used as an indicator of autonomic function and training status in athletes (Daanen et al., 2012 ). In collegiate athletes it was found that hydration status impacted HRR following moderate to hard straining sessions (Ayotte and Corcoran, 2018 ). Athletes who followed a prescription hydration plan performed better in the standing long jump, tracked objects faster, and showed faster HRR vs. athletes who followed their normal self-selected hydration plan (Ayotte and Corcoran, 2018 ). To date, HR monitoring and the various derivatives have mainly been successful in detecting changes in training load and performance in endurance athletes (Borresen and Ian Lambert, 2009 ; Lamberts et al., 2009 ; Thorpe et al., 2017 ). Although heart rate monitoring can provide additional physiological insight for aerobic sessions or events, it thus far has not been found to be an accurate measurement for quantifying internal load during many explosive, short duration anaerobic activities (Bosquet et al., 2008 ).

A multitude of studies have reported the reliability and validity of using RPE and sRPE across a range of training modalities (Foster, 1998 ; Impellizzeri et al., 2004 ; Sweet et al., 2004 ). This measure can be used to create a number of metrics such as session load (sRPE × duration in minutes), daily load (sum of all session loads for that day), weekly training load (sum of all daily training loads for entire week), monotony (standard deviation of weekly training load), and strain (daily or weekly training load × monotony) (Foster, 1998 ). Qualitative questionnaires that monitor stress and fatigue have been well-established as tools to use with athletes (see Table 1 for examples of commonly used questionnaires in research). Using short daily wellness questionnaires may allow coaches to generate a wellness score which then can be adjusted based off of the stress the athlete may be feeling to meet the daily load target (Foster, 1998 ; Robson-Ansley et al., 2009 ). However, strength and conditioning coaches need to be mindful that these questionnaires may require sports psychologist or other licensed professional to examine and provide the results. An alternative that may be better suited for strength and conditioning professionals to use could be to incorporate some of the themes of those questionnaires into programing.

Overview of common tool/measures used by researchers to monitor training load.

A Multifaceted Approach

Dissociation between external and internal load units may be indicative of the state of fatigue of an athlete. Utilizing a monitoring system in which the athlete is able to make adjustments to their training loads in accordance with how they are feeling in that moment can be a useful tool for assisting the athlete in managing stress. Auto-regulation is a method of programming that allows for adjustments based on the results of one or more readiness tests. When implemented properly, auto regulation enables the coach or athlete to optimize training based on the athlete's given readiness for training on a particular day, thereby aiming to avoid potential overtraining (Kraemer and Fleck, 2018 ). Several studies have found that using movement velocity to designate resistance training intensities can result in significant improvements in maximal strength and athletic performance (Pareja-Blanco et al., 2014 , 2017 ; Mann et al., 2015 ). Velocity based training allows the coach and athlete to view real time feedback for the given lifts, thereby allowing them to observe how the athlete is performing in that moment. If the athlete is failing to meet the prescribed velocity or the velocity drops greater than a predetermined amount between sets, then this should signal the coach to investigate. If there is a higher than normal amount of stress on that athlete for the day, that could be a potential reason. This type of combination style program of using a quantitative or objective measurement (s) and a subjective measure of wellness (qualitative questionnaire) has recently been reported to be an effective tool in monitoring individuals apart of a team (Starling et al., 2019 ). The subjective measure in this study was the readiness to train questionnaire (RTT-Q) and the objective measures were the HRR 6min test (specifically the HRR 60s = recorded as decrease in HR in the 60 s after termination of the test) to assess autonomic function and the standing long jump (SLJ) to measure neuromuscular function. The findings found that, based on the absolute typical error of measurement, the HRR 60s and SLJ could detect medium and large changes in fatigue and readiness. The test took roughly 8 min for the entire team, which included a group consisting of 24 college-age athletes. There are many other combinations of monitoring variables and strategies that coaches and athletes may utilize.

Data Analysis – How to Utilize the Measures

Regardless of what type of monitoring tool a coach or athlete may incorporate, it is essential to understand how to analyze this data. There are excellent resources available which discuss this topic in great detail (Gabbett et al., 2017 ; Clubb and McGuigan, 2018 ; Thornton et al., 2019 ). This section will highlight two main conclusions from these sources and briefly describe two of the main statistical practices and concepts discussed. The use of z-scores or modified z-scores has been proposed as a method of detecting meaningful change in athlete data (Clubb and McGuigan, 2018 ; Thornton et al., 2019 ). For different monitoring tools listed in Table 1 , the following formula would be an example of how to assess changes: (Athlete daily score—Baseline score)/Standard deviation of baseline. The baseline would likely be based off an appropriate period such as the scores across 2 weeks during the preseason.

In sports and sports science, the use of a magnitude-based inference (MBI) has been suggested as more appropriate and easier to understand when examining meaningful changes in athletic data, than null-hypothesis significance testing (NHST) (Buchheit, 2014 ). Additional methods to assess meaningful change that are similar to MBI are using standard deviation, typical error, effect sizes, smallest worthwhile change (SWC), and coefficient of variation (Thornton et al., 2019 ). It should be noted that all of these methods have faced criticism from sources such as statisticians. It is important to understand that the testing methods, measurements, and analysis should be based on the resources and intended goals from use, which will differ from every group and individual. Once identified, it is up to the practitioner to keep this system the same, in order to collect data that can then be examined to understand meaningful information for each setting (Thornton et al., 2019 ).

Managing and Coping Strategies

Once the collegiate-athlete has been able to identify the need to balance their stress levels, the athlete may then need to seek out options for managing their stress. Coaches are be able to assist them by sharing information on health and wellness resources available for the students, both on and off campus. Another way a coach can potentially support their athletes is by establishing an open-door policy, wherein the team members feel comfortable approaching a member of the strength and conditioning staff in order to seek out resources for coping with challenges related to stress.

There are some basic skills that strength and conditioning coaches can teach (while staying within their scope of practice). Coaches can introduce their athletes to basic lifestyle concepts, such as practicing deep breathing techniques, positive self-talk, and developing healthy sleep habits (i.e., turning off their mobile devices 1 h before bed and aiming for 8 h of sleep each night, etc.). A survey of strength and conditioning practitioners by Radcliffe et al. ( 2015 ) found that strategies used by practitioners included a mix of cognitive and behavioral strategies, which was used as justification for recommending practitioners find opportunities to guide professional development toward awareness strategies. Practitioners reported using a wide variety of psychological skills and strategies, which following survey analysis, highlighted a significant emphasis on strategies that may influence athlete self-confidence and goal setting. Themes identified by Radcliffe et al. ( 2015 ) included confidence building, arousal management, and skill acquisition. Additionally, similar lower level themes that are connected (i.e., goal setting, increasing, or decreasing arousal intensities, self-talk, mental imagery) are all discussed in the 4th edition of the NSCA Essentials of Strength and Conditioning book (Haff et al., 2016 ). When the interventions aiming to improve mental health expand from basic concepts to mental training beyond a coach's scope, it would be pertinent for the coach to refer the collegiate-athlete to a sport psychology or other mental health consultant (Fogaca, 2019 ). Moreover, strength and conditioning coaches may find themselves in a position to become key players in facilitating management strategies for collegiate athletes, thereby guiding the athlete in their quest to learn how to best manage the mental and physical energy levels required in the quest for overall optimal performance (Statler and DuBois, 2016 ).

Conclusion and Future Directions

This review article has summarized some of the ways that strength and conditioning professionals may be able to gain a better understanding of the types of stressors encountered by collegiate athletes, the impact these stressors may have on athletic performance, and suggestions for assisting athletes with developing effective coping strategies to reduce the potential negative physiological and psychological impacts of stress. It has been suggested that strategies learned in the context of training may have a carry-over effect into other areas such as competition. More education is needed in order for strength and conditioning professionals to gain a greater understanding of how to support their athletes with stress-management techniques and resources. Some ways to disseminate further education on stress-management tools for coaches to share with their athletes may include professional development events, such as conferences and clinics.

Author Contributions

All of the authors have contributed to the development of the manuscript both in writing and conceptual development.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The handling editor declared a past collaboration with one of the authors RL.

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Athletics or Academics? An Analysis of Student-Athlete Collegiate Priorities

Journal Title

Journal issn, volume title, repository usage stats.

This thesis examines the academic and athletic priorities of collegiate student-athletes, using Duke University as a case study. Analyses of information collected through online surveys (N= 151) and in-person interviews (N=8) suggest that both non-revenue athletes and revenue athletes value their academics more than athletics. However, comparisons of the two groups indicate that non-revenue athletes value their academics slightly more than do revenue athletes. Revenue athletes struggle with short-term academic goals, such as studying outside of class and turning academic coursework in before the deadline. These findings suggest the need for more effective support policies to help revenue athletes devote more time to their academic courses.

Description

Mendes, Lexi (2016). Athletics or Academics? An Analysis of Student-Athlete Collegiate Priorities . Honors thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11534 .

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Dukes student scholarship is made available to the public using a Creative Commons Attribution / Non-commercial / No derivative (CC-BY-NC-ND) license .

• Undergraduate Honors Thesis

Student Athlete Personal Branding and the impact of the name, image, and likeness (NIL) legislation Public Deposited

Downloadable content.

• Student Athlete Personal Branding

This study integrates perspectives from professionals working within college sports as well as student athletes to provide a deeper understanding of the aspects that comprise and impact athletes’ individual branding efforts at the collegiate level. In addition, the study offers insight into how the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) proposed name, image, and likeness (NIL) legislation will affect personal branding among student athletes. The data was collected through a series of one-on-one virtual interviews with both student athletes and current/former employees within college athletics. Different interview guides were developed for the two subgroups of interviewees. Also, a handful of questions were tailored to the interviewees based on their background and particular role within their sport or athletic department. Overall, the questions touched on personal branding efforts, social media use, education surrounding the name, image, and likeness (NIL) legislation, personal branding, and the impact of personal branding and NIL on recruiting within college athletics. By combining the two perspectives, this study offers insight into athlete personal branding at the college level and how athletic departments have responded to the rise in prominence of individualized branding among college athletes. Furthermore, the interview data and analysis further advance the definition of a brand and the elements that comprise a personal brand.

• Bender, Adam
• Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design
• Ganga, Harsha
• Ferrucci, Patrick
• Hopp, Tobias
• University of Colorado Boulder
• Name, Image, and Likeness
• In Copyright
• English [eng]
• Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 International

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• College of Media, Communication & Information Honors Theses

Should College Athletes Be Paid? Essay Example, with Outline

Published by gudwriter on November 23, 2017 November 23, 2017

Here is an essay example on whether college athletes should be paid or not. We explore the pros and cons and conclude that college students have a right to be paid.

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Should College Athletes Be Paid Essay Outline

Introduction.

Thesis: College students should be paid given the nature and organization of college athletics.

Reasons Why College Athletes Should Be Paid

Paragraph 1:

Since college athletics programs are geared towards turning a profit at the end in terms of the revenue generated during the programs, it would only be fair to pay the athletes involved.

• Some of the revenues should be passed to the people who actually cause the fans to come to the pitch, the players.
• The NCCA should consider passing regulations that control the compensation made to coaches so that they do not get paid salaries that are unnecessarily high.

Paragraph 2:

Paying college athletes would also limit or even end corruption from such external influences as agents and boosters.

• Bribing players kills the spirit of whatever game they are involved because they would be playing to the tune of the bribe they receive.
• If they cannot get well compensated by their respective parent institutions, a player would be easily lured into corruption.

Paragraph 3:

Student athletes are subjected to huge workloads that only make it fair that they get paid.

• They are required to regularly attend physical therapy, weight trainings, team meetings, film sessions, and practice for the various sports they take part in.
• They are still required to attend all classes without fail and always post good grades

Reasons Why College Athletes Should Not Be Paid

Paragraph 4:

Paying college athletes would remove their competitive nature and the passion they have for the games they participate in.

• It would culminate into a situation where the only motive the athletes have for playing is money and not the sportsman drive of winning games and trophies.
• The hunger and passion usually shown in college sports would be traded for “lackadaisical plays and half-ass efforts that we sometime see from pros.”

Paragraph 5:

Paying college athletes would also lead to the erosion of the connection between athlete students and college values.

• College sports would be effectively reduced to a market where students who are yet to join college and are talented in sports are won over by the highest bidding institution.
• A student would join a college not for its values in academics and social values but because it offers the best compensation perks in sports.

Intercollegiate athletic competitions continue to grow and gain more prominence in the US. The NCAA and the institutions of higher learning involved continue to make high profits from college athletic programs. College athletes deserve being paid because without them, college sports would not be existent.  

Crucial question to explore; describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity .

Essay on “Should College Athletes Be Paid?”

College athletics is a prominent phenomenon in the United States of America and is controlled and regulated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Association is non-profit and is in charge of organizing the athletic programs of many higher learning institutions including universities and colleges. From the programs, the Association reaps significant revenues which it distributes to the institutions involved in spite of it being a non-profit organization. Noteworthy, the participants in the athletic programs from which the revenues are accrued are college students. This scenario has led to the emergence of the question of whether or not college students deserve being paid for their participation. This paper argues that college athletes should be paid given the nature and organization of college athletics.

Since college athletics programs are geared towards turning a profit at the end in terms of the revenue generated during the programs, it would only be fair to pay the athletes involved. “A report by  CNN’s Chris Isidore  in March 2015 named the Louisville Cardinals as the NCAA’s most profitable college basketball team for the 2013-14 season…” (Benjamin, 2017). Additionally, the programs have attracted huge coaching salaries which continue rising, with a basketball coach getting as high as $7.1 million in salaries. So, would it not be prudent to pass some of these revenues to the people who actually cause the fans to come to the pitch, the players? The NCCA should consider passing regulations that control the compensation made to coaches so that they do not get paid salaries that are unnecessarily high. This would allow for some part of the revenue to be channeled to compensating the players and give more meaning to collegiate athletics.

Paying college athletes would also limit or even end corruption from such external influences as agents and boosters. “Over the years we have seen and heard scandals involving players taking money and even point-shaving” (Lemmons, 2017). Bribing players kills the spirit of whatever game they are involved in because they would be playing to the tune of the bribe they would have received. But again, if they cannot get well compensated by their respective parent institutions, a player would be easily lured into corruption. It should be noted that since it is some sort of business, an institution would do all within its reach to enable its college sports team(s) win matches and even trophies, including bribing players of opponent teams. The most effective way of curbing this practice is to entitle every player to a substantial compensation amount for their services to college athletics teams.

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Further, student athletes are subjected to huge workloads that only make it fair that they get paid. They are required to regularly attend physical therapy, weight trainings, team meetings, film sessions, and practice for the various sports they take part in. On top of all that, they are still required to attend all classes without fail and always post good grades (Thacker, 2017). Is this not too much to ask for from somebody who gets nothing in terms of monetary compensation? Take a situation whereby an athlete gets out of practice at about 7 pm and has got a sit-in paper to take the following day. He or she is expected to study just as hard as every other student in spite of being understandably tired from the practice. It beats logic how a student in such a tight situation is expected to get all their work successfully done. It becomes even less sensible when it is considered that these students still have a social life to make time for (Thacker, 2017). Being paid for this hectic schedule may give them the motivation they need to keep going each day despite the toll the schedule takes on them.

Paying college athletes would remove their competitive nature and the passion they have for the games they participate in. It would culminate into a situation where the only motive the athletes have for playing is money and not the sportsman drive of winning games and trophies. As noted by Lemmons (2017), the hunger and passion usually shown in college sports would be traded for “lackadaisical plays and half-ass efforts that we sometime see from pros.” College sports would morph into full blown business ventures whereby the athletes are like employees and the colleges the employers. Participation in a sport would become more important for students than the actual contribution their participation makes to the sport. Moreover, students would want to take part not in sports in which they are richly talented but in sports that can guarantee better payment.

Paying college athletes would also lead to the erosion of the connection between athlete students and college values. “If a high-school football prodigy reported that he chose Michigan not for its academic quality, tradition, or beautiful campus but because it outbid all other suitors, a connection to the university’s values would be lost” (Yankah, 2015). College sports would be effectively reduced to a market where students who are yet to join college and are talented in sports are won over by the highest bidding institution. The implication is that a student would join a college not for its values in academics and social values but because it offers the best compensation perks in sports. It is clear here that the connection would purely be pegged on sports and payment. This will also turn colleges from grounds of molding future professionals to sports ventures.

Intercollegiate athletic competitions continue to grow and gain more prominence in the US. The NCAA and the institutions of higher learning involved continue to make high profits from college athletic programs. There are even coaches whose salaries for offering their services to college sports teams run into millions of dollars. Yet, those who work so hard so that this revenue can be realized are sidelined when it comes to payment. College athletes deserve being paid because without them, college sports would not be existent. It is thus less logical to continue engaging them while they do not enjoy the proceeds from their work.

Benjamin, J. (2017). “ Is it time to start paying college athletes? Tubby Smith and Gary Williams weigh in” . Forbes . Retrieved 21 November 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbenjamin/2017/04/04/is-it-time-to-start-paying-college-athletes/#72b48b3af71f

Lemmons, M. (2017). “ College athletes getting paid? Here are some pros and cons” . HuffPost . Retrieved 21 November 2017, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/college-athletes-getting-paid-here-are-some-pros-cons_us_58cfcee0e4b07112b6472f9a

Thacker, D. (2017). Amateurism vs. capitalism: a practical approach to paying college athletes.  Seattle Journal for Social Justice , 16(1), 183-216.

Yankah, E. (2015). “ Why N.C.A.A. athletes shouldn’t be paid” . The New Yorker . Retrieved 21 November 2017, from https://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/why-ncaa-athletes-shouldnt-be-paid

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University of Lynchburg

May 15, 2024

Athlete on the track to a future in sports broadcasting

Sam Graham’s tenure at the University of Lynchburg exemplifies a balanced pursuit of academic excellence and athletic commitment. During his collegiate years, the Lewisville, North Carolina, native and member of Lynchburg’s Class of 2024 has navigated a diverse array of academic and extracurricular avenues.

Graham’s degree is in communication studies , with an emphasis in convergent journalism, complemented by a minor in English. Throughout his academic journey, he says he has been guided by dedicated faculty members, notably Dr. Ghislaine Lewis, whose mentorship has contributed to his professional development.

“Dr. Lewis has had the largest impact on me, as I have taken numerous classes with her as she has guided me through my convergent journalism emphasis,” Graham said. “She has fostered my interest in reporting and journalism.”

Likewise, Lewis shared her own experience with Graham in her classroom. “He was always a joy to have in the classroom. He was inquisitive, always prepared, and genuinely enjoyed the work of being a student journalist,” she said.

In addition to his communication studies major, Graham is a Westover Honors Fellow . Recently, he completed his thesis on journalistic integrity in podcasting. As he puts it, it gave him the chance and ability to “fully develop the thesis into something I was happy with and I was able to get a little further than the surface level.”

With his future plans, internship experience, and classroom research, journalistic integrity was the natural subject for his thesis.

“As a newer medium, there are still many who don’t take podcasting seriously from a critical perspective, which combined with low barriers of entry and sparse fact-checking and regulation, can become a breeding ground for misinformation in certain genres,” he said.

Graham’s commitment to Lynchburg doesn’t end there. Along with being an honors student, he was a member of Lynchburg’s cross country and track and field teams.

“I’ve met a lot of my best friends, seen some awesome places, and gotten to take place in a lot of unexpected experiences,” he said. “Our team is incredibly close and Jake Reed is the best coach I’ve ever had, across all sports.”

Graham’s love for sports guided him throughout his time at Lynchburg. In addition to competing in cross country and track, he also was involved in the Student Athletic Advisory Committee. He even became its president his senior year.

Athletics also led him to join the Lynchburg Hornets Sports Network and work as a reporter and analyst. The job entailed “writing assignments, such as recaps, previews, and blogs,” he said recently. “So, balancing those responsibilities with my academic load has been tough at times but incredibly rewarding.”

He added he is grateful for the opportunity to work for LHSN, as it has given him many friends and the experience “to travel around the state and country to see new things, meet new people, and gain valuable and applicable experience that I will take with me as I leave school this month.”

After graduating this week, Graham will go to Roanoke to work as a news reporter for WFXR, the local Fox station in the Roanoke/Lynchburg/Danville area. In addition, he plans to explore play-by-play broadcasting opportunities on the side.

His advice to future Hornets: “Don’t waste a second sitting on your hands and get out there and get active, in whatever form interests or sounds right to you. Be present where your feet are.”

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NFL Says They Do Not Agree with Harrison Butker's 'Views' in Graduation Speech, Are Committed to 'Inclusion'

Butker took aim at the LGBTQ+ community, working women, abortion rights and more in his controversial speech at Benedictine College

The NFL is batting down comments made by kicker Harrison Butker in the wake of his controversial commencement address.

In his speech at the graduation ceremony at Benedictine College on Saturday, May 11, the 28-year-old Georgia Tech alum took aim at the LGBTQ+ community, working women, abortion rights and more, drawing heavy criticism.

Commenting on Butker's speech for the first time May 15, the NFL said that his views differ from those of the organization.

“Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity,” Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, tells PEOPLE in a written statement. “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”

During his speech, Butker opined on various “diabolical lies told to women,” and offered his take on abortion, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy, as well as President Joe Biden . He also said Pride Month represented "deadly sins."

Then, seeking out the men in the audience, the athlete advised them to “be unapologetic in your masculinity," and to "fight against the cultural emasculation of men."

Butker’s comments were met with widespread disapproval.

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Former Kansas City commissioner Justice Horn slammed Butker in a post, writing , "Harrison Butker doesn’t represent Kansas City nor has he ever. Kansas City has always been a place that welcomes, affirms, and embraces our LGBTQ+ community members."

Others took issues with Butker for referencing Taylor Swift — who has long been an ally of the LGBTQ+ community.

"One of the worst parts of this NFL player's awful speech is that he quoted a Taylor Swift song before telling women they should be homemakers and serve their man's career,” OutSports said in a post on X. 

Butker also singled out the female graduates, and then effectively put them down.

"For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment," he began. "I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you."

He continued, “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world."

Flavor Flav, who stood up as recently as last week for women by sponsoring the Olympic water polo team, had issues with the kicker’s alignment.

“Sounds like some players 'need to stay in their lanes' and shouldn’t be giving commencement speeches," the founding member of Public Enemy and longtime Swiftie wrote on X .

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6 brackenridge high school student-athletes sign letters of intent to make impact at college level, countless student-athletes from greater san antonio area are making their mark at college level.

Mary Rominger , KSAT Sports Anchor/Reporter

SAN ANTONIO – Countless student-athletes from the Greater San Antonio area are making their mark at the college level, and the list continues to grow at Brackenridge High School. On Thursday, the Eagles saw six of their standout student-athletes sign letters of intent to compete at the collegiate level.

Jesse Valdillez signed his letter of intent to play baseball at Our Lady of the Lake University.

Gavin Perez committed to joining the Schreiner University baseball program.

Wrestler Dominic Gamez will also take his talents to Schreiner University. Gamez, who has signature blue hair, said his aggressive wrestling style is what helped him get noticed by colleges.

“Outside of the mat, I’m kind of a quiet and shy person, but on the mat, if I’m quiet and shy, they will hurt me,” Gamez said. “So I flip a switch and get into an aggressive mode. I believe that’s why I got the call.”

Brackenridge girls’ basketball stars Fatima Gloria and Alasia Brown had the opportunity to play college basketball together at Kansas Northwest Technical College. The dynamic duo is thrilled to continue their careers in the same program.

“I’m very excited,” Gloria said. “She has been my basketball buddy since middle school. We followed each other all the way through high school, and it’s a great opportunity to get to play with her at the college level.”

“As soon as I found out I was going to be able to play with (Fatima), I was like, ‘Sign me up, I’m ready,’” Brown said. “I’m very excited.”

Star distance runner Jayden Gonzalez will stay close to home to compete in the UTSA women’s cross country and track and field programs.

“It was an emotional day,” Gonzalez said. “A year ago, I didn’t think I’d be here right now. I put in a lot of work my senior year and I’m super grateful that I get to experience this and get the opportunity to run in college.”

Read more reporting and watch highlights and full games on the Big Game Coverage page .

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Mary rominger.

Mary Rominger is KSAT 12 Sports' first full-time female sports anchor and reporter. She came to San Antonio from Mankato, Minn., where she worked as a weekend sports anchor at KEYC News Now. She has a journalism degree from Iowa State University and grew up in Southern California. Mary enjoys golfing, sports and finding new spots around town.

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NFL distances itself from Chiefs’ Harrison Butker’s Benedictine College speech

In response to the controversy surrounding Harrison Butker’s commencement speech at Benedictine College, the NFL distanced itself from the ideas expressed in the speech, saying the league doesn’t share the beliefs the Kansas City Chiefs kicker voiced while addressing the graduating students.

During the commencement speech, Butker referred to Pride Month as an example of the “deadly sins.” He also addressed gender ideologies and said a woman’s most important title is “homemaker.”

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“Not the deadly sins sort of Pride that has an entire month dedicated to it,” Butker said, “but the true God-centered pride that is cooperating with the holy ghost to glorify him.”

Butker spoke for more than 20 minutes to students at the Catholic school in Atchison, Kan., saying he wanted the graduating class to prevent political leaders from interfering with social issues that impact their relationship with the church.

In response, NFL senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer Jonathan Beane said in a statement to The Athletic that Butker gave the speech “in his personal capacity.”

“His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger,” Beane said. His statement was first reported by People.

The Chiefs declined to comment when reached Thursday by The Athletic .

While Pride Month, which is in June, falls outside the NFL’s season, the league participates in LGBTQ+ initiatives. On the Wednesday before Super Bowl LVIII, the NFL hosted a “Night of Pride” event in partnership with GLAAD, the LGBTQ+ advocacy organization.

The Chiefs are among the NFL teams that have a Pride selection of apparel with rainbow colors. Kansas City is also among the many North American cities that host Pride events during June, led by the KC Pride Community Alliance.

Later Thursday, legendary college football coach and TV analyst Lou Holtz took to X to thank Butker “for standing strong in your faith values.”

“Your commencement speech at Benedictine College showed courage and conviction and I admire that,” Holtz wrote, later linking to a form from America First Works for people to sign and offer their thanks to Butker for his comments.

Required reading

• Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker says Pride Month is example of ‘deadly sin’ during commencement speech

(Photo: Ric Tapia / Getty Images)

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Tess DeMeyer is a Staff Editor for The Athletic working on the live/breaking news team. Prior to joining The Athletic, she worked as an associate digital producer at Sports Illustrated. Tess attended Brown University and originates from a small town outside of Savannah, GA. Follow Tess on Twitter @ tess_demeyer

Exclusive records show Nevada athletics ran afoul of Title IX. Its leaders shrugged.

Many hours they should have spent practicing, Aaliyah Rivas and her teammates roamed the University of Nevada, Reno softball field carrying shovels and buckets instead of bats and balls.

The athletic department rarely maintained the field. So plowing snow, pulling weeds and picking rocks, trash and goose poop out of the grass fell to coaches and players. 

The team had complained for years about its dilapidated facilities. The dugout toilets didn’t flush. The field lacked lights, which meant games could be played only in the daytime, when many fans were in class or working.

Its locker room – a 10-foot-wide converted metal shipping container – lacked running water and the doors didn’t lock. Many players changed into their uniforms in their cars. 

The Nevada baseball team suffered none of those problems. Its field was well-maintained with artificial turf and stadium lights. Its spacious clubhouse featured bathrooms and showers, coach and player lounges, indoor batting cages and pitching mounds, a medical training room and a fitness area.

It was all a sad wake-up call for Rivas, whose lifelong goal had been to play NCAA Division I sports. 

“You’d expect that at a D-I university, it would be different,” she said. “But women’s sports still got the bare minimum.”

The college was among many whose athletic departments had made progress toward treating male and female players more equitably in the decades after the enactment of Title IX, the landmark 1972 federal law that banned sex discrimination in schools. 

But that progress all but stopped in 2013 under a new athletic director, Doug Knuth. Although he is not broadly known in the world of college athletics, Knuth’s impact was crushing for female athletes at Nevada, and he has since amassed significant power over the future of women’s sports on a national scale. 

Knuth, who left the university in 2022, declined to be interviewed or answer questions for this story. In an emailed statement, he defended his track record, suggesting he was dealt a bad hand from the start.

“I am and always have been an advocate for women’s athletics throughout my career as a leader in college athletics,” Knuth said in his statement. “During my tenure at Nevada, I led several initiatives to help solve decades-long issues of inequality that predated my time at the university.”

USA TODAY interviewed more than two dozen current and former Nevada athletes and employees and reviewed thousands of pages of emails, equity reviews, facility plans, financial reports, fundraising records and other documents obtained via public records requests. 

Multiple internal assessments since 2018 pinpoint disparities that put not just softball, but virtually every Nevada women’s team at a disadvantage in a wide range of areas, including facilities, recruiting, meals, travel, equipment, publicity and access to medical treatment.

USA TODAY Investigation: Funding of college sports falls short of law’s promise to women

The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation into Nevada athletics in 2019 for allegedly violating Title IX. Even with outside eyes on them, the school’s top officials, including the president, did little to address the problems. 

When university leaders send a message that women don’t matter, women come to accept and expect unfair treatment, which is how cultures of sexism and discrimination perpetuate, said Elizabeth Taylor, a Temple University professor who studies diversity and inclusion in the sport industry. 

“It forces women to wonder why they would continue to report or try to fight in a system where they’re not supported,” Taylor said. “So they just continue to operate in these spaces where they are mistreated.”

Recently, under a new president and athletic director, Nevada has started closing the athletic gaps. But former school leaders allowed the problems to fester for so long – while funneling money toward luxuries for men’s teams – that full solutions are now tens of millions of dollars out of reach. 

Workplace complaints dog new athletic director

About 50 people gathered in the auditorium of Legacy Hall on the UNR campus to hear from the three finalists for the athletic director job.

The winner would follow in some large footprints. Cary Groth, the school’s athletic director since 2004 and one of the first women to run an NCAA Division I program, was retiring after three decades in the industry.

Knuth, a former tennis captain at the University of Connecticut, brought 18 years of experience at five college athletic departments, most recently the University of Utah. 

He was the youngest candidate for the job at 40 and the only one with no experience running a Division I athletic department. But he sold himself on his fundraising prowess, intimate knowledge of the Mountain West Conference and “laser-like focus” on athlete well-being.

“My job is not a fundraiser,” Knuth said at the March 2013 public forum . “It’s all about how we transform lives.”

Knuth got the job. He wasted little time wooing wealthy Wolf Pack boosters. Within five years, Nevada cut the ribbon on a $14 million football stadium upgrade, new football locker room and player lounge, state-of-the-art basketball practice gym and six outdoor tennis courts.

Erik Musselman, a former NBA coach Knuth hired in 2015, led the Nevada men’s basketball team to three-straight Mountain West Conference titles and the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. A surge in ticket sales, sponsorships and licensing deals followed.

Revenue for the department reached $38 million by the 2018-19 school year, NCAA financial reports show – up $11 million since Knuth took over. University President Marc Johnson and the Board of Regents rewarded him, increasing his annual salary from $285,000 to $400,000.

“Doug has excelled in every expectation we’ve had for our department of intercollegiate athletics since his arrival,” Johnson said in a March 2016 press release.

Behind the scenes, however, complaints were stacking up about Knuth’s treatment of women in the workplace.

Several former employees complained that Knuth overwhelmingly hired men for major roles, paid men more than women who were equally or more qualified, and routinely excluded women from meetings, trips and other opportunities, according to interviews, emails and other documents. 

The university hired a local law firm in 2018 to investigate allegations that Knuth created a hostile work environment for women, according to invoices and former employees. Among those interviewed by the firm was Carol Scott, who had been Nevada’s team physician since 1994. 

Scott told USA TODAY that Knuth did not meet with her for weeks after he started, despite her requests. Later, she said she heard that he was uncomfortable with a woman in the football locker room. He ignored her medical advice, she said, and excluded her from eating with the team and riding on its bus.

Scott said she felt Knuth was trying to push her out. 

Eventually, it worked: Scott quit in 2015 and moved full-time to the student health center. Knuth hired two men to replace her.

“If it wasn’t so sad and so unfair, it would be laughable,” Scott said. “He was just allowed to get away with it over and over and over.”

The school also twice investigated allegations of an inappropriate relationship between Knuth and an assistant cheerleading coach who worked for the department from 2011 to 2018, Johnson, then the university president, told USA TODAY. 

By 2016, Knuth and the coach, Marci Banes – both then married to others – had become friendly, emails show. That May, Knuth invited her to stay with him during a two-day business trip to La Jolla, California, where he would be sleeping at a donor’s house. 

“Direct flight to/from for only $298,” Knuth wrote her in an email from his UNR account. “I’ll split it with you.” 

Knuth and Banes each divorced their spouses around late 2018, court and property records show. They married the following year.

According to Johnson, none of the investigations found Knuth violated any school rules.

Knuth, who is now athletic director at Southern Utah University, addressed the investigations in general terms in his emailed statement.

“All I can tell you is I fully participated and fully cooperated in every review or investigation,” Knuth wrote. “I answered every question, including about gender inequities and my wife. Through each and following each, I was never made aware of any wrongdoing and was cleared of all accusations.”

Banes, who now goes by Marci Knuth, did not respond to phone or email messages seeking comment. 

The university denied USA TODAY’s public records request for the investigation reports, citing a policy adopted by the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Board of Regents that broadly deems all personnel files confidential. 

Gender equity concerns reach fever pitch

As female employees spoke out about Knuth, frustrations over disparate treatment grew among Nevada’s female athletes.

Amid all the success for men’s sports, the women felt left behind.

Several women’s teams’ practice and competition facilities weren’t up to standard. That included the women’s indoor and outdoor track and field teams – Nevada does not sponsor men’s track and field – which account for more than 40% of the school’s roster spots for female athletes. 

Nevada’s outdoor track, which wraps around the football field, runs beneath bleachers added decades earlier for extra seating at football games. The resulting tunnel means runners disappear from sight for a few hundred feet each lap, rendering the track unsuitable for meets; the team must travel for every competition.

Women also run indoor track, a winter sport, even though the campus has no indoor track. They practiced outdoors, sometimes amid snow and ice, said Hiley Dobbs, who ran track and cross country for Nevada from 2016 to 2021. 

Although the athletic department’s maintenance team regularly plowed snow for football, Dobbs said track athletes several times had to shovel snow themselves.

“I remember our coach saying, ‘We’re a blue-collar team, we work hard,’” she said. “And I remember thinking that’s not something football or basketball would have to do. They don’t have to mop the floor of the gym.”

Locker rooms were another glaring problem. While 85% of male athletes had access to an exclusive locker room, only 17% of athletes on women’s teams did, a 2020 assessment by the school’s Title IX coordinator found. 

The women’s swimming and diving team’s locker room was open to the public – used by patrons of the school’s public pool.

The soccer, track and field, and cross country teams shared one locker room, which doubled as the locker room for visiting football teams. Forced to vacate it on football game days to make room for the visiting team’s men, the women sometimes returned to find their equipment damaged or stolen, according to a 2018 Title IX compliance review. 

Among the female athletes, women’s basketball players had it best. Their facilities were mostly on par with the men. But men’s basketball players got many more perks.

During Knuth’s tenure, the men’s team spent double what the women spent on travel – $4.8 million vs. $2.3 million, NCAA financial reports show. While Knuth had inherited a similar gap from his predecessor, under him, it widened. No other Mountain West Conference school spent more on its men’s team or had a bigger disparity. 

Men’s basketball regularly flew to and from games on specially chartered flights, which have no other passengers, layovers or security lines. The women almost always flew commercial, taking long bus rides to get to the cheapest airports.

Hotel folios show the men’s basketball team regularly purchased custom banquet-style buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Their breakfasts, which often featured a personal omelet chef, sometimes exceeded $100 per person. The women often bought groceries and ordered takeout.

Division I schools typically provide food to athletes, who burn thousands of calories a day. But food was scarce for Nevada female athletes. 

In 2019, the men’s basketball team started dining out on the athletic department’s dime three or more times a week at Archie’s Giant Hamburgers and Breakfast, a popular restaurant near campus, transaction records obtained by USA TODAY show – even during the off-season. The school paid for the women’s basketball team to eat at restaurants only on game days and while traveling.

A daily spread of healthy meals and snacks in the weight room was reserved only for the men.

The topic of equal treatment came up several times in discussions with coaches and administrators, said Sami Dinan, a Nevada women’s basketball player from 2016 to 2020. Each time, they responded that the men got more opportunities because they were nationally ranked, and the women’s team was not. 

“I don’t agree with it,” Dinan told USA TODAY. “If there was more investment, maybe we would have done better.”

Julia Jensen, a Nevada softball player from 2018 to 2021, was among those who voiced concerns about the unequal conditions facing female athletes. As president of the Wolf Pack’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, she met with Knuth regularly. 

Jensen and other athletes raised the issue at meetings, minutes show, and in year-end surveys. They even discussed the inequities in a Zoom meeting with the state’s senior U.S. senator, Catherine Cortez Masto.

“The administration knew our concerns and they had known them for a long time,” Jensen told USA TODAY. “We didn’t feel like it was asking too much.”

Federal government intervenes, then disappears

The letter landed with UNR President Marc Johnson on a Wednesday in 2019, the day before Halloween.

It came from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, the federal agency that enforces Title IX: The office had received a complaint against the Nevada athletic department. 

“The complainant alleged that the university discriminates, based on sex, against female student athletes,” it said, by failing to provide men’s and women’s teams comparable facilities and recruiting resources. “OCR will proceed with the investigation of these allegations because the allegations raise a possible violation of Title IX.”

It should have come as no surprise.

A year earlier, an outside law firm hired by the school to assess the athletic department’s Title IX compliance found several “areas of concern,” including with practice and competition facilities, locker rooms and nutrition.

The university had done little to address the issues, however. It commissioned some designs for facility upgrades and installed the shipping container at the softball field as a makeshift locker room. 

Faced with the potential of a full-blown federal investigation, the university opted to go another route. 

Before submitting any of the documents the Office for Civil Rights investigator requested, the university asked to voluntarily resolve the case – the administrative equivalent of a settlement. The federal agency agreed.

The agreement, signed in December 2019, required UNR to first conduct an internal assessment. The university’s then-Title IX coordinator, Maria Doucettperry, submitted a 26-page report in April 2020 that acknowledged significant gender gaps in facilities and recruiting. 

If the agency approved the assessment, the next step would have been for the university to develop and execute an action plan, with progress reports every six months. 

Education Department spokesperson Vanessa Harmoush declined to discuss what happened next with USA TODAY, saying the agency does not talk about cases that are under monitoring. 

But according to UNR spokesperson Scott Walquist, the university never heard back from the Office for Civil Rights, so it never developed or submitted its plan.

“Although OCR never accepted or responded to the review, the University has addressed a number of items within the report,” Walquist said. Among the upgrades around that time, the school added electricity and a new scoreboard to the softball field.

After USA TODAY contacted the Education Department for comment, the Office for Civil Rights on April 17 sent UNR its first correspondence in four years, saying it was “currently preparing a response” to the school’s 2020 assessment.

Complaints about women’s teams’ facilities were near constant during Johnson’s presidency from 2011 to 2020, he told USA TODAY. He said he was unwilling to spend taxpayer and tuition dollars on improvements unless they benefited all students, not just athletes. 

Johnson justified men’s basketball and football facility expansions during his tenure by noting they were largely donor-funded and necessary to increase revenue for the whole department, but he acknowledged that the lopsided approach could violate Title IX.

“If we were called on it or investigated and were given sanctions of some kind, we would have to respond,” Johnson said. “We had complaints, not sanctions.” 

“If I responded to every complaint I ever had,” he added, “I would just be responding to complaints all the time.”

Title IX campaign struggles amid fourth investigation 

In early October 2020, a new president took over at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Brian Sandoval, the state’s former two-term Republican governor, was briefed in his first weeks on campus about the athletic department’s gender inequity problems, he told USA TODAY. 

“Without exception,” he said, “every women’s sport needed help.”

Sandoval quickly addressed some of the lower-hanging fruit, launching a fund to provide meals to female athletes, commissioning new facility designs and raising the salaries of coaches of women’s teams – all below the conference median. 

There was little money, however, to address the department’s biggest facility deficiencies. The school faced a 12% pandemic-related budget cut from the Legislature. The athletic department was $9 million in debt and operating in the red, financial reports show .

Knuth started planning a fundraising campaign at Sandoval’s request in April 2021, emails show. Called Elevate, Knuth billed it as a celebration of Title IX’s upcoming 50th anniversary, according to draft campaign brochures. 

Early on, Knuth emailed top administrators a wish list of 23 “Title IX” facility projects in order of which was likely to happen soonest. The eight highest-priority projects all directly benefited football and men’s and women’s basketball. Most would do little to address the gender disparities; some would actually widen them. 

The No. 1 priority: Remodeling the football and soccer locker rooms.

The last priority? A new track for the women.

Two of the university’s vice presidents asked Knuth to re-rank the list in order of need. Knuth replied it was already in “priority order," adding that projects for virtually every sport – football, soccer, basketball, track, baseball, swimming, tennis and others – could be considered the highest priority.

“I’m not being flip,” Knuth wrote, “but every project is greatly needed.”

After a year courting donors, Elevate was scrapped. The campaign “and its supporting documentation/materials lacked the detail and specificity needed from Athletics to officially launch,” Sandoval told USA TODAY in an emailed statement.

It’s unclear how much money Knuth and his team of fundraisers raised during that time. In some internal documents, they claimed to have brought in more than $20 million. But that figure consisted mostly of pledges made prior to Elevate, and almost all of it was earmarked for projects primarily benefiting football, baseball, and men’s and women’s basketball and tennis. 

According to donation data provided by the university, Knuth as of April 2022 had raised little money for the teams that needed it the most: $30,000 toward a locker room for the women’s swimming and diving team; $23,000 for softball stadium upgrades; and nothing for women’s track. 

Meanwhile, Sandoval greenlit several of Knuth’s high-priority projects, including a new $12 million building for men’s and women’s basketball with swanky locker rooms and player lounges. Construction is underway.

As the Elevate campaign floundered, the university quietly conducted a fourth investigation into Knuth’s conduct toward women. 

A female athletic department employee complained to the university’s Title IX office in March 2021 that Knuth made disparaging comments about pregnant women. She accused the school of turning a “blind eye” toward Knuth’s sex discrimination in a letter her attorneys wrote to Sandoval that May. 

“While the above outlined issues have fallen on deaf ears in the past,” the letter said, “we remain hopeful that under your leadership these issues will finally be addressed.”

The school hired a Las Vegas law firm that June to investigate the woman’s claims, emails and invoices show.

One year later, the employee received a one-page letter from Doucettperry, the Title IX coordinator. No investigation report or rationale for the findings was attached – a standard practice at other universities. The university would not provide it to USA TODAY either, citing the same policy that deems personnel files confidential.

“A preponderance of the evidence does not support a conclusion that you or other University employees within the Athletics Department were subjected to unlawful discrimination, harassment or retaliation,” the May 2022 letter from Doucettperry said.

“The investigation is now closed.”

Knuth gets payout, new home and NCAA award

The sky was still dark when Nevada softball coaches and players arrived at their makeshift locker room early one morning in March 2022 to pick up their gear ahead of a crucial road series.

Inside the navy blue shipping container, they quickly discovered that thousands of dollars worth of bats, gloves, equipment bags and sunglasses had been stolen. 

The thieves appeared to have stayed a while. The team’s snacks had been eaten. A pair of pants and cheap camouflage glasses had been left behind. Several bags had been piled into a mattress of sorts. 

“There was a homeless person we thought was living in there,” said Rivas, then a sophomore on the team. 

A campus police investigation found no signs of forced entry and that the door locks didn’t work, emails show – even when latched, the doors could be pushed open. Linda Garza, the school’s softball coach, expressed concern for her players’ safety in an email to Knuth and others. 

The incident prompted Nevada athletes from several teams to speak publicly about the state of their facilities. Some posted on social media. The local news picked up the story . 

Two athletes met with Knuth to discuss their concerns, emails show. Knuth later told Sandoval that it was “a really good conversation.” 

Sandoval wasn’t having it.

“The feedback that I received from the meeting was that the athletes continue to be frustrated and were not at all satisfied with the meeting,” Sandoval emailed Knuth back on April 6. “I was also informed that you laid the blame for the deficiencies associated with athletics facilities with administration.”

When Knuth’s contract came up for renewal two weeks later, Sandoval did not renew it. The university ultimately paid him $308,000 to leave. In a press release, Sandoval thanked Knuth for “the many positive steps he made” for the athletic department. 

Sandoval named Knuth’s replacement that June: Stephanie Rempe, previously a deputy athletic director at Louisiana State University. Rempe has helped push across the finish line new locker rooms for women’s swimming, track and field, cross country and other teams, an initial round of softball stadium upgrades and track repairs, thanks in large part to a $6.9 million subsidy from the academic budget. 

The university used another $2.3 million Knuth raised to remodel the football locker room and carve out a separate locker room space for women’s soccer. The football players got a video wall, barber shop, new shower area and new lockers; their old lockers were refurbished and given to women’s teams.

Today, most female athletes have a quality locker room. Softball players aren’t among them. While they continue to await a long-promised clubhouse, indoor practice facilities and lights – at an $11 million price tag, according to a 2022 estimate – they were given a second shipping container. 

“The strides made over the past three and a half years in upgrading facilities for women’s athletics and bolstering the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX underscore our commitment to structural and organizational improvements, aligning with the evolving needs and expectations of our University community,” Sandoval said in a statement to USA TODAY. 

Southern Utah University named Knuth its new athletic director in December 2022. He was appointed six months later to the NCAA Division I Council, one of 40 people with a seat at the mostly-male table that makes key decisions affecting all 190,000 Division I athletes across the country, half of whom are women. Knuth chairs the legislative committee, which makes recommendations on the merits of new rule proposals. 

In March, Knuth was one of three men to receive an NCAA award for being a champion of diversity, equity and inclusion. A press release praised him for his “focus on providing opportunities for women and people of color” dating back to Nevada, and for hiring a woman as his deputy at Southern Utah.

The release didn’t mention that the woman, Marie Tuite, is perhaps best known for her role in a sexual abuse scandal at San Jose State University. 

A 2021 investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice found that San Jose State officials had violated Title IX for more than a decade by failing to adequately respond to repeated complaints against Scott Shaw, its sports medicine director from 2008 to 2020 who last year was criminally convicted and imprisoned for sexually assaulting female athletes. 

Tuite was the school’s athletic director from 2017 to 2021 and a senior department administrator for the seven years prior.

The Justice Department also substantiated complaints by two employees who said Tuite retaliated against them when they tried to hold Shaw accountable by issuing one a negative performance review and firing the other.

The school demoted Tuite, who ultimately resigned. 

Tuite did not respond to a request for comment but her attorney, Susan Bishop, issued a statement : “At no time during my client's tenure at SJSU did any student-athlete come forward to Ms. Tuite with an allegation of inappropriate touching by Head Athletics Trainer Scott Shaw.” 

Southern Utah did not answer questions from USA TODAY, saying in a statement that Tuite and Knuth were thoroughly vetted. 

The school also denied USA TODAY’s public records request for documents reviewed by the committee that hired Knuth, including his application and background check. It provided only a copy of his resumé.

On his resumé, Knuth listed his top professional accomplishments at Nevada. The third item down: 

“Launched campaign focused on gender equity.”

Kenny Jacoby is an investigative reporter for USA TODAY covering sexual misconduct and Title IX. Contact him by email at [email protected] or follow him on X @kennyjacoby .  

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New 'EA Sports College Football 25' trailer released

After years of eager anticipation, fans of collegiate football finally have a reason to celebrate as the long-awaited trailer for EA Sports College Football 25 has just dropped. The excitement is palpable as the game promises to bring the beloved college football experience to life with stunning graphics, immersive gameplay, and all the pageantry that makes college football special.

This first glimpse has set the community abuzz, rekindling the passion for college sports and raising expectations for a game that captures the heart and soul of Saturdays in the fall. The full game will be released on July 19 and will be available in Standard, Deluxe and MVP editions. Pre-ordering before June 27 will also grant early adopters a Heisman Hopeful Ultimate Team pack, adding even more excitement to this highly anticipated release.

Historic Cover Unveiling

Yesterday, ahead of the game's full reveal, Electronic Arts Inc. unveiled the historic covers of EA Sports College Football 25. The covers feature three current college football stars: Michigan running back Donovan Edwards , Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers and Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter. The game offers thrilling action across 134 FBS schools, enabling fans to experience the legendary college football atmospheres on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series XS.

Cover Athletes

Edwards, Ewers, and Hunter grace the covers of both the Standard and Deluxe Editions of College Football 25.

"Donovan, Quinn, and Travis are extraordinary talents who impressed and entertained millions of college football fans on the field last season and are poised to do so again this year," said Daryl Holt, SVP and Group GM of EA Sports. "We’re proud to incorporate thousands of current athletes in College Football 25, and featuring this trio of playmakers and their iconic college programs on the cover is a perfect fit as we usher in a new era for EA Sports and college football."

Athletes' Achievements

Each cover athlete boasts impressive credentials from the past season. Edwards was instrumental in the Wolverines’ national championship game, becoming the first player in College Football Playoff (CFP) history to score two rushing touchdowns of 40-plus yards in the title game. Ewers led the Longhorns to a 12-2 record and a Big 12 Conference Championship, while Hunter showcased his remarkable two-way talent by recording 100 receiving yards and an interception in a single game, a feat not seen since Miami Hurricane Rashard Smith against the Florida Gators, and Oklahoma Sooner Derek McCoy against the Texas Longhorns , both in 2003.

Athlete Statements

All three players said it was an honor to be featured on the cover of the highly anticipated return of the game.

"EA Sports games are legendary, and to see myself on the cover of College Football 25 is truly surreal," Edwards said.  "It ’s a huge honor to join past Michigan greats as a cover athlete on an EA Sports college football game and keep the tradition going."

"To represent the burnt orange on the real and virtual gridirons is such an honor," Ewers said. "EA Sports games were the first place I lived out my childhood dream of playing for the Longhorns, so it’s a full-circle moment to now be on the cover of College Football 25."

"I couldn’t be more pumped to be part of College Football 25 and represent my Buffaloes on the cover of a game with so much excitement behind it," Hunter said. "I can’t wait to play and see myself, my teammates, and my school in the game."

Pre-Order Details

Both the Standard and Deluxe editions of College Football 25 are available for pre-order now . Additionally, EA Sports is offering an MVP Bundle, which includes deluxe editions of both EA Sports College Football 25 and Madden NFL 25, with three-day early access to both titles and various other benefits.

Game Play Features

College Football 25 promises an unparalleled experience for college football enthusiasts, featuring an array of gameplay modes and advanced technological enhancements. Players will immerse themselves in the electrifying atmospheres of 134 FBS schools, each capturing the unique spirit and fervor of college football. The gameplay runs at a smooth 120fps, ensuring fluid motion and responsiveness, crucial for both competitive play and immersive experiences.

Among the notable gameplay features is the Road to Glory mode, which allows players to follow a single athlete's journey from high school to college stardom. Team Builder mode offers customization opportunities, letting players create and manage their own teams, complete with logos, uniforms and stadiums. Dynasty mode provides a comprehensive simulation experience, where players can manage all aspects of a college football program, from recruiting to game strategy. The Heisman Challenge lets players relive and rewrite history with some of the most legendary athletes in college football. Additionally, the Ultimate Team mode combines strategic team building with on-field action, challenging players to assemble and compete with their dream rosters. These features collectively ensure a rich, diverse gameplay experience that caters to both hardcore strategists and casual fans alike.

The Official Trailer

Without further ado, the moment we all have been waiting for the last 11 years.

This article first appeared on College Football Dawgs and was syndicated with permission.

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