Dear Mr. or Mrs. President,

I watch college sports quite often and when I watch them, I think that I am watch top of the line athletes. Which in fact I am, some of them are even nationally ranked and if not they are very close. In order to get/be that good at a sport you have to put in a lot of time and practice. There is very little or even no time to have a job at all. On top of being a poor college student they have to do all of their school work so they can be eligible for their sports team. The amount of time that college athletes put into their sport it is almost like a job. Therefore, they don’t have enough time to get a job and pay for food, gas or even just a shirt. Another reason they should get paid is because the NCAA makes 990 million a year all because of them. Also, with the money that they make, only 58% get some kind of scholarship. With the 990 million they make a year they could give at least half ride scholarships to everybody.

Some people might say that it is unfair to the other student because they have to work just as hard because they have a job some of them might even have to jobs and they don’t complain about the school not paying them. Well, as I said before these athletes do not have enough time for a job because there job is their sport. Also, people say that it would make athletes feel like they are better than everybody else. That is also not true because lots of athletes are friends with nonathletes and if they were/weren’t paid they would still be friends with them. Another reason is, athletes still have to go to class just like everybody else. Therefore, college athletes will not be getting paid millions of dollars like they are in the pros. They would be getting paid just enough to get them by. Finally, most people say that paying college athletes say that it will ruin college sports. Most people will say otherwise because if they get paid by their net worth the will work harder so they will be worth more therefore they will make more money. If they are not paid by their net worth they are just paid by a set amount they will not just be given that money they will have to earn that money by reaching certain goals for that time.

When you watch college sports you are not the only fan that watches, as you see if you watch on tv or go to the games there are lots of people that will pay lots of money to see these athletes. Is it really fair for these athletes to work as hard as they work and draw as much attention as they do and not even get paid a dime. The answer is no they should be paid because they draw lots of attention to the schools they play for and even schools they play against.

Sincerely,

Sam Opozda, 11th grader