The broad question as to whether or not athletes should be paid to play is conflicting to many, but the true answer is dependent upon what level the athletes are playing at.

1. Should college athletes get paid?

Charlotte Stephan: Unless you include scholarships as “making money,” college athletes should not get paid solely to play their sport. I understand that college athletes are busy and might not have time for a job to make money, but that is one of the sacrifices you make when you sign the contract. Being a college athlete requires hard work and dedication from the athlete, and those roster spots are not given out freely. With this being said, while a spot on the team can be difficult to earn, all a paid athlete is doing is just continuing to pursue the sport he or she may or not love solely for the promise of cash. Spots are valuable on sports teams, and they should not be given to someone that will only continue to play for the wrong reasons. To hear someone constantly complain about his or her sport can be draining to someone who truly loves to play.  I will not argue that college athletics are more frequently watched and may even be deemed “more important” than high school sports, but that does not mean that those athletes deserve to earn a ton of money through it. 

Luccini Rodriguez: Although there are potential forms of “payment” given to athletes who play at a collegiate level, I think that those who sign to continue a sport for another four years should benefit from getting paid simply because he or she is continuing to play. Yes, continuing in a sport, especially at a collegiate level, is purely optional and comes along with sacrifices, but, for many, the grueling schedule that is college athletics simply does not allow for time outside of practice and or games for athletes to earn any financial income. I do get that giving money to those who choose to continue a sport at the collegiate level leads to the possibility of rosters filled with athletes who truly do not care about the sport rather than those who have a true passion for the game, but when you begin to look at it from the coaches’ perspectives, it is easily seen which athletes are playing purely for the love of the game and which ones are abusing this opportunity solely for a little pocket money. 

2. Should clubs get paid if they win a tournament?

Charlotte Stephan: Club sports are a great way for kids to improve their talents and get exposure to many different colleges and other organizations. These kids travel to many tournaments throughout most of the year to show off their skills to hopefully be recruited one day. The concept of winning money for winning a tournament is outrageous. Clubs pay hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to enter into a tournament, and that money helps go towards officials, fields, or court time, and the trophies, medals, or banners that are won, and it should stay that way. If I were an owner of a club. The last thing I would want is for a portion of my money to be going to another organization in the tournament to help support them. If a club team receives a cash prize, I want to make sure that the money is going to the athletes that are actually putting in the work. By giving money to a winning team there is no guarantee that the money will end up in the athlete’s hands. Instead, a coach isn’t going to want to keep a metal for himself or herself and it is guaranteed that it will go to the rightful owner. Rewarding a winning team is always a good thing as long as it is coming with good intentions.

Luccini Rodriguez: Families involved in playing club sports put endless amounts of money towards the tuition costs simply to wear the club’s logo across his or her backs. I do realize that this money is needed in order to provide teams with officials and the needed factors in order to play, but I do think that considering all finances that go into playing a club sport, some form of payment should be given to the teams for winning tournaments. Yes, when teams win, they are typically given trophies and/or medals, which are paid for usually with the tuition those families have put towards playing, and I do not think that the reward should be taken away in full. Rather, it should be modified in a way that allows clubs to earn money off of its wins. While some would be unsure as to where this money would go, I do not believe it would be wasted, but the money teams win would be put toward the tuition the athletes pay. More specifically, this would be the portion of the athletes’ tuition that is put towards officials, and court time, which would allow athletes to pay less while still covering the necessities that need to be covered. This would continue to give the reward of winning but in a more beneficial way.