College athletes must have a say
While pros have unions, the ‘kids’ need voice, especially now
People absolutely hate baseball at the moment — hate the fact that “millionaires and billionaires” are fighting over how to split the riches with 41 million Americans out of work.
I’m not especially fond of the public haggling, either, but I’ll say this: At least, it’s honest. Nobody’s saying, “Look, this isn’t about the money.”
It’s all about the money, as is the massive push to reopen the sports world.
Which is not the same as saying the push is irresponsible or hasty. It could be neither. It could be both.
Who’s to say?
Who do you trust?
We’re living in a house of mirrors these days. What’s real is fake, what’s fake is real. A virus has killed more than 100,000 Americans in 10 weeks, and we can’t even seem to agree it exists.
But I know this much, as it relates to sports and life: Wherever big money lives, motives are murky.
Is the NHL putting hundreds more
people at risk than necessary by creating a massive 24-team playoff? Is the tournament designed simply to maximize revenues by including big-market teams — New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks — that were out of playoff position?
One could make that argument.
Then again, at least professional athletes have a voice. They have unions. They can argue for their fair share and bargain for their safety, and their leagues already have promised massive COVID19 testing programs upon return.
What about college athletes?
If I’m the parent of one, I don’t trust decision-makers’ motives in the best of times. I surely don’t trust them when a university’s entire economic model might depend on the timely return of football in the midst of a pandemic.
Sorry, the “voluntary” return. That’s what they’re calling it in the Pac-12 Conference and other places, in regard to workouts beginning in June.
Again, I’m not necessarily arguing against workouts in June. I believe there can be a safe avenue to return to sports.
But I’m with USA Today’s Dan Wolken, who says it’s the perfect time for studentathletes to form a union. Administrators, after all, are pushing for the return of sports “with limited information about what will happen when hundreds of college athletes start congregating around dorms and weight rooms again (and) doing it without the input or consent of anyone whose sole responsibility is to advocate for the athletes and their safety.”
Young athletes will want to play. We know that. But their union leaders could at least bargain on their behalf for, say, thorough testing programs.
Maddie Salamone is a former Duke lacrosse player and former chair of the NCAA National Student Athlete Advisory Committee, where she saw firsthand how athletes were relegated to the kids’ table when the real bargaining began.
If they had more of a voice, it’s likely the NCAA, as an example, would provide some semblance of long-term health care or funding to those dealing with chronic injuries from their college athletic careers.
“Even the most well-intended individuals — and there are many — have to answer to their employer, and that’s the university.” Salamone said. “It’s the nature of the beast. People can go only so far in advocating for what athletes may need. And athletes don’t have any bargaining power to demand what they want.”
Salamone is a board member for the National College Players Association, one group that does advocate for athletes, albeit with limited power.
“I think one of my favorite things from the Pac 12’s ‘voluntary’ return,” she said, “is that nothing that comes from coaches is ‘voluntary.’ Most people understand that.”
I was heartened to see the UCLA student council, according to USA Today, ask California Gov. Gavin Newsom and several university officials to “guarantee a series of coronavirus-related protections that include allowing student-athletes to decide whether or not to participate in team activities without fear of ‘cancellation of their scholarships, threats, or retaliation.’ ”
The resolution also asked that “athletes be included on all COVID-19 task forces (and) be informed about the risks COVID-19 poses to themselves and their families.”
Did I mention how badly universities need that football revenue? It can’t happen without the players. They should realize how much leverage they have.
Dr. Ellen Staurowsky, a former Division III athletic director, current Drexel professor and NCPA board member, put it this way:
“Looking at what the stakes are right now, this is a moment where we see just how valuable athletes really are.”