Op-ed

Athletic departments are one very important part of every college in the country. Some critics argue that Coaches and sports administrators denigrate academics and overemphasize the importance of sports. Others claim that athletes in the big-revenue sports of men’s basketball and football are exploited by the university. Others feel that intercollegiate athletics create a culture on college campuses that downplays the importance of gaining knowledge. People also feel that it is not important to put money toward athletics. The point of intercollegiate athletes is to get students to excel in their sport as well as to excel in academics. Not everyone can see the effort and all the good things the sports teams and athletic department in general bring to a school.

One of the benefits of athletics to any institution is that it gives them national exposure. A team that wins any big competition gets publicity not only for them but for the whole school as well. This is a good example with Boise State. It is a school that is beginning to be more popular and well known around the nation each day. BSU has a top ranked football team and has the only blue turf. President of Boise State Bob Kustra says “Of course, we have the world's only NCAA Division I blue football field as Bronco Stadium has been named one of the top 10 sports spots in America by ESPN” (Kustra). Games that are broadcasted in ESPN give the team and the school a lot of exposure. He also said “the university would go broke if it tried to create a marketing department as effective as its football team. There is no need to invest in a marketing campaign for Boise State because our football team automatically does that in an excellent and efficient way” (Collias). College presidents perceive athletic success provides substantial benefits to the institution, such as generating higher levels of fundraising, attracting better qualified students, enhancing school spirit and raising the profile of the institution.

Student Athletes are required to complete their school work and do well in academics. It might seem like all their effort is put into their respective sport but it’s not. Student comes before athlete. There has been modifications in NCAA in order to make sure students excel. . Now, universities and college coaches will be held accountable for their players' academic progress, or lack thereof. The centerpiece of the academic reform package is called the Academic Progress Rate or APR. Erik Christianson, director of media relations for the NCAA, said, "The vast majority, almost all of our 360,000 student athletes in the NCAA are going to become professionals in fields other than sports. And so it's vitally important for them to do well in the classroom, stay on track and earn that degree." (Han). If they fail to achieve this, there are penalties such ass loss of scholarships and loss of eligibility.

People may disagree on the importance of athletic programs in schools and argue that academics are much more important but that can be seen from different points of views. Athletics are just as important and they provide a lot of opportunities not only for student athletes but for everyone.