As we know from the previous blog post, college athletes work hard, and that is what they ‘signed up’ for. However, it is not fair to torture these athletes. In season athletes should expect to be working their hardest, to be busy, and to have a lot on their plate. However, in the off-season, do college athletes really need to do the same amount (or more!) of work they do in season?
In 2015, the Big 12 conference organized a discussion panel to ask athletes what they thought could be improved in the athletics department. The only thing the athletes agreed upon was that they spend too much time training in the off season. According to a NCAA survey, more than 3/4 of DI baseball players said they spend “as much or more time on athletic activities” in the off season as they do in season.
Although there are limits on how much time athletes are allowed to play, practice, and train, coaches still find ways around it. In season, athletes are not supposed to spend more than 20 hours participating in their designated sport. However, DI football, men and women’s basketball, and baseball players spend about 40 hours a week on athletic activities.
For outdoor sports, training in the off-season, especially in the summer, can be extremely dangerous. On May 29, 2018, University of Maryland football player, Jordan McNair, suffered from heat stroke after an off season practice. The athlete was ‘treated’ by trainers but on June 13, two weeks after, he died. The training staff at the university did not treat McNair properly which resulted in his tragic death. McNair was 19 years old.
Although these athletes are making a commitment, the NCAA and coaching staffs need to remember that their athletes are kids. They range from 18-23, they’re not being paid, and they are also students of the university they attend.
Student-athletes need to be given time of to rest, recover, and recuperate. Intensive training in the off season, although thought to be helpful, may hurt the athletes even more, putting them at risk of an injury and tiring them out (even before the season starts). Also, the NCAA needs to do a better job of enforcing their limitations and ensure that coaches are not overworking athletes and practicing more than the allowed time. College-athletics are intense, serious, and important, but it is not worth risking the health of a human-being to ‘keep them in shape’.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/14/us/university-maryland-football-player-death-review/index.html