The Growing Pains Of A Student-Athlete

By Cheval John

University of Georgia’s tailback Todd Gurley was suspended indefinitely by UGA’s athletic department.

Gurley is currently being investigated by the NCAA for an undisclosed rules violation.

One could suspect that it was for accepting improper benefits, which is an NCAA violation.

“I’m obviously very disappointed,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said in a statement. “The important thing for our team is to turn all our attention toward preparation for Missouri.”

If it’s true, then Gurley made a huge mistake on his part.

However, we have to look at the bigger picture at what is going on in college athletics.

The NCAA is making billions of dollars a year, mostly from football and basketball.

Though college athletes receives a stipend in the form of scholarships, they do not receive a share of the revenue.

We have heard from many prominent figures that mentioned that the NCAA is taking advantage of the student-athletes.

They might go even further as saying that the NCAA is run like a business despite being a non-profit organization.

If that was the case, then the non-revenue sports would not be there and it will devoid those, particular women athletes, the opportunity to gain an education.

On the other hand, the NCAA has so many byzantine rules that it is difficult for athletic administrators to really see if they are following the rules.

I could go even further to say that most of the rules are so petty and ridiculous that it seems that they want the student-athletes to remain poor while they are in school.

Though I am not condoning the alleged improper benefits violation of Gurley, a person can understand why he did it.

If the NCAA can ease up on some of their rules like allowing a family friend to pay for meals they can’t afford, then I think that we would not see so many violations of improper benefits.

That is something that they can think about.

About Cheval John

Cheval John is the Founder and CEO of Vallano Media, LLC, a marketing agency which helps small to mid-sized businesses use social media correctly to build a loyal following and in the process become more profitable. Cheval is also the host of "What's The Word?" a podcast about finding out what inspires people to choose their respective careers and how social media impacted their lives and business. He is the author of two books including the Amazon Best-Seller, "8 Lessons Every Podcaster Needs To Learn." He has spoken at Social Media Week Lima in Ohio and at Social Media Day Houston 2017 about topics around live streaming and podcasting. Cheval has been featured in media outlets including Ebony Magazine, Social Media Today and Forbes. He was named a Houston Top 25 Social Media Power Influencer (2016 and 2017) and a Twitter Top 50 Influencer by Onalytica in 2018.

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