The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is an organization that controls over 1,000 universities within the United States. A lot of people can’t understand what the NCAA really do to affect a student-athletes experience. For starters the NCAA allows student-athletes to enjoy competing in a comforting environment that provides them the opportunity to flourish over the four years as a college student.
The NCAA is usually seen as a complex system, but remind yourselves without the system in place would collegiate athletics in America be growing?
Student-athletes become a significant part in the NCAA, and can be part of some of the National and University Committees that allow students to express their views within a safe environment. The NCAA gives student-athletes a chance to seek gateways to help with their decision for careers after college. It is known that not all athletes will go on to play professionally in their respective sport. However, with the guidance of Leadership Forums and Career in Sports retreats student-athletes start to seek out valuable skills to getting a job in the college athletic scene.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association embraces athletic achievement as well as academic excellence. It’s always a proud feeling for student-athletes to feel special with the number of awards on offer in all aspects of college life. I’m from England, and honestly I have never seen so many awards being given before! It gives student-athletes that confidence to achieve and aspire for more in life. Those accolades put a college student in a nice position for securing job after college.
The system that the NCAA created is successful and has given student-athletes of all backgrounds a focus in life. The NCAA is a structured organization that I feel other collegiate sport systems could benefit from.
By Liam Haycock
Liam Haycock is a college soccer athlete at the University of the District of Columbia. Haycock is from a small village in the United Kingdom, and has a strong passion for writing about sport.