By Adam Enomoto
Staff Writer
For college scholarship athletes, injuries have the potential to be a financial disaster. In high schools across the country, student athletes driven to play at the highest level are plagued with injuries that may stay with them long after high school. However, for those committed to play in college, it becomes even more of an issue. A scholarship shouldn’t be decreased because of an injury. A coach should respect the offer made to that player and honor it throughout that player’s time there.
It is possible to lose an athletic scholarship, but it is difficult to do so because coaches don’t want to get a reputation for pulling scholarships. Athletic scholarships are yearly contracts signed by the athlete and the school; they are not four-year guarantees. That means that the coach has the ability to decrease the amount or cancel it altogether if you do not meet the requirements for the scholarship.
After freshman year, Preston Faecher committed to play Division 1 lacrosse at college, then he got injured. According to Preston, the thought that he might never fully recover weighed on his mind, but much to his relief, he came back stronger than ever. While recovering from his ligament tear, he worried that his scholarship might decrease or that he might lose it completely. He had a one-year athletic scholarship and he was depending on it to get renewed every year. Preston started exercising his leg before the doctor said he could, just to relieve this anxiety about not knowing if his leg would ever be the same. This stress took away some of the joy of playing lacrosse. The fact that an athlete’s academic future rests on their ability to perform athletically has negative consequences: it may result in more injuries, as athletes push themselves too far too fast, and it creates mental stress which inhibits their ability to perform on the playing field and turns a game into a high-stakes gamble on their future.
For those who pursue athletic scholarships in order to commit to a college, it may seem like that the only way he or she can afford to attend that college is with the scholarship money. When a serious injury occurs, it is devastating, but these student athletes still have a few options. In many cases, family insurance policies can cover the injury — up to a certain point. If the injury is severe enough, athletes can turn to the NCAA for help with financial difficulties. When a particular athlete receives a career-ending injury, it becomes even more difficult to cope with and can change the student’s future dramatically. A coach may want to respect the offer initially given; however, he can’t in good conscience because that money could be better used by players who are on the field playing. It’s not fair to coaches to force them to choose between the moral high road and the option to provide ample scholarships to the athletes on the team.
According to Preston as previously mentioned, he felt that he needed a scholarship to play at his college, and he wouldn’t have chosen that college if he didn’t receive that financial assistance. He planned to go to college where the scholarship money led him. However, if that tuition money dried up, he would transfer to a different college closer to home.
Starting in the 2013-14 school year, four major California universities will be required to continue providing scholarships to student-athletes who suffer career-ending injuries, under a law signed by Governor Jerry Brown. That’s great news for any athlete who is dependent on an athletic scholarship.
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