How the NCAA Fails to Protect Athletes Beyond the Game
Is the NCAA really taking care of players now that NIL is an option? In part, yes. But there is way more to it if a player suffers a career-ending injury that folks are often unaware of.
Besides the obvious and recent NIL and transfer portal confusion the NCAA has brought about to college athletics, there a few lesser known facts that may make you even more outraged towards the NCAA.
If an athlete suffers an injury that is career-ending injury, many negative repercussions could ensue. In this article, I go into these potential hurdles athletes may uncover, and the NCAA does not seem to care to do anything about it.
Athletic Scholarships May no Longer Be Covered for Student Athletes
If an athlete is injured, the university is not obligated to hold their athletic scholarship. This is different from an academic scholarship whereas once you are awarded one, the only way you can lose it is for poor grades.
Athletically, athletes are in a bind often times if they can no longer play and would owe everything out of pocket. And with many athletes paying out of state tuition, the cost is insurmountable to keep their education going without being on athletic scholarship.
Post-Eligibility Healthcare Insurance for Athletes Limited to Two Years
While there use to be no required amount of time for insurance to be covered for athletes, this is better than nothing. However, for some athletes they will have life long medical issues that will require medical attention well beyond two years, and therefore incur significant medical expenses they may not be able to cover without a good personal insurance plan.
With the NCAA not mandating universities hold students on scholarships if they are no longer able to perform athletically, this puts student athletes in a huge bind after their playing career is over and they are no longer eligible for the NCAA’s offered insurance coverage.
It is quite the conundrum to expect a student athlete who potentially is now without a degree to be able to find employment and insurance well enough to cover these significant expenses.
The policy is detailed in full at www.ncaa.org in an article by Charlie Henry.