Editor,
As we build toward the climax of the 2014 college football season, you can already hear the perennial debate beginning again — should college athletes be paid for their work in addition to the scholarships they receive?
With the NCAA and its member universities reaping huge financial rewards from football and basketball players, the athletes that generate all that revenue are understandably frustrated. But there is another group of finely-tuned athletes on the sidelines that is in a far worse position. There is no debate about paying them. In fact, there isn’t even any discussion about possibly giving them the generous scholarships that football and basketball players receive.
Ironically, these over-looked athletes are the loudest and most energized people in the stadium: the cheerleaders.
Imagine for a moment that you are at a college football game. Thousands of people are in the stands watching the teams on the field, the band is playing the fight song, the cheerleaders are flipping and stunting on the sidelines.
Now imagine the game with no cheerleaders. The entire atmosphere has changed. Cheerleaders and dancers help make the college football experience complete. These athletes spend a significant amount of their own time and money doing something for which they receive very little recognition or compensation.
Most colleges offer substantial scholarships to their major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer and others. Players have the opportunity to receive scholarships worth tens of thousands of dollars, and it is not uncommon for the best to receive full ride scholarships. The stipends that are available to the cheerleaders and dancers are worth far less money if they are even available at all. Some colleges, such as UNM, offer a book stipend of between $150 and $400 a semester; other colleges offer nothing.
In addition to scholarship money, all major collegiate sports have facilities, equipment and uniforms. Conversely, most collegiate cheerleaders are required to either buy their own uniforms from the athletic department or use recycled uniforms from previous years.
Many colleges lack facilities for the cheer/dance teams, forcing the cheerleaders and dancers to practice in facilities provided to other sports at odd times, such as in the evening or early morning, so as to not disturb other teams. Some squads have to pay for facilities or practice outside on the grass instead of on the mats they need for safety.
Many teams try to raise money for their program by either selling merchandise, such as calendars or discount cards, or hosting events such as children’s cheer clinics. Can you imagine college football players selling calendars or being forced to pay for their practice facilities?
Speaking as a former UNM cheerleader, I understand only too well how many problems this lack of funding causes. Chief among these problems is that many cheerleaders are forced to quit after only a year or two because they cannot afford to continue. Considering how much the cheerleaders contribute to the football/basketball experience, is some scholarship money too much to ask for?
Waverly Mathis
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UNM student
