Summary Of Ryan Vanderford Pay For Play

Ryan Vanderfords’ article published in the Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal explores this issue of whether or not college athletes should be paid beyond what they receive in scholarships. Vanderford is currently a law associate at a law firm in Los Angeles, California. He played sports throughout high school and college, so the author can relate to this topic. The payment of college athletes has become a more prominent issue in today’s society then it has been in the past. He argues that at major universities, student athletes help the school generate their revenue and therefore should be paid. In “Pay-For-Play: An Age-Old Struggle for Appropriate Reform in a Changing Landscape Between Employers and Employee” Ryan Vanderford

A comparison shows the logic behind his argument—or an appeal to logos. He wants the reader to see how the athletes are like employees and the college is like an employer and how this shows why the athletes should be paid. Vanderford states, “the coaches work countless hours, seemingly immune to the stress and pressure of the job, in order to prepare teams. All of these people are compensated, many handsomely, for their contributions to the business of college athletics” (806). The athletes put in a similar amount of effort as the coaches do in order to have the best team possible. Vanderford says, “the players show up for practice, workouts and games. In return, these student athletes receive an annual scholarship renewable by coaches, which includes tuition, fees, room, board, and books” (806). The athletes and the coaches do the same amount of work for the team, yet the coaches get paid much more. Vanderford continues to argue that since both the players and the coaches work to improve the team they should both be treated as employees of the college and receive fair

He believes that just paying the athletes with a full ride scholarship does not give them any other form of income which does not allow them to do anything in their time off. Vanderford states, “…student athletes, especially those from low-income households, do not have any money to spend on a trip home to see family or to go on a date” (830). Vanderford thinks that since the athletes put so much time into their sport they should at least get payment to have the ability to see their families every once in a