by John Leonard <\/p>\n
FORT LAUDEARDALE, Fla., January 28. FUNNY how you can use a word all your life, and not think about it much. <\/p>\n
\u201cScholarship\u201d is the word I am thinking about. It re-surfaced in my mind a couple of weeks ago as I saw the NCAA Convention pass new rules that say that if you don\u2019t graduate your athletes, you\u2019re going to lose some \u201cathletic rights\u201d in terms of scholarships and participation in NCAA Championships. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s a nice start. <\/p>\n
After all, the word \u201cscholarship\u201d has SCHOLAR at its heart\u2026.the person who studies and learns\u2026.i puzzled a bit about \u201cship\u201d but then realized that a ship moves things across some pretty uncertain terrain to a destination on a distant shore. Just like an education moves an individual to a different place in life and perspective on life. <\/p>\n
It really isn\u2019t about giving away money to athletes, is it? Its about a student who has an opportunity to take their life from one shore to another, thanks to the financial ship provided by a large university, some public, some private. The NCAA seems to slowly be returning to that realization. About time. And Thanks for Doing So. <\/p>\n
Which brings us to swimming. Its axiomatic, as well as factual, that swimmers are excellent students, with GPA\u2019s and graduation rates far in excess of the general student population. They are directed, driven, purposeful and goal oriented. In short, they are perfect \u201cScholarship\u201d recipients. Many young people in a few other collegiate sports are not. <\/p>\n
Swimming is the epitome of what NCAA athletics should be. <\/p>\n
We need to resurrect more swimming programs, for both genders, but specifically for men, which have fallen on hard times in recent years, as the almighty money sports eat up an ever increasing amount of university funds. Need to give the football coach a raise to keep him from switching to another football factory? Cut the swim program. That $500K should about do it for this year\u2019s raise. Next year, when he \u201cneeds\u201d a raise again, we\u2019ll find it with some other team. Meanwhile the BEST football programs graduate only around 70% of their members, and most of them, far, far, far fewer than that. When did you last see a swim team graduate only 70% of its people? <\/p>\n
What can you do? Have your public voice heard. Write in support of swimming at your public university or private Alma Mater, to the Athletic Director and President. If they have swimming, ask them to support it. If they don\u2019t, ask them to add it. And to those alums of storied programs like UCLA, Illinois and others, where men\u2019s swimming is now history, remind those Presidents that if they want SCHOLARSHIPS given out, they want swimmers. <\/p>\n
——————————
\nJohn Leonard is Executive Director of the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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