This week, we continue the conversation about the implication of changes in NCAA policies regarding compensating student-athletes.

Student-Athletes + $ = ?

What are the potential outcomes when student-athletes are compensated, some with income at a level they may not see during the next twenty years, if ever again? Unprecedented income at this age could be an impediment to their future financial stability and personal development.

How can they be prepared for possibly significant income and the sudden, new microscopic attention from millions of people?

As we shared last week, universities face new challenges as they prepare students to contribute to society. We discussed the challenge of teaching financial responsibility to maturing yet immature young people. How do you prepare them to manage money in amounts they have never experienced before, and when they may have no close role models for managing large amounts of money?

Additionally, we shared the challenges they face learning who they are, establishing the self-identity they want, and determining their self-worth. Are they athletes making more money than their friends and fellow students, or are they students who are learning and growing in the classroom? How do they better understand who they are as unique contributors to society?

Challenges

Intellectual Commitment

How will universities help student-athletes keep their focus on the intellectual growth that will propel them to a life of fulfillment long after their days as athletes are over? This has always been a challenge for some student-athletes who needed help prioritizing and focusing on the longer term. Today, there is a good chance more student-athletes than ever will be challenged with focusing on the return on their academic investment.

Peer Social Disconnection

How will they relate to their fellow students as they attend class? How will their classmates relate to them? We do not know the answers yet, but we do know this is an age where we very much want to be liked and be part of a community with members that, to some degree, look out after and care about each other. How can wealthy student-athletes fit in on campus, not just in the locker room?

Family and Friends Expectations

When there is a dramatic difference in income, family and friends may be confronted with expectations young people have no preparation to manage. These people who were the most caring still care, but their perspective on fairness and sharing may have shifted. We have witnessed the challenge of older, more mature professional athletes whose families quit their jobs to go on the athlete’s payroll, eventually resulting in both of their financial demise.

Let us know if you have any suggestions for how universities can address this unprecedented challenge. What do you think they can/should do?

We will share yours and our thoughts with you next week. Thank you.

#Leadership #Team #ShiftFromMeToTeam #Maturity #NCAA #StudentAthletes