Decline of Amateur Athletics

I believe in amateur athletics. After all, even though I’m 51 years old, I myself still harbor a desire to excel in sports (within my age level, of course), in particular with regard to running. Unfortunately, the very existence of amateurism in sports has come under severe attack in recent decades. And there are some glaring reasons for this.

After World War II, most of the Communist countries used athletics as a propaganda tool to promote their ideology to the world. Athletes were furnished with token “jobs”, but were in essence completely professional athletes with higher privileges than their non-athletic compatriots as well as access to all of the training resources that their governments could (and would) provide. In Olympics after Olympics, these countries (most notably the Soviet Union and East Germany) would lead the total medal count for the list of nations. It was the West’s response to this challenge that furthered the slide of amateur sports, for they chose to loosen the rules for their own athletes. This enabled the athletes to work full-time within their sports and technically retain the title of “amateur” during the actual Olympic (or other) competition. This, of course, has become a complete farce, as evidenced by the United States Olympic “dream teams” of multi-millionaire NBA players pretending to be amateurs. Nowadays, in many sports that are open for “public” participation (like track and running), big-name athletes are often paid large sums of money up-front to lure them to participate. What an abomination (in my opinion)! It seems now that everybody is on the take, and just competing for the love of the sport is widely considered to be the attitude of a chump.

Even in college athletics, perhaps the last attempt to at least present the appearance of amateurism, superstar athletes are almost always assured of financial windfalls and just as often as not don’t even complete their college careers before turning professional. My hometown University of Florida men’s basketball team had most of its starting lineup turn pro after their junior years. On one hand, I decry the mercenary nature of their actions. But on the other hand, I also feel that so many other parties, both in the University, Gainesville, and anywhere else where Gator products are marketed and publicized, have exploited these athletes, who generated a lot of money for them without being able to enjoy any payments themselves in the process. So I wish them all well. But we sure could have used them this past season! I wonder how far the Gators would have gone had players like Corey Brewer, Al Horford, and Joakim Noah stayed for their senior years.

Nowadays, amateur college athletics have been even more distorted by the win-at-all-costs attitude of alumni and booster clubs. Coaches and their staffs often receive exorbitantly high salaries. Fans and Internet-auction hucksters alike seek out star athletes for their autographs and any mementos they can get hold of. I myself recently witnessed how UF football star players had to walk a gauntlet of autograph seekers just to get from the practice field back to their locker room. However, I also recognize that organized spectator sports, be they amateur or professional, depend for their growth and sustenance on the fact that they are essentially public entertainment. A star athlete should, as an essential part of his/her role, be generous and gracious to the general public as they seek things like autographs. Especially with kids, who are probably the purest fans around.

Recently, I witnessed a local star amateur college athlete, widely known as a man of “character”, just walk away from a group of children for whom he was signing autographs, when he decided that he had had enough of it. And I know that at least one of these children came away from the experience feeling rejected, humiliated, and disillusioned. I even wrote this athlete a letter explaining my objection to his behavior and wondering how big he really thought he was. That was two weeks ago and this great “hero” has yet to respond to me. I don’t like to see anyone humiliated, but that’s what happened to this child, whom this athlete repeatedly ignored while attending to others (including adults). That all aside, I recognize that we all have our own faults. But we should be careful not to project an image of ourselves that we can’t even remotely hope to live up to.

Amateurs, not just in sports, are treasures who merit more respect and admiration. Whether one speaks of music, photography, art, writing, astronomy, athletics, or one of a myriad other fields, amateurism is the foundation on which excellence and progress are built. Let’s return to a spirit of loving to do something for its own sake, without being concerned about money, fame, or self-aggrandizement!