Cost of playing college baseball

[kcballer9]

I was poking on the Internet in my free time this afternoon and ended up finding this article.

With scholarship limit, college baseball careers come with a cost | Sports | omaha.com

This article was very interesting and really put into perspective the side of college baseball most of us don't see. Hopefully some of you also find it interesting.

[Hollywood42]

That's basically college in general

[Big35Hurt]

Originally Posted by Hollywood42

That's basically college in general

Exactly. Some non-athletes will get awarded grants but most will end up with piles of debt just like the college baseball players.

I found this part to be a bit whiney:

"“The financial part of this is ridiculous,” Coastal Carolina coach Gary Gilmore says. “Moms and dads are spending almost $100,000 in four years, whereas football and basketball and a lot of women’s sports have tons of full scholarships. I’m asking guys that turned into professional minor leaguers to take 25 percent (of a scholarship). It’s just not fair.”

Well coach Gilmore, basketball and football are revenue generating sports that bring in millions of dollars and help support non-revenue generating sports like baseball. Without basketball and football, does he really think baseball or other sports would survive? The players that choose to play college ball and accept a partial scholarship had a choice...deal with it.

[JohnRyno]

We got a per diem on road trips and a lot of nice under armour gear.

[Peties Army]

It's been ten years since I've graduated and I have two degrees from two nice private schools and I did most of it on loans and it is no way near 140k. I'm not saying he lying, and I know that isn't really the point of the story, but man that seems high. My bosses kid is about to go to the state university and for a four year degree it should cost him right around 100k. 140k seems really high

[coachnip13]

Originally Posted by Big35Hurt

Exactly. Some non-athletes will get awarded grants but most will end up with piles of debt just like the college baseball players.

I found this part to be a bit whiney:

"“The financial part of this is ridiculous,” Coastal Carolina coach Gary Gilmore says. “Moms and dads are spending almost $100,000 in four years, whereas football and basketball and a lot of women’s sports have tons of full scholarships. I’m asking guys that turned into professional minor leaguers to take 25 percent (of a scholarship). It’s just not fair.”

Well coach Gilmore, basketball and football are revenue generating sports that bring in millions of dollars and help support non-revenue generating sports like baseball. Without basketball and football, does he really think baseball or other sports would survive? The players that choose to play college ball and accept a partial scholarship had a choice...deal with it.

He was wrong to bring up football and basketball, but he is spot on when it comes to women's sports. Women's Rowing hemorrhages money, but the 20th (!) girl on a Division 1 rowing team gets a full scholarship. Same as the 15th girl on a Women's Equestrian team. Virtually no one at Vanderbilt or Coastal or Stanford (or anywhere else) is getting a full baseball scholarship, and most get around 30%.

Of course many students face the same issues. But those students can get jobs if they want. NCAA athletes are held hostage. No working, no income....piled on top of the scholarship discrepancy that a few men's sports face.

[Hollywood42]

Ha. Give me a break. Must sure be terrible to play a game and get a scholarship for it. You have a choice when playing college sports

Originally Posted by coachnip13

He was wrong to bring up football and basketball, but he is spot on when it comes to women's sports. Women's Rowing hemorrhages money, but the 20th (!) girl on a Division 1 rowing team gets a full scholarship. Same as the 15th girl on a Women's Equestrian team. Virtually no one at Vanderbilt or Coastal or Stanford (or anywhere else) is getting a full baseball scholarship, and most get around 30%.

Of course many students face the same issues. But those students can get jobs if they want. NCAA athletes are held hostage. No working, no income....piled on top of the scholarship discrepancy that a few men's sports face.

[coachnip13]

Originally Posted by Peties Army

It's been ten years since I've graduated and I have two degrees from two nice private schools and I did most of it on loans and it is no way near 140k. I'm not saying he lying, and I know that isn't really the point of the story, but man that seems high. My bosses kid is about to go to the state university and for a four year degree it should cost him right around 100k. 140k seems really high

Yeah, they aimed a bit too high when they chose that guy's story for the article. Coastal Carolina is about $38K for an out of state student, and that's for everything. There's no way a starter on the national championship team was still a walk on as a senior. Plus, there are other grants that are available for everyone.

It would have been better to highlight the baseball discrepancy than to go overboard with a number that likely isn't true.

[coachnip13]

Originally Posted by Hollywood42

Ha. Give me a break. Must sure be terrible to play a game and get a scholarship for it. You have a choice when playing college sports

Maybe you missed the point, but the "scholarship" usually covers about 30% of tuition, while the head coach is making $300,000 and up and the NCAA is profiting off the post-season. The athlete has to come up with the other 70% while not being allowed to get a part time job.

[Hollywood42]

Think you missed my point of college students in general, athlete or not, having to deal with exorbitant bills while the school keeps raising and raising tuition and board and keeps rolling in the dough

Originally Posted by coachnip13

Maybe you missed the point, but the "scholarship" usually covers about 30% of tuition, while the head coach is making $300,000 and up and the NCAA is profiting off the post-season. The athlete has to come up with the other 70% while not being allowed to get a part time job.

[coachnip13]

Originally Posted by Hollywood42

Think you missed my point of college students in general, athlete or not, having to deal with exorbitant bills while the school keeps raising and raising tuition and board and keeps rolling in the dough

You never made that point.

Can a non-athlete work to pay the bills?

[Dbacksbaseball]

Originally Posted by JohnRyno

We got a per diem on road trips and a lot of nice under armour gear.

Same here (except Nike stuff). Pissed away the op I had, by being a kid and ended up at home working in retail a year later at 19. Thankfully straightened myself out and had a degree by 22 and a lot more in school debt then I would have been.

Still was one of the best years of my life being a starting CF on a college baseball team. Still thankful for that opportunity.

[Hollywood42]

See my first post in this thread

Originally Posted by coachnip13

You never made that point.

Can a non-athlete work to pay the bills?

[kcballer9]

I'm glad you guys decided to give the article a read. Each post has certainly given me something to think about. I can certainly see both sides reasoning for what they have to say.

[Peties Army]

Originally Posted by Hollywood42

Think you missed my point of college students in general, athlete or not, having to deal with exorbitant bills while the school keeps raising and raising tuition and board and keeps rolling in the dough

I do agree with this

There are no businesses in the world doing better then your state home university. Every time you look at MU or IL in my area they are building huge facilities.

Costing not 40k a year to go to a state school is silly to me

[coachnip13]

Originally Posted by Hollywood42

See my first post in this thread

See my question.

[Peties Army]

Originally Posted by kcballer9

I'm glad you guys decided to give the article a read. Each post has certainly given me something to think about. I can certainly see both sides reasoning for what they have to say.

I agree interesting article.

I think it is just a matter of time until they figure out , for the big revenue sports, they will find a way to break off and pay the players. So we will have a League that has, I don't know, 60 teams and another league with 60 teams that guys are just a scholarships.

[Hollywood42]

Of course a non-athlete can work to pay the bills. But good luck finding anybody out there that can fully pay for college nowadays just by working in the summer and during the school year. Poor college athletes that get scholarships to travel around the country and play sports. Sure wish I could do that. It's not just the athletes that have a hard time paying the bills

Originally Posted by coachnip13

See my question.

[coachnip13]

Originally Posted by Hollywood42

Of course a non-athlete can work to pay the bills. But good luck finding anybody out there that can fully pay for college nowadays just by working in the summer and during the school year. Poor college athletes that get scholarships to travel around the country and play sports. Sure wish I could do that. It's not just the athletes that have a hard time paying the bills

The bitterness toward athletes is glaring. That's probably to be expected on a collector site.

30% of tuition might be $9,000. So that athlete who gets to travel around the country while managing a class schedule has to come up with the other $21,000......and is not permitted to work to at least make a dent in that.

In the meantime, the NCAA is rolling in dough and the coach has two BMW's.

[Dbacksbaseball]

Truthfully, if you ask any guy who played college baseball, meaning meaningful at bat's/pitching in games etc and loved the game you won't find many complaints. I went to college with $1000 in my pocket and made it last a whole year, as did most the guys on my team. The kids who had mom and dads credit cards would chip in and get pizzas and stuff every now and then but as a team you found a way to make it work. We weren't able to drink Dogfish every night, or go out to fancy restaurants but we all made it work. Good life experience.

[Hollywood42]

Hahahahaha yeah I'm bitter. You're just not seeing my point that the larger problem is the cost of schools in general. See someone else that responded to another of my posts, schools are always building huge new buildings, while students, athletes or not, have to turn to tens of thousands of dollars in student loans to get through 4 years. You say NCAA rolling in dough, I say the college is rolling in dough. Coach has 2 BMWs? So does the college president

Originally Posted by coachnip13

The bitterness toward athletes is glaring. That's probably to be expected on a collector site.

30% of tuition might be $9,000. So that athlete who gets to travel around the country while managing a class schedule has to come up with the other $21,000......and is not permitted to work to at least make a dent in that.

In the meantime, the NCAA is rolling in dough and the coach has two BMW's.

[awz50]

Playing College baseball is awesome, you are basically a god on campus and If you have ANY time management skills it can be a great experience.

[coachnip13]

Originally Posted by Hollywood42

Hahahahaha yeah I'm bitter. You're just not seeing my point that the larger problem is the cost of schools in general. See someone else that responded to another of my posts, schools are always building huge new buildings, while students, athletes or not, have to turn to tens of thousands of dollars in student loans to get through 4 years. You say NCAA rolling in dough, I say the college is rolling in dough. Coach has 2 BMWs? So does the college president

Of course, the main point being glossed over is that most other sports get full rides for the entire roster no matter how much money they lose. It's a baseball issue. I'm going out on a limb here, but look up the commentary of a guy named "Ron Polk".

[Hollywood42]

Perhaps it's just me being "bitter", but I see the fact that tuition has increased over 10x in price in the last 30 years as just a slightly bigger problem than some kid on the football team getting a full ride when maybe he shouldn't

Originally Posted by coachnip13

Of course, the main point being glossed over is that most other sports get full rides for the entire roster no matter how much money they lose. It's a baseball issue. I'm going out on a limb here, but look up the commentary of a guy named "Ron Polk".

[coachnip13]

Originally Posted by Hollywood42

Perhaps it's just me being "bitter", but I see the fact that tuition has increased over 10x in price in the last 30 years as just a slightly bigger problem than some kid on the football team getting a full ride when maybe he shouldn't

Or it's you just not understanding the issue. Forget the football player. At least his sport brings in money. How about the 15th girl on the basketball team. That's where it becomes a problem against baseball. The high tuition doesn't bother her one bit. She has 100% of her tuition paid for and she won't sniff the court.