Student Athlete (2018)

Student Athlete: Directed by Trish Dalton, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. With Chris Chavannes, Shamar Graves, Silas Nacita, Nick Richards. An examination of the complex rules of amateur athletics in America and how they affect uncompensated athletes and their families.

“This a very disturbing indictment of the values of the NCAA, our vaunted institutions of higher learning and, by extension, our values as a nation as we watch the cynical mining of raw athletic talent in underprivileged, low income communities populated primarily by minorities (in this case African American) using the not-so-subtle carrot and stick of success in professional sports. What young athlete coming from these depressed places doesnu0026#39;t dream of professional sports as a career where it is revealed that 56% and 66% of players in the NFL and NBA are African American? What these young men (primarily) arenu0026#39;t reminded of is that only approximately 3% of undergraduates at any of these institutions are African American and only .003% of players are drafted by professional teams, let alone make the cut. Itu0026#39;s made quite clear that their primary purpose in being on campus is to enrich that particular universityu0026#39;s profile and bottom line. If the individualu0026#39;s performance is sub-par, is injured or is in violation of one of the NCAAu0026#39;s myriad self-serving rules then the Exit door appears quickly and decisively in favor of the next recruit to fill the slot. Itu0026#39;s a shameful waste of the aspirations of youth. These Universities are making millions upon millions of dollars on the backs of these athletes. They hire (recruit, train and play) and fire, or un-subsidize, through injury, sub-par performance or self-serving rule violation at will. They should pay these kids as in any employer/employee enterprise.”