By Frank Yin
Star quarterback, Quinn Ewers, skipped senior year of high school and joined the Ohio State football team. Now, Ewers makes more money than his high school coaches. On July 1st, the NCAA made a policy allowing college athletes to make money through their popular image and name. Ewers is taking advantage of this, he made a deal with Holy Kombucha, a company that sells fermented tea. Before the NCAA released their endorsement policy, the topic was frequently argued about. Since the NCAA submitted to requests, some people are moving on to high school athletes. High school athletes should be allowed to make money through endorsements.
The NCAA went under lots of pressure to allow athletes to make money through endorsements. According to a 2021 Morning Consult survey, 61% of adults wanted to allow college athletes to earn money through endorsements. Ewers says he preferred staying at his high school, but he could not pass up the opportunity of making some money. However, the issues with allowing endorsements in high school are giving up the traditional high school sense of amateurism and the awkward tensions between endorsed players and others.
High school is very important to students, because it gives more time for people who still are deciding what they want to do. This experience is hard to enjoy for very talented people that seek to make money like Ewers. If Ewers were allowed to make money, it would be hard for Ewers to have a somewhat “normal” experience. It is human nature to sometimes be jealous of or treat people that are special differently. This makes an even stronger impact in high school, because many students are still maturing. Ewers would likely find his high school football experience awkward and sometimes tense between teammates or coaches.
However, it is unfair for young athletes to be forced to skip high school in order to make money through endorsements. I think it is important to give them the freedom to make their own decisions, but they should also know the consequences to their decisions.
For most, skipping high school will likely still be best for them. But receiving money through endorsements should be a small thing compared to the fact that they are already so special. Therefore, allowing high school athletes to earn money is necessary for ones willing to sacrifice a “normal” high school experience for a partially “normal” high school experience.