University Athletics

Anyone who has attended a university for studies or as grown up in a university town, knows all to well about how university athletics has a powerful influence. University athletics has become a major money maker and at times can rival professional sports in its bid for advertising time. University athletics has both good and bad aspects to it. It adds to university life but it isn’t without controversy. In this article we will look at some of the pros and cons of university athletics.

Nearly every division 1 and 3 university in the United States has an active university athletics program. Division 3 schools have them as well but they are much smaller and specialized. Most of these universities are divided into conferences where schools play each other. Football, Basketball, Ice Hockey and Baseball are among some of the hottest tickets. This does however vary from school to school and region to region.

Generally, the larger the school the more diverse and varied their athletic program. Michigan State University athletics serves a school community of nearly 40,000 students. Their University athletics program offers hundreds of sports some of the most popular being football and ice hockey. On the other side of the coin there is auburn university that serves a much smaller student population. They have a good University athletics program but it is much less diverse than many larger schools.

University athletics does bring some criticism. Some feel that the athletes are given too much freedom when it comes to academics and behaviour. Some also feel that the revenue generated is not distributed as it should be. However, university athletics can do a lot of good for a school. It gives students an opportunity to compete for their school. It gives those that do not wish to compete a chance to get behind their school in a fun way.

Nearly all universities have an athletic program. Some are more varied that others but they have the same general purpose in mind. From Arizona State University to Western Michigan, sports programs thrive giving students something to cheer about and athletes a change to do something positive.