Should Blue Ridge High School Volleyball Players Receive Pay for Play?

Disclaimer: Before you read this post, keep in mind that I am not actually arguing that high school volleyball players should be paid for their participation on their respective teams.


I recently watched ESPN's Blueprint for Change, where a panel discussed, among other things, the idea of paying college athletes in exchange for their participation in athletics.

With recent scandals in college football, including recent reports that a convicted Ponzi scheme conductor paid players at the University of Miami, among the biggest headlines in the world of sports, the NCAA rules regarding players' compensation are obviously causing a hot-button debate.

Those who say that players should be paid a stipend for their athletic participation argue that athletes bring a lot of revenue to the school. They argue that it's not fair for the school to collect the millions of dollars in revenue without giving a cut to the players who generate it (beyond the basics such as free tuition, room and board and books).

Well, I just read the following paragraph on Blue Ridge High School's student announcements:

Blue Ridge Volleyball t-shirt order forms are in the office. Support your favorite volleyball player and get a shirt with their name and number on the back. Order forms and payment are due Friday, August 26th to the high school office.

In other words, if you have a little disposable income to spend, you can give money to the high school in exchange for a t-shirt that has the name of a player on the back of it. Obviously, none of the money you spend on that t-shirt will be paid directly to the players whom you "support" by buying it.

Of course, the t-shirts won't generate the millions of dollars in revenue that big-time college athletes produce. And the Blue Ridge players don't have to worry about the cost of attending their high school, at least not as much as college athletes do.

But this is still something to think about when discussing the thought of paying college athletes.

Blue Ridge Volleyball Roster -- 2011 Season
Number and Name
2 -- T'Ann Crozier
4 -- Jordan Wheeler
5 -- Kaitlyn Zelhart
6 -- Chandler Morrow
8 -- Korie Reynolds
10 -- Megan Tsevelekos
12 -- Emily Zelhart
14 -- Jessica Schrock
20 -- Amber Blazek
22 -- Morgan Delaney
24 -- Kasey Sedberry
26 -- Gabby Pearl
28 -- Courtney Cox