Over the Edge * March 27th 2013

Sports 13

HOW PROFESSIONALS AND UNIVERSITY ATHLETES DIFFER

BRONTE JAMES

THE BRUNSWICKAN (UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK)
FREDERICTON (CUP) — I spend my
weekends sitting on the bleachers covering
Varsity Reds’ sports. Whether it’s soccer,
hockey, basketball, or volleyball, I’m sitting in
the stands and watching university athletes play
the sport to which they dedicate their university
lives.

While covering these sports, there was one thing
I realized; professional athletes and university
athletes play for different reasons.

Professional players may have started out with
the love of the game in mind, but somewhere
along the way, they drifted into the economic
side of things and began demanding more. More
money; more sponsors; More, More, more.

University athletes, however, other than
scholarships, are doing it purely because they
love the sport. If they aren’t playing at home, they
jump on the bus every other weekend to travel to
yet another university. They do their homework
on the bus, so they stay caught up with school,
and they give their time and dedication each and
every day to make themselves the best athletes
they can be to represent their school.

Some of the people I have interviewed over the
course of the past three years have inspired me to
take the bad and turn it into motivation. Athletes
like Amir Razak who has had three surgeries
on the same knee and is looking forward to
his next season, or his fellow teammate Aaron
McMurray, who broke his back in three places
and is starting goaltender for the men’s soccer

team. They have no reason to continue playing
other than the pure dedication they have to their
sport.

Yes, professional athletes have their stories too,
but they have the financial benefit of returning
to the game. University players don’t have the
same option.

The key difference between university sports
and professional sports is this: One plays for
money, while the other plays for purpose.
Obviously, this is not true of every single
player in the NHL or NBA, etc., but it seems
to be a consistent image. Bringing the sport to
a halt with demands and negotiations for more
money is not what sports are about. Professional
athletes need to stop making it about themselves
and make it about the game.

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canadawest
standings

Men’s Basketball

Pacific Division

18-4 UBC

16-6 Victoria

10-12 Trinity Western
12-10 Fraser Valley
8-14 Thompson Rivers
6-16 UNBC

6-16 Mount Royal
5-17 UBC-Okanagan

Prairie Division

16-6 Saskatchewan
14-8 Alberta

14-8 Manitoba
14-9 Winnipeg
13-9 Calgary
12-10 Lethbridge
7-15 Regina

6-16 Brandon

Women's Basketball
Pacific Division

18-4 Fraser Valley
17-5 UBC
16-6 Victoria
15-7 Thompson Rivers
8-14 UNBC
7-15 Trinity Western
6-16 UBC-O
5-17 Mount Royal

Prairie Division

19-3 Regina

19-3 Calgary

14-8 Alberta

13-9 Saskatchewan

10-12 Lethbridge
7-15 Winnipeg
2-20 Manitoba
0-22 Brandon