The NCPA message has reached the White House and President Obama supports our efforts.
The NCPA message has reached the White House and President Obama supports our efforts. In an interview with the Huffington Post, President Obama weighed in on some of the issues and stated the NCAA should require schools to offer guaranteed scholarships.
"Students need to be taken better care of because they are generating a lot of revenue here. An immediate step that the NCAA could take -- that some conferences have already taken -- is if you offer a scholarship to a kid coming into school, that scholarship sticks, no matter what." said President Obama
Because of the tremendous pressure from the NCPA and college players standing up for college athletes’ rights, the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC and the ACC recently passed reforms guaranteeing scholarships so long as students remain in good standing.
President Obama also stated he believed the NCAA and its member universities should provide better health coverage for college athletes.
"You've got to make sure that if they get injured while they're playing that they're covered," the president said.
Unfortunately schools have dodged liability for on-field injuries and some current and former college athletes are too often stuck with medical bills from injuries they suffered during college sports. Though we have made some strides, proper reform has not taken place and we will continue to fight for better protections and health coverage for college athletes.
In the past President Obama has also criticized the NCAA for not doing enough to protect college players from concussions. NCAA enforceable rules regarding concussions are necessary because college players' lives are at stake. We will continue to fight for reform on this matter as well.
Thanks President Obama for backing our efforts and our fight for better protections!