![]() He conceived functional designations for players, coining terms such as quarterback” (Branch, 2011, p. “He persuaded other schools to reduce the chaos on the field by trimming each side from 15 players to 11, and it was his idea to paint measuring lines on the field. Walter Camp, a recent graduate of Yale in 1880 saw huge potential in the fledgling sport and even, “…devoted his life to it without pay, becoming "the father of American football" (Branch, 2011, p. The players were, yet again, paid for their devotion and representation of their respective universities on the field of play. The Harvard and Yale football matchup became the most important rivalry in sports and attracted the attention of the nation. Even in its adolescence as a sport there was still a large and growing fan base of rabid supporters. American Football would be changed and grow over the next century to become the most popular sport in America and the primary reason for the creation of the NCAA.įootball quickly overtook all other collegiate sports to become the most beloved. 83) Rugby would later form into a physically dominate and brutal game known as American football which originally would encompass many of the rules of Rugby while lessening others to create a freer and more violent display. As though heeding this warning, ingenious students turned variations on rugby into a toughening agent.” (Branch, 2011, p. Rugby grew to become quite popular and viewed as necessary because, “… the United States did not hold a global empire like England's, leaders warned of national softness once railroads conquered the last continental frontier. ![]() Rugby, and wrestling joined the ranks of rowing and the competition grew. The Harvard and Yale rivalry continued to grow as new sports saw the two rivals locked in fierce competition with each other. In fact by many accounts, universities used all sorts of tricks to get ahead of rival schools and were certainly not above cheating let alone paying their players. Lavish rewards and prize money was not uncommon as many competitions in the early days of collegiate sport saw its fair share of rewards go to the athlete students who participated. People paid to see elite athletes perform no matter their status as a student. This is in part thanks to the idea that college sports being important to our notion of education and college life was not yet deeply entrenched and established in the general public’s minds. Back then there was no concept of “student athlete” nor any precedent for what that would look like. “The superintendent of the Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad organized the event, luring the Harvard and Yale rowing crews with “lavish prizes” and “unlimited alcohol,” in order to attract wealthy passengers up to watch the event” (Zimbalist, 2001, p. It was also here that arguably the first NCAA infraction might have occurred had the governing body been established. The event was a spectacle and thousands of people lined the shores to watch the two best rowing teams in the country compete for bragging rights. In 1852, the Harvard and Yale rowing teams competed against each other in their annual rivalry on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. ![]() In fact, there was a time when the fledgling government body held no authority at all, but first let’s begin by starting at the dawn of North American collegiate sports to discover why the NCAA was established. ![]() It is hard to imagine a time when the NCAA did not have complete control of the university system, but it was not always the powerhouse of enforcement it is today. My focus throughout this paper will be the concept of “student athlete” and how that term was created and the issues that were evaded and arose from this as well as telling the unique history of the inception and rise of the NCAA. Yet, the NCAA has profited greatly from young athlete’s athletic pursuits and has turned amateur sports into a self-serving multi-billion dollar empire. Throughout the decades, the NCAA has steadily gained dominance of the collegiate athletic landscape and carefully evaded compromising lawsuits and workers compensation by creating the term “student athlete” and enforcing the rules of amateurism. The History of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), its conception, and rise to power, is a complicated story than spans almost two centuries of collegiate sporting history.
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