NCAA Athletes Unite for an Increase in Players’ Rights
WESLEY TSAI
Staff Writer
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes from around the country have united in an act to take over the media. ‘APU’ has been seen around lately on athletes whether it is on their jersey or on their wristbands, the letters ‘APU’ stand for ‘All Players United’, a movement in which the National Collegiate Players Association (NCPA) advocate for the athletes to have more benefits such as health care, more scholarship money, the end of restrictions on legitimate employment and players’ ability to take advantage of commercial opportunities
“[Football players] deserve [more benefits] since they are playing at a higher level of football with a chance of entering the National Football League (NFL), where these benefits exist. [NCAA] football players should also get this benefit because their games are broadcasted as NFL games,” junior football player Kyle Hua said.
Petitions have been going around on the NCPA website to advocate changes for college athletes who work under NCAA regulations. Their main goals are to advocate for the players mainly for the purpose to protect players from concussions and for the benefit of the players health and safety. This action will make its way into the media with more players representing the APU cause. It is expected that players in the nation will continue to use hashtags such as #APU and #AllPlayersUnited as a means to reveal to the media of their seriousness of this situation.
“Players will continue to wear APU [wristbands] throughout the season and spread the word. They’ve been using bodies to make money for those who run the NCAA sports. Now, for the first time, they’re using their bodies to push for basic protections at the very least.” NCPA president Ramogi Huma said according to CBS Sports.
This campaign hopes to break through media in hopes of showing the importance of player’s rights. With the large number of supporters and players, the movement will hopefully continue to spread.