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The Chronicle of Higher Education reports intercollegiate at the University of South Florida will be provided laptop computers because their athletic director noted their team travels more miles than any other team in a Bowl Championship conference.
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USF will loan out 461 13" Macbook Pro laptops at a cost of $175,000 annually for the whole program. This would not be limited to the glamour sports of men's' football and basketball but for all sports requiring travel to compete. Given that most Big East teams are either deep in the Appalachian Mountains or above the Potomac River, the distance from South Florida to the North East is substantial. A wide range of technological opportunities are ready for their use.
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Though the price tag might look substantial, there are grants and foundations that help defer the cost. We applaud the university's decision because the student part of student athlete is way too often overlooked.
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College sports is big business. Fans and the media relate to football and basketball teams with the same intensity as for the pros. Players are criticized and ripped to pieces in the same manner as if they were established pros pulling in six figure or greater salaries. While they certainly aren't just ordinary college kids, they are STUDENT athletes. The extent to which the academic aspect of their college tenure is ignored can be appalling. Examining the graduation rates of some top Division I programs presents an unacceptable picture of these great institutions failing their students. For every student who does not graduate to go on to a professional career, how many leave having attended college and played a major sport and have no marketable credentials to show for it?
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While many sports fans follow big college football and basketball, and on some campuses baseball and lacrosse attracts substantial fan support, the vast majority of NCAA athletes are in sports most fans never notice outside of the Olympics: swimming, wrestling, track & field, golf, and various winter sports. While not in the spotlight, largely out of sight and out of mind, these competitors have substantial travel commitments as well.
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Providing students with the appropriate technology which in some cases could even allow them to participate in lecture classes streamed across the Internet represents a great opportunity to help make the educational component of these students' needs.
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Perhaps there are even marketing opportunities for the technology companies to contribute equipment and get a commercial plug in. The days of "Hewlett Packard the official computer company of the PAC 10" might be close at hand. College sports are already so totally commercialized. Let's see that factor be turned into a positive for the STUDENT athletes.
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