Is an unpaid apprentice or intern an “amateur” or is it a person gaining training and experience for future pay?
The Belt recently put up a piece saying that the NCAA should loosen transfer rules to encourage amateurism. I believe they are wrong about both the nature of amateurism and the effects of loosing transfer rules would have on the armature nature of college sports unless some other things change.
I think the Belt’s article is a good read. It’s interesting and the discussion about transfer rules needs to be had but I believe that leaving everything else the same and easing transfer rules for athletes will hurt, not help, any aspects of amateurism left in college sports.