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American College vs UK University Sport S SPORT
port at the higher education level can be very competitive, and an important part of life for many students. In Nottingham, our Varsity series sees UoN’s best athletes compete against Trent’s for the prestigious crown. This year has seen UoN emerge victorious once again, and Varsity has become a focal point of life for many students in Notts, whether that be competing or simply supporting their university. If it feels like sport at universities in the UK is a big part of life, American college sport commands far greater attention, as Jack explains. US college sports such as basketball, American football, and to a slightly lesser extent ice hockey, baseball, and others have massive platforms. The highest level of student competition is broadcast on national TV. March Madness, the National Championship, and other Division I sporting competitions have huge followings, almost comparable to the professional competitions for these sports. The rivalries, legacies, and narratives of these competitions provide an exciting backdrop for these sporting spectacles. It’s a perfect framing for these high-level, high-stakes, winner-takes-all, anyone-can-win tournaments. While student athletes in
the UK may only be known at their own university, student athletes in America are often known all over the nation, thanks to the nationally televised events they take part in. A comparison between the US and UK systems reveals fascinating benefits and detriments to both systems. The first point of contention is the differences between America and the UK university setups, and how it affects the running of their sporting programs. UK higher education institutions tend to be much smaller in size, infrastructure, and funding than American colleges. Additionally, there are less than 200 universities in the UK compared to the thousands of colleges in America. This creates greater sporting competition between colleges in America because of the volume of competitive sporting colleges there are competing at the Division I level, the highest level in collegiate sport. At just the Division I level there are 363 colleges, whereas there are only a handful of universities in the UK which boast a competitive level of sport. Of course, the US is a far bigger country, but there are still proportionally more elite level sporting colleges across the Atlantic. Furthermore, for many American athletes, the only way to make it professionally in their sport is to
get drafted out of college into the league, which only a few top prospects do. Despite many not necessarily being able to get into a competitive college due to their academic merits, there are thousands of scholarships given out every year to athletes who are top prospects coming out of school. Sometimes, student athletes are found to struggle balancing the rigorous training that players must go through and maintaining good grades. This can lead to scandals and controversy from colleges which obliterate academic standards to skate NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) rules on student athlete academics, keeping underperforming students at their school because they are important athletes. Just look at Last Chance U as an example, a documentary which focuses on the Junior College level of sport. Many top athletes end up at junior colleges for a variety of reasons, from poor conduct to a failure to keep up with their academics at a standard college. In the UK, this issue is far less prevalent – the setup at universities here seem to prioritise education over sport, with less rigorous training, a greater emphasis on academics, and less of an incentive to attend university simply for sport.