By: Jake Marcus

Gracyn Elliot, like most college students, has a heavy academic workload and has to put in effort to stay on top of school assignments. Her workload, however, involves more than exams and essays. Gracyn is a sophomore defender for the University of Oregon’s Women’s lacrosse team, and she has to balance her school schedule with 20 hours a week of lacrosse practices. She also has to leave school early sometimes in order to travel to games, some of which are across the country. She is required to play regardless of the weather, regardless of the fact that practices sometimes go over and she has to rush to class.

Gracyn began playing lacrosse in 6th grade, played all through high school, and was recruited to play for the University of Oregon. She recognized, when she first came to campus, that women’s lacrosse didn’t provide full scholarships sport-wide across the country, even though it required the same time commitment as sports that did. But she did not think anything about it. She was just focused on playing. Gracyn says it was an injury that caused her to seriously consider the issue of financial compensation. “Last year I was injured, and I had to put in even more time. I’d have to come in before practice for treatment, which meant I had to leave class even earlier than before I was hurt. It took a lot of effort and commitment.” That experience was when she first thought she should be paid for playing. Redshirt freshman Dylan Thigpen, a running back for University of Idaho football, and can attest to what Gracyn is saying. Dylan also believes student athletes should be paid because, “College sports is a full time job.”

Looking forward, Gracyn does not regret any possible missed opportunities. Although she has an interest in joining clubs, like Duck TV, she knows she might not have time to participate. Even so, Gracyn says her love for lacrosse trumps any other possible opportunities that are out there for her right now, and trumps the fact that she does not get paid to play. She says, “Being on a team really gives you skills you can’t learn outside of being on a team.”