October 17, 2014 — Before daybreak one drizzly October morning, 44 boats representing 31 colleges organized themselves around a marina at Mattawoman Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River. Light from the GPS navigation systems was all that illuminated the faces of the drivers, who wore wool caps and camouflage hoodies.
By 7 a.m., after a recited prayer and a playing of the national anthem, the teams were off, zipping across the water to their fishing spots.
The winning team would take home $4,000, a handsome sum, at least by the standards of college students. The top 10 teams would automatically advance to a national championship tournament in April with a grand prize of $30,000. And unlike contestants in events sanctioned by the N.C.A.A., many of the participants could not only accept the earnings but also do what they wanted with them: invest in equipment, support future fishing teams or buy whatever they desired, be that textbooks or beer.
Given that approach, those looking for a glimpse of what college sports might look like when athletes can collect paychecks might find a template in the teams that are traversing the nation’s rivers and streams rather than those on fields or courts.
As the N.C.A.A. works to reform its rules amid severe criticism that they are outdated and that they exploit the athletes who play the games, it has taken steps, sometimes grudgingly, to loosen its grip on the administering of athletics. In August it voted overwhelmingly to give its five most powerful conferences greater autonomy to make their own rules, a move that could pave the way for amateur athletes to receive a portion of the enormous revenue that college programs take in.
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