是否可以要求被招募参加大学体育项目的年轻运动员在被允许参加比赛之前进行深入的背景调查？在过去的十年中，对学生运动员的背景调查几乎是每个人从大学体育主管到政治家之间经常谈论的话题。然而，虽然这些年来这种放映变得越来越普遍，但它们仍远未成为常态。

2011 年，《体育画报》和 CBS 新闻相互合作，研究了该国前 25 名大学橄榄球项目的背景调查政策。他们发现当时排名前 25 的球队中只有两支（俄克拉荷马大学和德克萨斯基督教大学）制定了要求对新入职者进行犯罪背景审查的政策。调查还发现，参与这 25 个项目的球员中有 7% 在进入大学之前或之后触犯了法律。

当时，NCAA 主席马克·埃默雷特 (Mark Emerett) 称 7% 的发现是不可接受的，并发誓要研究要求不同体育项目筛选球员的方法。但是，埃默雷特确实指出，他想了解有关情况的更多信息。我们不知道 [7% 的数字] 相对于普通学生群体是什么样子，他推理道。）他还说，即使 NCAA 要求学校筛选他们的球员，他仍然希望这些学校最终有接受他们想接受的运动员的自由。

现在，大学橄榄球运动员的背景调查重新成为全国关注的焦点。《今日美国》最近发表了一篇题为“当家庭暴力笼罩大学橄榄球时，教练们正在努力铲除它”的文章。并精选了来自不同教练的名言，分享了他们对如何解决问题的想法。许多接受采访的教练都强调为球员树立好榜样的重要性，举办家庭之夜让球员看到教练如何尊重他们的妻子，或者在教育课程中教练与球员谈论在场上和场下都是好人和值得尊敬的人。场地。

当然，教育是等式的重要组成部分。虽然大学橄榄球运动员在球场上看起来像成年男子，但他们最终只是大学生。他们还年轻，年轻人会犯错。因此，在家庭暴力情况和其他刑事指控发生之前阻止他们成为教练工作描述的重要组成部分。

但是，教练们能教他们的球员如何在场外避免改变人生的错误吗？或者大学体育部门是否需要注意他们招募的球员的警告信号，以帮助防止日益严重的家庭暴力问题？

一位接受《今日美国》采访的教练确实提到，背景调查和性格推荐是招募年轻球员过程中越来越重要的一部分。那些在上大学之前就曾对女性施暴或有过暴力史的球员通常是大学教练和他们的课程无法承受的风险。

尽管如此，背景调查在大学体育运动中还远未普及，问题是，应该这样做吗？正如埃默雷特四年前指出的那样，NCAA 或其他任何人都很难对学校可以和不能招募的球员类型强加任何具体的指导方针。

最终，是否带球员上船的选择取决于做出决定的学院或大学。话虽如此，对大学橄榄球新兵的全面背景调查要求至少可以让教练更加认识到招募能够维护学校声誉的球员的重要性。

Could young athletes being recruited for college sports programs be required to undergo in-depth background checks before being allowed to play? In the past decade, background checks for student athletes have been a near-constant topic of conversation between everyone from university athletic directors to politicians. However, while such screenings have become more common over the years, they are still far from being the norm.

In 2011, Sports Illustrated and CBS News partnered with one another to research background check policies at the top 25 college football programs in the country. They found that only two of the top 25 teams at the time (the University of Oklahoma and Texas Christian University) had policies requiring criminal background screenings for incoming recruits. The investigation also discovered that seven percent of the players involved in those 25 programs had been in trouble with the law before or after entering college.

At the time, NCAA President Mark Emerett called the seven percent finding unacceptable and vowed to look into methods for requiring different athletic programs to screen their players. However, Emerett did note that he wanted more information on the situation. We don't know what that [seven percent figure] looks like relative to the regular student body, he reasoned.) He also said that even if the NCAA were to require schools to screen their players, he would still want those schools to ultimately have the freedom to accept the athletes they wanted to accept.

Now, college football player background checks are back in the national spotlight. The USA Today recently published an article titled "As domestic violence clouds college football, coaches work to root it out." and featured quotes from various coaches sharing their thoughts on how to solve the problem. Many of the coaches interviewed stressed the importance of setting a good example for their players, having family nights where players can see how coaches respect their wives, or educational sessions where coaches talk to their players about being good and honorable men both on and off the field.

Certainly, education is an important part of the equation. While college football players look like grown men out there on the field, they are ultimately just college students. They are young, and young people make mistakes. As a result, it's becoming an important part of the job description for coaches to stop domestic violence situations and other criminal charges before they happen.

But can coaches do enough to teach their players how to avoid life-altering mistakes off the field? Or do college athletic departments need to watch for warning signs in the players they recruit, to help prevent the growing domestic violence problem?

One coach interviewed for the USA Today piece did mention that background checks and character references are a growing part of the process for recruiting young players. Players who have a history of violence against women, or a history of violence, period, before they even reach college are often risks that college coaches and their programs can't afford to take.

Still, background checks are far from universal in college sports, and the question is, should they be? As Emerett noted four years ago, it would be difficult for the NCAA, or anyone else, for that matter, to impose any concrete guidelines about the kinds of players that schools can and cannot recruit.

Ultimately, the choice of whether or not to bring a player aboard rests with the college or university making the call. With that said, an across-the-board background check requirement for college football recruits could at least go a long way toward making coaches even more cognizant of how important it is to recruit players that will uphold their school's reputation.