Gatorade signs first ever college athlete - Paige Bueckers

[Heytherego]

 

[Kaizen]

Wow... congrats to Paige. UConn honor and pride ~~~

 

[Bald Husky]

Does this mean she will hand out the National Gatorade player of the year trophy each year?

 

[Mdoggie]

Does this mean she will hand out the National Gatorade player of the year trophy each year?

Yes

 

[da60]

Wow....Gatorade...a real big thing for Paige and the UConn program. This is BIG TIME. She appears to be the kind of young lady who can handle it....outwardly she appears to be the same old Paige from Hopkins. I do thinks about the other girls and how they are dealing with her oncoming wealth and future. It has to have an affect on some others, but we have to wait and see. Geno has a good handle on it and is the right coach for her....he can dish it back in spades. I love Paige, but it is our team that I am concerned about. The packages are all there, it's just how it's unwrapped....I vote UConn. Boy how generations change....will we all adapt???

 

[Blueballer]

Free Gatorade for the entire team or just for Paige? (LOL)

 

[Woof 101]

I rest assured Paige will find a way to share this honor with her team financially now or down the road. She is and foremost a share the ball first, player. I doubt she will have any problem dolling out dollars any more than she does dimes !

 

[D J B]

I rest assured Paige will find a way to share this honor with her team financially now or down the road. She is and foremost a share the ball first, player. I doubt she will have any problem dolling out dollars any more than she does dimes !

I remember years ago when the NWSL (National Women's Soccer League) was first beginning. The Portland Thorns were playing FC Kansas City, in KC. When the Portland team checked into their hotel rooms, they found bed bugs and mold in the bathrooms. Alex Morgan. who played for Portland and had been criticized for earning at least $500,000 per year more than her teammates (because of USWNT salary and endorsement bucks), got the feedback from her fellow players. She could have complained to the league (which she did in great detail), and nothing would have been done straightaway to solve the immediate problem.

What she did do was move her entire team from the hotel provided by FC Kansas City to the Hyatt Regency and pay the entire tab herself (this was not an isolated event). Her teammates meant more to her than the bucks. That is one example of how someone on a team earning far more than others can dole out more dollars than she does dimes. She saw a teamwide problem, she decided to fix it, and she shared her success with her teammates to solve it and make it better for all. We only know about it because her teammates talked about it. She never said a word.

Paige is someone for whom team comes first. I don't doubt her ability to translate her personal success to the success of the team. It's a matter of character, and Paige seems to have an abundance of that. She will share her success, and never take a bit of credit for it.