268:, providing an outlet for players who have used up their NCAA eligibility and have no further use for maintaining amateur status. As a sport that normally plays only one game per week, American football is especially suited for semi-pro play and commonly known as "working man's" football; meaning the players have regular jobs and play football on the weekends. In the 20th century the term "semi-pro football league" refer to higher level amateur leagues, though the players do not get paid, the leagues and the games are run in a somewhat professional manner.
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in some sports is still dependent upon maintaining a purely amateur status (although far less so than was previously the case), and such athletes may be supported by government money, business sponsorships, and other systems. At the same time, professional sports have become such a massive and
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often fielded baseball and basketball teams, with players receiving full-time salaries comparable to other employees. In theory, such players split their work week between athletic training and the normal duties of the company's employees, though highly competitive teams often evolved into
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both of parent male teams and of the female teams themselves. Full professionalism for women is still in the planning stages; top female players often depend on other sources of income (such as coaching and physical training), and many attend university or college while playing.
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and more obscure sports often operate at a semi-professional level due to cost concerns. Because the cost of running a fully professional
American football team is prohibitive, semi-pro football is common at the adult levels, in the outdoor or
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but only a "semi" form of it, inventing the term "semi-pro". Although the
Amateur Athletic Union did not like the idea very much, it decided that clubs could indeed offer employment without losing their
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dominates at that age group; the junior leagues in the United States generally operate as fully amateur teams to maintain the players' eligibility to play in college.
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In North
America, semi-professional athletes and teams were far more common in the early and mid-20th century than they are today. Large blue-collar employers such as
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team in 1890. That year, the
Olympic Club was accused by a rival club of enticing athletes to jump to its ranks with offers of jobs. An investigation by the
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forbade any sort of compensation outside of scholarships, including job offers tied to their playing, until 2020). Eligibility for participation in the
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are also effectively semi-professional, as the short summer seasons and low salaries require players to hold jobs in the offseason to make ends meet.
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evolved out of these company-branded basketball teams. By the 1940s, baseball split off into separate truly amateur
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There are many benefits, such as collegiate eligibility and the attendant
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495:"Baseball's minor leaguers pursue their dreams below the poverty line"
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449:. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–6. Archived from
420:. Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–5. Archived from
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is semi-professional at the top levels, as finances depend on
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whose lower ranks included many former industrial players.
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32:"Semi-professional" redirects here. For other uses, see
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and each sports organization's specific regulations.
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187:ruled that the Olympics' practice was not actually
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248:In Canada, semi-professionalism is prevalent in
245:can afford to have fully professional athletes.
241:remunerative business that even many low-level
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287:There are several hundred semi-professional
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129:Learn how and when to remove this message
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215:National Industrial Basketball League
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196:status or compromising the athlete.
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305:English football league system
29:Sports with part-time athletes
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319:Women's football in England
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177:San Francisco Olympic Club
78:"Semi-professional sports"
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341:being semi-professional.
34:Semi-pro (disambiguation)
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688:Bodybuilding supplements
323:promotion and relegation
303:(the fourth tier of the
273:National Lacrosse League
142:Semi-professional sports
301:English Football League
440:"Five Hundred Reasons"
407:"When Did they Start?"
405:PFRA Research (1987).
381:High performance sport
344:Historically, English
185:Amateur Athletic Union
456:on 29 September 2010.
339:Scottish Championship
427:on 27 November 2010.
335:Scottish Premiership
158:professional athlete
63:improve this article
499:The Washington Post
366:Professional sports
705:Physical education
277:organized baseball
254:college ice hockey
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710:Physical activity
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889:Cheerleaders
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693:Sports drink
661:Chriopractic
619:Biomechanics
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586:Professional
502:. Retrieved
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493:Babb, Kent.
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476:. Retrieved
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451:the original
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61:Please help
56:verification
53:
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994:Flying disc
909:Memorabilia
818:Sponsorship
504:8 September
350:rugby union
179:fielded an
165:labour code
1135:Categories
1032:Regulation
1022:Ministries
1017:Sports law
999:Sportswear
936:Philosophy
846:Journalism
758:Postseason
676:Psychology
671:Physicians
634:Physiology
576:Parasports
561:Individual
478:26 January
392:References
293:non-League
259:Lower-end
89:newspapers
1053:Australia
966:Equipment
941:Rivalries
926:Numbering
919:Nicknames
868:Promoters
851:Magazines
813:Marketing
803:Economics
722:Sociology
683:Nutrition
291:teams at
210:shipyards
206:factories
148:in which
119:July 2008
1110:Category
1009:Politics
989:Exercise
956:Violence
856:Podcasts
808:Industry
785:Business
700:Pedagogy
651:Medicine
624:Practice
614:Exercise
360:See also
289:football
238:Olympics
219:softball
150:athletes
1120:Outline
1073:Oceania
904:History
884:Betting
877:Culture
748:Leagues
606:Science
596:Amateur
299:of the
194:amateur
154:amateur
103:scholar
1063:Europe
1048:Africa
984:Caving
914:Naming
793:Agents
765:School
753:Season
666:Injury
646:Doping
376:Pro–am
171:Origin
146:sports
105:
98:
91:
84:
76:
979:Balls
861:Radio
823:Trade
770:Teams
738:Clubs
581:Women
554:Types
547:Sport
454:(PDF)
443:(PDF)
425:(PDF)
410:(PDF)
110:JSTOR
96:books
1058:Asia
566:Team
506:2016
480:2016
348:and
271:The
234:NCAA
208:and
175:The
144:are
82:news
899:Fan
329:In
65:by
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