Yesterday I happened to catch a glimpse of the baseball game on my way back from running errands. As I drove by, I noticed a few things, but one thing in particular; barely any LSC students were at this game.
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen low attendance at an LSC sports game. Almost all athletic events have little to no attendance, and that’s in part to a few reasons. First, we are in division three NCAA athletics, which is the lowest of the NCAA sanctioned sports divisions. Second, some of our sports teams are playing sub-par to what many would consider to be play-off contenders. For this reason alone, people are almost immediately un-interested in watching the athletes play. The sad truth is that people want to be able to say they saw a famous athlete play, or watched their team win a national title. The question I have is, why can’t you be proud of your team?
Over my three years here, I’ve seen some amazing athletes here at Lyndon. I watched the men’s soccer team play in the NAC championship game in Waterville, Maine. I went because I was proud of how well those guys played, and I was genuinely excited to see them win a huge game. Now soccer may not be your sport, but it’s much easier to follow here on a small college campus.
The term “spectator” sport means that it is a sport that is watched by a large number of fans. Just because we don’t have the true “numbers,” doesn’t mean we can’t be there for them. Many teams from professionals to college count on the energy and support that their fans create at the game’s atmosphere. It’s an important part of having home-field advantage, and we are doing our teams a disservice by not helping them out with that.
Be loud, be proud, and support your team. Give it a try, because who knows, you may end up having a good time.