Opinion: We Need to Change the Fan Culture of TC
Hunter Langley
Winter is an interesting time for T.C. sports, with boys basketball games being by far the most popular sport. While the boys are on an upswing this season, generating a lot of buzz and excitement, it seems as if people keep overlooking the remarkable success of the girls sports programs. The female student-athletes need money from ticket and concession sales to afford certain luxuries just as the boys team does.
Girls basketball is the easiest example of the inequality between all the sports programs. Despite winning four straight district championships and posting a winning record this season, there is still lackluster attendance at their home games and very little attendance at their away games.
The student fan group, the Fightin’ Titans, has made an extra effort to attend boys games, of which two of the five officially announced were away games, and have only attended one home girls game.
The girls basketball team is “not respected enough by the student body,” said Fightin’ Titans officer senior Cortney Kerekes. “We do not post about [the girls games] because we just do not think people will go.” She added that the club will make an effort to be at more home games in the near future to support both girls and boys basketball.
Not everyone is supportive of their decision to promote more boys games. Senior and former Fightin’ Titans officer Malcolm Kerr said he would promote “attendance at every home game” if he were still in charge. “It is hard for the Fightin’ Titans leaders to find a balance between promoting events that will get significant attendance, but will also show proper appreciation for all of our student-athletes,” Kerr said.
This lack of support has frustrated some of the players, such as senior forward Caroline Schie. “Support for girls basketball seems to drastically differ from that of the boys,” she said. “As players, we have confidence and excitement with the hype of the crowd. However with [less] crowd support, there is low energy on the court.”
Sophomore Taryn White, who plays center, said, “Sometimes we don’t talk about the little things that add up. For example, we don’t have team meals; we all go our separate ways when it would be beneficial to have a healthy meal together before games.” The boys team receives team meals before games, but the girls do not. However, not everyone feels the same way. Senior boys basketball forward Terrence Horton said the girls team is not undervalued “at all.” Horton added “I feel more people view men’s basketball as more entertaining than [that of] women. The boys do have more attendance, which means we bring in more money.” He also said that the year-round fundraisers for boys basketball help pay for team meals and the charter bus for its West Virginia trip.
Basketball is not the only girls team that is not appreciated by the students. Both field hockey and volleyball won districts, with little recognition or attendance from the student body. Volleyball had its best season ever, winning their its district championship and coming one game short of a trip to the state tournament.
“The volleyball team always had posters and posts for upcoming games, and athletes would repost these events,” said senior Sarah Schie. “However, for important games like playing West Potomac for the district championship and even our Senior Night, the Fightin’ Titans didn’t organize much.”
The volleyball team seemed to find its support in other places. “This year more than any other year, it was disappointing to watch our seniors work so hard, day in and day out, and not be appreciated at their own senior night or when we made history as district champs,” said junior Evie Ankele. “The boys basketball team, who had their own season to prepare for, came to more of our games than the Fightin’ Titans who are supposed to represent school pride.”
Another girls team that has lacked sufficient recognition is field hockey, which also won districts and was one game away from the state tournament.
Senior Marley Mainelli said, “It was definitely frustrating to watch our team go so far and have less support than football. People completely show out for football games, even away games, but when we played our district championship, we had maybe 25 students watching at most. It would have 100 percent been nicer to have teammates receive the support for all the hard work they put in. Field hockey has been constantly ignored despite us winning districts almost every year.”
Her teammate, senior Tillie Davies added, “It is upsetting that the girls teams like field hockey and volleyball won districts, but had significantly smaller student sections than football.”
This is not a hopeless issue. “Showing up to a game with a group of friends could help bring more intensity to our team. We are a part of the school, and it would [be] nice to have support come from those we share classes and walk through the hallways with,” said Caroline Schie. “Promoting our games and achievements on social media can help bring attention to our games. Having that same large crowd, who shows up to football or boys basketball games, come to a single girls basketball game would really make us feel part of the T.C. community.”
Until then as senior center La’Neah Rease said, “We believe in ourselves, because nobody else does. That is why we still win.”
This problem is not on one person or one group; it’s a systematic problem that can be fixed by the community as a whole. If the girls team could get one half of the support of the boys team there could be real change.
Junior Makayla Williams added, “Throughout the years of only getting little support, we’ve killed them with success and buried them with a smile.”
