With the men’s Syracuse basketball team setting a new all time record of over 35 thousand fans in the dome at the SU versus Duke game in February. A questioning problem emerges. According to Syracuse.com how does our SU women’s team only have a attendance record of just over 11 thousand fans.
This problem can be seen all over professional, college and high school athletics. There is a certain tension when it comes to the most competitive levels of athletics. Most people insist on equality between the sexes in all things, yet when it comes to sports it becomes murky and unclear what is equal. Whether it’s the unequal pay of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA), the unequal tournament attendance of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), or even Jamesville DeWitt sectional game attendance.
“ I’ve been on sports teams throughout my entire high school experience when people don’t come to your game when you expect a big crowd, It sucks. Then you watch the boys game with a bigger crowd, when they don’t play any better than we do.” – Cassie Murphy
Women make up 52 percent of the American population and 2.4 million girls play sports in the U.S. today. Over one-third of all female students in high school play sports. The number of women participating in university sports has tripled, according to CNN. But the odds are stacked against female teenage athletes, and by age 17, 51 percent of them will quit sports, according to a survey conducted by teen vogue. There is no reason in our modern age that women in sports should not be covered equally to men’s sports. In a world where male athletes receive $179 million more in athletic scholarships than their female classmates, where NBA players earn about 70 times more than the average female basketball player makes.And only six to eight percent of sports media coverage is of women’s sports. The promotion of high school girls’ sports is even more necessary now than ever.
While the most notable difference is usually the lack of people attending women’s sports than men’s. That’s not always the case. In multiple sports women actually beat the average attendance records then their fellow male players. Tennis earnings at the majors are biased against men. Most commonly women’s volleyball teams have better attendance records over their male counterparts.
While the most notable difference is usually the lack of people attending women’s sports than men’s. That’s not always the case. In multiple sports women actually beat the average attendance records then their fellow male players. Tennis earnings at the majors are biased against men. Most commonly women’s volleyball teams have better attendance records over their male counterparts.
Yet none of these sports are mainstream, men still get the popular vote towards common sports. This pattern can even be seen by our own athletic programs. Throughout multiple seasons our girls teams has lacked in the crowds of fans that the boys team bring. “ I’ve been on sports teams throughout my entire high school experience when people don’t come to your game when you expect a big crowd, It sucks. Then you watch the boys game with a bigger crowd, when they don’t play any better than we do.” says senior Cassie Murphy. Any athlete can tell you boy or girl, any game with crowd is better game. “ We need the extra energy that we get from the crowd.” says Sophomore Grace Digiovanni, “ that’s what picks up the teams when we are feeling tired.” And the greater amount of people that show up at the games the more fun it will be for the people that do come. “ Being in the crowd you can get hyped up and it’s always more fun when more people are there no matter the sport.” says freshman Kali Leslie. It is part of the experience for sports fans to be surrounded by people cheering and having fun
“ If there are more peers and friends around you to support you, you are more motivated.” – Nick Dekaney
Every athlete boy or girl no matter the sport needs the support from their peers “ if there are more peers and friends round you to support you, you are more motivated.” says freshman Nick Dekaney. While people may not realize, it’s an important part of the game and its atmosphere. Change must start somewhere. Make a decision to show, promote and advertise men’s and women’s sporting events equally. Photo for photo and word for word. Everyone deserves it — families, schools, coaches, fans and especially the athletes.
