Many of SCHS’s winter sports are wrapping up their season, while spring sports are preparing for theirs. Many sports, however, seem to lack representation, outreach and attendance compared to more popular sports.
Junior class spirit representative Donovan Ferreira believes the appearance of spirit reps at games could encourage students to show up and cheer for their friends and the team. A major part of being a spirit representative during football season is promoting students to show up to games and keep the crowd spirited.
Ferriera feels as though if the spirit reps were to show up to other sporting events, the crowd would follow and build the same environment.
“I feel like, if I go to (a game), it’s hyped up, encouraging others to come as well,” Ferreira said. “Let’s try to really encourage (students) to come (to games) because they don’t know what they’re missing out on.”
The inspiration to attend a game could also come from the appearance of SCHS’s cheer squad. Sophomore Aina Dever cheers for basketball and football alongside the rest of the spirit squad and hopes that due to their appearances, sports can gain more support and liveliness from fellow students.
“I cheer for basketball, and usually, it’s mostly parents there,” Dever said. “I feel like if there were students there, it would just make it more enjoyable for everyone, for the players, cheerleaders and for people going.”
Physical education teacher Michelle Bumbaca has experience coaching various teams, including softball, flag football and cheer. Bumbaca joined SCHS with 20 years of experience as a competitive cheer coach for Wilcox High School, where she would encourage her cheer squads to go to games and hype up crowds.
“I would have my cheerleaders go to what we call the non sports,” Bumbaca said. “Obviously, we cheer for basketball and football, but I would have them try to get to a water polo game or a softball or baseball game or tennis match.”
Ferreira agrees that the appearance of the cheer team can encourage higher attendance. Two of the most popular sports at SCHS, football and basketball, have the spirit squad advantage that other sports do not.
“Right now, the cheer team only goes to football and basketball,” Ferreira said. “So if the cheer team came to other sports, I feel like more of a crowd would come to the (games), so there’d be more spirit happening there.”
Athletic director and football head coach Nelson Gifford acknowledged, however, that increasing crowd attendance requires not just the cheer team engagement but also athlete participation, similarly to what is done for football.
“You know when there’s a football game being played (because) all the cheerleaders are in their outfits, right? The football players are wearing their jerseys,” Gifford said. “It’s this visual cue of, ‘Oh, there’s a game today.’”
Improvement can be achieved through more advertisement, and Gifford hopes sports will continue to promote their games in these ways. He also feels methods such as flyers, social media posts and more accessible athletic calendars could lead to a rise in crowd participation.
“It’s going to sound kind of crazy in a digital world, but go old school,” Gifford said. “More handouts, more pamphlets, more invitations. More people standing in the quad saying, ‘We’ve got a game today. Come to our game.’”
An increase in student involvement can mean athletes receive more support, which Gifford believes is important for not only an athlete but also for the entire team.
“What I find cool about the student sections is they’re not only rooting for the starter, they’re also rooting for the guy that’s 15th on the bench,” Gifford said. “They appreciate that they know that story, right? Because, again, they interact with that person on a daily basis.”
When it comes to improving participation for sporting events, Gifford understands it is not something that is going to happen all at once, that it will take time to make change.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Gifford said. “All of these things take time and consistency and just little bits here and there to grow that sort of community.”