Chapman students always look forward to Friday night football games and all the festivities such as dressing up for fun themes, cheering for our classmates, and spending the evening with all of our friends.
But why do other sports not deserve this same effort and attention?
Chapman has 17 boys and girls varsity sports, and none of them even come close to having the attention football does.
Girls and boys soccer, girls and boys tennis and girls track all won the region last year, and unfortunately, they had no student section to support them at all, even though these sports (and the others) had incredible seasons and did well in the playoffs.
Even after a loss, the football team is able to still look at the stands and see a full crowd of people supporting them.
Our other sports teams can’t say the same.
Girls soccer had an incredible game against Traveler’s Rest on Senior Night last season. As the score went back and forth, the very few fans that were there were on the edge of their seats to see who would win this game and ultimately win the region.
Chapman eventually beat Traveler’s Rest and claimed the “Region Champs” title after going into overtime and penalty kicks. They had no student section to support them after their hard-earned win.
Organizations like Student Council and Art Club are even getting a DJ for the student section and doing face paintings before the game. Why can’t we do this for other sports too?
While many students work or play sports themselves, there are actually a great deal of students who don’t play sports or work, and they may find themselves wanting to do something fun with their friends on a weekday before Friday.
During the fall, winter and spring, there are multiple sports events taking place almost every day of the week. But those are boring, right?
Between the students and staff at Chapman, nobody is putting in the effort to make these events fun.
Senior Shawn Cunningham said that he notices a positive difference when there is a student section at football games.
“It helps the energy of the game and keeps everyone on the field hyped up,” he said.
We want our school to be successful in all sports, and just showing up to these sporting events can make such a difference.