Can we please put some people in the seats at FAU sports events?
Sunday games of softball feel more like a military memorial service (what with jets at the Boca Airport doing fly-by’s and all) than they do a college athletic event in which one of the Nation’s top 25 teams are playing in.
Baseball, one of FAU‘s first sports, has established a small fan base, but the noise level they produce still makes for a relaxing day at the park, if you catch my drift.
FAU football fans? That could be the oxymoron of the year.
Pro Player assumed tomb-like qualities during some of our home games. If we can’t get at least 10 to 12,000 people to come watch a new team coached by a legend we’re in trouble.
The minor sports have long toiled in anonymity here in Boca. Do students even know we have swim meets here? Some don’t even know there’s a pool.
Nobody but family watches tennis matches. Actually, take away family members from a softball or baseball game and there might not be a “crowd.”
At soccer matches you get the small group of 75-100 onlookers. Friends of the players, international students – they show up in inconsistent numbers.
Student Government and the “Owl Prowlers” started a little excitement at basketball games this year by giving out T-shirts, and by getting its members to attend games. It amounted to staged school spirit – but at least they made some noise.
A small contingent even went on the road to watch the Owls’ eventful postseason.
But this statement holds true:
FAU STUDENTS DON’T SUPPORT THEIR SPORTS TEAMS.
Why don’t FAU students support their sports teams? Well, I think it’s for three reasons:
1) FAU is never good in anything sports-wise. This is what many students think, and a reason they find it not worth their time to get out to a game or match. It’s actually a fallacy. We’ve always had a good baseball team, softball is outstanding, and frequently we have outstanding performances in swimming, tennis, soccer etc.
2) FAU Sports Marketing doesn’t do a very good job. This is true, but maybe not entirely the Sports Marketing team’s fault. They are battling Florida’s “big three syndrome”. Fans, athletes, and more importantly the media, believe the only worthwhile sports action is coming out of UF, FSU, and UM (the Big Three). This is another fallacy. But publicity of our school’s sports teams does need to improve drastically.
3) FAU is a commuter school. Another true statement, but not an explanation for the lack of student support. Schools like St. John’s in New York City, Rutgers, even Florida International University deal with student bodies that don’t live on-campus predominately. Their teams all have greater student support than Florida Atlantic.
These are just 3 reasons – there are more. The problem boils down to the fact that students don’t know what’s happening in FAU sports. The major local media outlets give the school attention only for major events. And some of that is inevitably negative.
What can be done to inform students and empower them regarding their sports teams?
That’s the question I’ll try to answer in next week’s RANT
