AULANI MARLEY | OCT. 24, 2019 | sports

Mainstream sports such as soccer and football dominate the majority of American high schools, generating the most excitement and receiving high spectator turnouts. At Stanton College Preparatory School, the student body provides tremendous support for these two teams in particular through attendance at games and constant promotion. The energy and support during such sports seasons are a large part of Stanton’s culture when people come together for pep rallies and games. However, it seems to many this same enthusiasm is not given to some of the other teams.

There is not a definition or list of what the definite ‘minor’ sports teams are, especially since the teams can vary among different schools. Therefore, Stanton students provided their opinions on what they believe to be the ‘minor’ sports teams.

“The underappreciated sports are definitely softball, bowling, flag football, and tennis. If their games are announced, nobody really goes to them, which [is unfair] for those sports because they’re putting all of their hard work and effort to play," said junior Hannah Grimes, a player on Stanton’s softball team.

One of the reasons the ‘major’ sports receive such high turnouts is because advertising plays a part in generating support for the more popular sports. During football season, posters can be seen around Stanton’s campus promoting the team, Stanton Instagram accounts constantly remind students of upcoming games and tickets are often sold during lunch. Constant promotion is not common with other sports such as bowling, tennis, or softball.

“I think Stanton wants attention placed on the big sports like football because they are the ones that bring money to the school,” said sophomore Stephanie Marques. “A big portion of the student body goes to the homecoming and Stanton versus Paxon games, so they take advantage of that and advertise those more.”

The ‘major’ sports do benefit greatly from promotions and advertising. In addition, they often host the most fundraisers, gaining even more support and popularity from these events because of their exposure to a wider audience. Due to the consistent advertising and publicity the ‘major’ teams are given, they tend to have a larger presence at their games. Stanton’s athletic director, Coach Christopher Crider, emphasized the importance of such events for these teams.

“[Sports such as] football are self-sufficient here, which means they pay bills between fundraising, ticket money at the gate, sponsorships, [etc.],” said Coach Crider.“They are able to pay all of their bills. A lot of sports across the board struggle with that because their sports are expensive.”

The number of events hosted by a team can play a role in how popular they are. However, teams such as softball have made efforts to organize fundraisers as well, namely “Hit-A-Thon” events, which utilize the skills of players to raise money for the team. Despite doing so, they still tend to fall into the category of sports which are perceived to be of lesser importance, which suggests there are several other reasons why certain sports teams are not receiving much recognition.

Stanton offers a variety of sports for students to choose from throughout the school year, however, the diversity of the school’s student body sets it apart from others because less popular sports attract a relatively large number of participants. Many of these sports are also fairly successful against other teams. Despite this, students feel they still are not always equally represented nor recognized for their victories and achievements.

“We have won almost all of our matches for the last couple of years and placed pretty high for gateway and conference but nobody knows about it,” said senior Emily Ziegler, a player on Stanton’s bowling team. Ziegler attributed this lack of representation to more than selective promotion, but rather the student body’s view of the sport itself.

The bowling team has been successful in the past two years, placing in the top three in both district and gateway tournaments. Despite this, their successes are seldom featured on Stanton Athletics’ various social media accounts compared to other teams whose victories are consistently celebrated on platforms such as Instagram.

Tennis is another sport at Stanton which tends to go unnoticed. Senior Ronak Venkata, the captain of Stanton’s boys’ tennis team, has been playing since he was a freshman and feels the tennis teams have been pushed to the side for years.

“The fact that Stanton does not promote one of its most consistently well-performing teams is disappointing,” said Venkata.

He mentioned how both girls’ and boys’ tennis teams acquired numerous victories, including advancing to districts and regionals, yet they did not seem to be acknowledged for these accomplishments.

“If you just look at the past three years of posts for Stanton Athletics, out of the over 400 posts present, I could only find five or six pertaining to tennis,” said Venkata.

On social media, funds are a factor that contributes to whether teams and their games are posted. It costs money to design and post images on Stanton Athletics’ Instagram account, meaning the head of sports teams may choose if they want to be featured on the account.

“Some coaches value social media and see it as a priority,” said Coach Crider. “Since social media is fun but not pertinent to sports,it is the responsibility of the coach to send me the material to post.”

Therefore, the involvement in social media is often optional, meaning that the coaches can decide if they want to further promote their team on platforms such as Instagram and increase their online presence.

Student-athletes involved in these ‘minor’ sports are fully aware of the lack of recognition given to their teams since they experience it first-hand. However, students not involved in Stanton athletics also recognize the different treatment of teams within the school’s sports program.

“I think football is treated like its above other sports and I don’t think that’s right. All sports should be treated the same,” said senior Camille Petit-Perrin.

Students have recognized a clear difference between the size of the audience at different sports games, with the ‘minor’ sports having a significantly smaller amount of people in the stands. The turnout for a sports team often translates to the amount of support and attention they receive overall, so when there is not a large audience, this can affect players’ confidence during their games.

“I feel like when more people show up, there is more of a drive to do well,” said sophomore Angelina Lee, who plays flag football at Stanton. “I think we just want to feel more like a sports team rather than a club because flag football is a sport.”

The flag football team often has small spectator turnouts with “mostly just the parents of players at the games,” Lee added.

The popularity of ‘major’ sports teams has been shaped by both student support and tradition in culture overall. Both soccer and football are two of the most well-known sports internationally.

“I think it is more of what the status quo is at the moment,” said junior Alma Katana, who plays on Stanton’s junior varsity soccer team. “Stanton puts the football team first because it’s the most popular sports in America, then soccer and so on.” Katana suggested the student body is not purposefully ignoring other sports teams, but rather, they are adhering to what is popular.

The ‘major’ sports are known across the country at college and professional levels, which can make them more appealing to high school students. Americans from across the country root for their favorite college and NFL football teams. The World Cup brings people together from all over the world who share a common love for soccer. Coach Crider referenced how familiarity is a major factor in how people determine what ‘major’ sports are.

“[People] grew up learning about football whether they were hanging out with their family or tailgating,” said Coach Crider. “It’s ingrained in our culture, especially in the south.” This reinforces the idea that the perception of ‘major’ sports is shaped by surrounding factors in society.

In addition to society playing a major role in how sports are perceived, the time of year may also be a determining factor.

“If homecoming were another time of the year, then maybe another sport would be more popular or the most popular,” said junior Jacob Mohrmann, a player on Stanton’s football team. Mohrmann credited homecoming for being one of the major reasons football is such a popular sport.

Homecoming week is one of the most anticipated times of the year. The excitement is shown as the student body comes together to dress up throughout the week, play games during lunch, and eventually attend the anticipated homecoming football game, leading to the homecoming dance itself.

Regardless of the reason, the lack of attention given to some sports teams, especially at Stanton, can have a negative effect on student-athletes who feel they are not receiving recognition for their achievements.

Whether the popularity of a sports team is determined by advertising, promotion, involvement, or familiarity, it seems that there are different opinions regarding the importance of sports overall. Stanton’s diverse and advanced student body may continue this trend along with many American high schools, or choose to change this, ensuring that every team is appreciated equally.

Levelling the Playing Field

AULANI MARLEY | OCT. 24, 2019 | sports