Dribbling down the court with 10 seconds remaining, we’re down by two. Crossover, between the legs, pump fake, and it’s up! For three! Basket, Riya Jain! Colonels win… except the crowd is silent. It’s not because they aren’t paying attention or rooting for the other team. It’s because no one is there.

As a tri-sport athlete since freshman year, I’ve played nine seasons at Parker so far and have constantly battled the aggravating lack of support for Parker’s girls teams teams compared to the boys teams.  

Girls basketball, which is currently happening, has had a lack of support from the student body in the past. I know the stigma surrounding girls playing sports, and what angers me the most is when people automatically decide that “girls games just aren’t as good” when I know for a fact that they have never been to a game. 

The amount of times a boy has come up to me and told me, “You’re really good… for a girl,” is absurd. When the girls tennis team plays against the boys and one of the girls beats a boy, members of the team have complained that it’s hard for them to simply say “good game.” There always seems to be some form of excuse like not being in season to cover up the embarrassment of losing to a girl in any sport.

An anonymous field hockey player voiced her experience as she said, “Our coaches along with the Athletic Director constantly tell us to go support the boys soccer games, so we do. However, it’s very rare that we’ll see the boys soccer team come to support us at our games.”

I’ve attended and watched hundreds of NBA basketball games in my life but had never gone to a WNBA game until last year. Calling it amazing would be a disservice to it. The Chicago Sky games have just as much energy that you’ll find at the United Center and the players are incredible. And yes, they do dunk.

I do have to say our first home game of the season this year had an incredible turnout with the entire boy’s basketball team present and tons of fans in the crowd. It was electric. The crowd was roaring and on their feet. This was unlike anything I’d ever seen before in all my seasons at Parker. I’m not sure what had changed, but I really hope this spirit continues at our games as the season goes on.

As the White Out game on December 9 gets closer, I really hope to see not only a big turnout but engagement. Last year’s game had a good showing of people there, however no one was really cheering when Parker made a good play. However, when the boys start playing, the crowd goes crazy for every steal, block, or shot no matter what the score is. 

My ask for the Parker student body is to just try and come to one game this season. Most of our games are on Fridays, so there’s really no excuse for having too much work to do. If people just learned to bury their ego and show out just once, it would change their perspective on girls sports as they see we play at the same level as the boys with the same drive for competitiveness. I hope to see you ALL there.