There are many things that feel good in the world of sports. Scoring the game winning point, making a crazy play, celebrating with your teammates, the hype-music-filled bus rides to and from away games, coming out of a toe to toe game with the victory. However, one of the best feelings does not come from on the court. It comes from the stands. It comes from the people that may not even know what is happening on the court at all times but are there for it regardless. It comes from the fans.
If you have ever been to a professional sports game or even a college game you will find yourself sucked into a constant loop of energy. You will be absorbed in the highs and lows of the players without stepping foot beside them. In a sea of team colors, loud cheers, blaring music, the energy broadens nearly to bursting.
The fans are part of the joy of playing sports, and they are just as necessary to the game as anything else.
Senior Spencer Dunbar said, “I really thrive off the energy of people coming to our games. I think it’s really important.” I agree with this completely.
During the volleyball season we played at Perspectives Leadership Academy. The gym was jam packed with students for the other school and oh, so loud. I know the cheering and screaming wasn’t for us, but there was something about not being able to hear myself think that made me want to win even more. It was something I wasn’t used to hearing when playing, but it is an environment I want to play in more.
This is an environment that I hope to emulate at Parker. I love volleyball, and it is one of my favorite things in the world to see and hear other people having as much fun with it as I am.
An example of this was our homecoming game. This game is usually the one where the most people come to support, and it is often one of our best games. Even if we don’t win, the energy is electric. Each play feels like game point. Almost nothing feels as good as diving toward the stands to get the ball up and hearing an uproar follow.
It feels especially good when you see your peers in the audience (not just parents watching their own kids). This season at volleyball we had several specific groups of students who became familiar faces in the crowd. They were always cheering and always stopped in for at least a little bit if they had another commitment. I said that it feels good to hear uproarious cheers, but it feels even better when it’s the voices of people you see and surround yourself with off the court. We get to know our fellow upper schoolers through classes, extracurriculars, and clubs, but there is another level of knowledge and togetherness when we show up for each other.
This is especially true among student athletes. We all have an understanding of the hard work and determination it takes to succeed, so why not watch each other do so? Why not show each other that we are in this together whether or not we play the same sport?
“If people have the time and are able to go support other teams they definitely should. It’s important that, as student athletes, we have each other’s back and support each other,” Dunbar said.
The importance of this, regardless of if you are a student athlete or not, lies in the fact that not every sport or team gets the same recognition.
“Very often, I hear people say they don’t watch the girls’ games because the girls are less good/entertaining, but this is a bad way to think about it,” senior Gabriel Vilus said. When one sport or team within a sport is getting more recognition than the other it sends a message that one is more important than the other. This message is a frustrating one, one that is important to prove wrong if we want both the atmosphere and skill of Parker Athletics to increase.
“I have seen a direct correlation between support and entertainment. If we want certain teams to play better, we have to incentivize them to care by showing WE do. Also, we can’t only show up to a team’s games when they’re doing good. We need to be there at their lows and help them get up there,” Vilus said. This shows that each and every player and every team needs the support of their community to perform well.
In the end, sports teams are just as defined by their support system (or sometimes lack thereof) as they are of their abilities. This is why we need you, the Parker community, to step in and support your student athletes on the field, court, track or wherever they need you most.
