Getcha Girls in the Game: East’s problem with girls sports

Senior Nick Arensberg went up for a layup four seconds before the buzzer rang at the East versus Rockhurst boys’ varsity basketball game. As the game-winning shot swished through the net, 600 students came thundering down the bleachers and stormed the court — more than the administrators could handle.

The crowd was filled with East students, parents, alumni and middle schoolers who came to support the team. This was East’s first win against Rockhurst in three years and everyone was ecstatic. But if the game had been played by 10 girls instead of 10 boys, would the win have gotten nearly as much attention — even with the biggest game winning shot in East history?

There is a stark, disappointing contrast of attendance within the crowds of girls’ and boys’ sports games. Boys’ games fanbase tends to fill the bleachers while the girls games sometimes fill half. Sophomore basketball player, Duncan McKnight, claims that this may be because the boys make more contact in their games and contact is what makes the game entertaining to watch.

Junior and girls’ Varsity basketball player Sarah Bingham notices the almost-empty stands, besides the crowded parent section, at nearly all of her games as she’s introduced. The student section only fills up at the end of the girls’ game when students try to snag good seats for the upcoming boys’ game. 

As she sits in the stands of the boys’ games after a tough victory against Shawnee Mission West, Bingham observes the vitality among the crowd. She imagines — but can’t always be sure — if her team would have a higher chance of winning with a crowd like that. This year, the girls hold a record of 8-8, and the boys 10-8. The records are similar, but the attention is not. 

Even when the girls earned a winning record last year for the first time in years, the JV boys basketball team games averaged a higher attendance rate than girls Varsity. According to Bingham, she and her team would like to be more appreciated since they put in the same amount of work, but don’t get the same school love.

Senior and boys Varsity soccer player Hunter Cooper enjoys attending the girls soccer games because it’s easier to watch and interact with the players in a smaller crowd. According to Cooper, if more people came to the games he thinks that students would come to the realization that they misjudged the quality of their games all along.

Cooper feels that not many people even consider going to girls games. They just assume that the boys games will be morefun — not to mention that since most people go to the boys games, other people just follow and do the same.

“I feel like people don’t really know about the girls’ games,” Cooper said. “Basically, they don’t pay attention to them so they don’t know what to expect.”

The girls’ soccer team usually experiences the same sparse crowd as girls basketball — family members sprinkled throughout the stands, some students who’ve come out to support their athlete friends and the occasional boyfriend.

Senior and girls Varsity soccer player Karoline Nelson believes the team deserves a bigger crowd than they normally have. Last year, the girls varsity team record was 16-2-1, and this year the team has a total of 11 seniors, five of which are committed to college for soccer — Nelson, herself, committed to play Division 1 soccer at the University of Denver.

Colleges chose those five girls specifically to play and benefit their college teams. This shows the skill level the team must have, as a good number of them are college bound soccer players, and they are only in high school.

Nelson is used to having large holes in the crowds at their games, but this year expects to see more filled stands in their games against rivals, Shawnee Mission South and Shawnee mission West — both of which always draw a bigger crowd than the others. According to Nelson, the only times the student section has a reasonable amount of people is towards the end of their season or on senior night, and the girls soccer team even has a big chance at making it to state.

“It’s embarrassing when we play other schools who have a larger student section, and then we have almost no one,” Nelson said. “I would love if more people came and watched our games, especially because there aren’t many other sports taking place during our season.”