Every year, attendance at football, basketball and volleyball games is high for students at Reagan as well as staff. But what about the other sports teams that don’t receive the same support? Many of those teams are more successful than football and basketball anyway. I think people should go to all sports events, not just the more popular sports. The athletes of these high-attendance sports aren’t the only athletes in the school, are they?

Some teachers try to attend other sporting events, but it’s harder if they don’t always have a reason to go. They have lives outside of school and families that dictate a lot of their schedules. They shouldn’t be required to go but I think it’d be nice if more teachers tried to attend.

“I mostly attend football games in order to support my husband and my students, but I try to attend other sports when I can,” Spirit Club co-sponsor and math teacher Sarah Smith said.

It is understandable that why JV games are mainly attended by only parents. People don’t see them as the main players in that sport because they’re underclassmen. But should it be that way?

“When people start prioritizing, they go to higher levels– in this case, varsity– and some look at it as a social event,” volleyball coach Doug Balser said.

They’re still students of the school, and we should still support them by going to their games no matter the sport or if it’s JV, varsity or 9th grade. If you weren’t on a varsity team, wouldn’t you still want your classmates to come out and support you?

“It’s JV, and nobody cares about JV,” freshman JV soccer player Adam Blutreich said.

If I was playing JV, I would still want my peers to come watch me play, not just my parents. I personally perform better when I know people are watching. The added pressure makes me nervous, but in a good way. However, this isn’t the case for everyone.

“I don’t play better, I get all nervous, and it doesn’t go well for me,” sophomore and tennis player Riley Bostian.

Bostian doesn’t have to worry about a ton of people showing up to her matches because it never has high attendance other than parents. The same is true for swimming. Low attendance at swim meets has a lot to do with the fact that meets aren’t at Reagan.

Some of the swimmers still wish that more people would show up other than their parents and siblings just for the support. The team performs very well, but nobody shares the experiences with us. The only staff member I noticed at a meet this season was athletic director Alexis McCoy.

“It helps cheer on any sports team, and gives them more motivation when people come,” senior and varsity swim captain Addyson Messick said.

Also if the athletes want the support, don’t you think coaches would too? It might not fully help them perform better, like in football, but it can’t hurt.

“Their performance is better when people come, and there’s a sense of family and community,” softball coach Natalie Layden said. “We (students and staff) need to help each other, and you just don’t see that here.”

As the school year goes on, it gets it harder for people to go to other games and meets with football being at the end of summer break and beginning of the school year, people typically have less going on in their lives than they do in the winter and in the spring around exams.

“People only attend football games because they’re more popular and earlier in the school year,”  freshman Ashton Isasi said. “People also get more homework and more stuff to do as the year goes on.”

Factors like homework and stress lead to less support from the student body at other games and meets. The support of others, students especially, makes the school look better to our opponents. If Reagan is an A+ school, where’s the A+ support?

“As co-sponsor of the Spirit Club, I would love to get a ton of students at all of the events. I think the build up to a football game is just unparalleled and brings the fans out,” Smith said. “I try to find out what sports my students play and support them.”