I attend a small, private school in the southwest part of Missouri called Southwest Baptist University. There are a lot of great things about SBU, but also a couple things that aren’t the best. The one thing that I wanna talk about is the school spirit here, or should I say the lack thereof. If you were to attend a game of any sport at SBU, you would see the truth behind this. Our students just simply don't come to sporting events. The biggest example of this is the lack of student attendance atfootball games. Although our school's football program is having one the best seasons in program history, students still aren't coming. The student section is quite pitiful to say the least. Along with the lack of student attendance, the participation is also lackluster, with the exception of a few students. Most people just sit down the entire game and only cheer for the big plays and aren't really into the game. Football isn't the only sport this is evident with either, it pertains to all sports at SBU.

A great student section can do so much for a team, that most people don't realize. If a team has a loud, supporting student section, it gives an extra sense of motivation. Just having your school cheering you on and yelling at the top of their lungs is great for athletes to hear because it means that they have the support of their school on their side and it's going to make them want to compete even better to reward the support of the crowd. Support can be a great motivating factor for teams. Now, if a team looks into the stands and sees a small, unsupportive student section, it's disheartening to the team that’s playing and could even take them out of the game all together.

It isn't that hard to come to a game and be supportive. I get it, we're college students and are busy with school, or even have jobs, but you can take a break from those things sometimes. With the exception to work, students simply don't want to go to games. They see these events as unimportant and are not worth going to, but that's simply not true. I'm not saying that everyone who comes should be decked out in school colors and be absolutely crazy the whole time, but you should be supportive and be involved with the game. This goes with every sport too, not just the supposed "big" sports, like football or basketball, but every sport.

Now, the blame isn't completely on the student body, but it's partially on the athletes themselves. I'm sure you're wondering how athletes could be to blame for this, well I will tell you. This doesn't pertain to all athletes, but there are a lot of athletes that don’t like to really interact with non-athletes. They'll have a couple friends here and there that are non-athletes, but other than that there friends consist of athletes, particularly in the sports they play and this is a part of the problem. Why would students want to come out and support a bunch of people that don't even bother to associate with them. Then there's some athletes that are so into who they are and their friend group, that they actually turn people away from them with their actions. If athletes want more students to come to games and give more support then give them a reason to want to come. Create relationships with people who don’t play sports and be open to the student body. Doing this will definitely help with student attendance.

In conclusion, support your school. It doesn't matter if your team is undefeated or winless, show some support for your school. Be there to show them that you've got their back win or lose. And athletes be open to students and be inviting to get students to come to games. Sporting events are all exciting in their own unique way and can be even more exciting if an entire student body comes together to cheer on their school. SBU has the opportunity to have one of the best student sections in the nation, in every sport, if we come together and support our athletes in what they do.