In the real world, men’s sports receive more coverage than women. Statistics show that although 40% of all sports participants are female, only 4% of women’s sports receive coverage(webarchive.unesco.org). Unfortunately, results like these are not only seen in today’s world, but also here at West High.
West High, as well as all other schools encourage their students to not only succeed academically, but also be involved. This not only includes joining clubs, but also attending and supporting your school’s sports teams. When choosing this option, students typically make an appearance at their football team’s Friday night games. Growing up, high school football portrayed by movies and TV shows represented an “iconic part of high school” which alone can abide its incredible popularity, not to mention all the other contributing factors like Blue Crew bringing the energy and celebrating the long-awaited Friday night with friends. West High recently assembled a Girl’s Flag Football team, yet it does not get near half as much attention as either Boys’s JV or varsity football does; why is this? Without even realizing it, students forget about all the other sports West High also has to offer, mainly those played by female students.
Inside the journalism class here at West High, we try our best to highlight new sports, clubs, staff members, etc. in our weekly video bulletins. Teachers are encouraged to play the videos for their students every Monday morning, yet some forget to, not allowing the word of news on campus to be spread, causing the school to unintentionally not advertise other sports as much and gain more of a reputation as football freely is.
For instance, senior water polo player, Vianna Dayeuh, as well as freshman volleyball player, Daneya Cruda state that it is disappointing to not have many people attend their games, considering all the effort not only they, but also other sports put forward in practices and games as well. Varsity football player, Logan Scheidtman declared he plays better when he knows there are people in the stands watching, and other athletes too get more motivated knowing there is a crowd full of people cheering them on. Supporters help encourage the team to win, which can ultimately help build a good reputation for the team and recruit more people into joining in on the action of the games. Inconveniently, all other sports besides football have games on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which are days most usually are not allowed to stay out as late opposed to games on Fridays.
With the unintended absence of advertisement of games and sports from the school, the teams are compelled to spread the word through their social media pages and await reposts from other students for the word of games and themes to get out and around the school. Thankfully, this position we are in can easily be fixed. Encourage your third period teachers to play the video bulletins in class each Monday morning, have your coaches arrange your team’s game schedule to be issued during morning announcements, and promote the athletic teams repost.
