Back to no crowds for Hudson Valley Athletics
By Bobby Colla
Sports Editor
Empty stands or close to it is not unfamiliar to Hudson Valley sports.
Many of the sporting events at HVCC get little to no attendance do to the fact that it’s a community college. Most of the students that go to the school commute back and forth.
However. this year has been a good year for HVCC Athletics. The football team posted an 8-2 record, including a bowl game appearance, the women’s soccer team attracted some fans with their winning ways into the regional tournament and the basketball teams attracted their share of spectators. The issue face is the lack of student support.
After football had their surprising season, the buzz on campus about sports died down to just about nothing again.
Just like any of the sports on campus baseball is a sport with low attendance. “There are a lot of parents usually,” said third baseman Joe Bender. “There are not a lot of students that come to the games,” he added.
“I know the guys expect a lot of their friends to come,” said Baseball Head Coach Alex Jurczynski. The one issue with this is many of those friends are not students of HVCC.
“Their high school teammates are going to come,” said Pitching Coach Brady Farkas. The lack of student support for some teams however can be linked to lack of advertisement. Other than the football teams success in the fall the athletic department hasn’t been advertised much on campus.
Many players and coaches however link the lack of support down to winning.
“I think the amount of games we win will determine a lot when it comes to fans,” said Jurczynski. He said, the team wants to make themselves heard by what they do on the field.
Another view is the word spread. Coach Farkas believes the players are going to get the fans to the games. “I think the kids are biggest salesmen of the team,” he said. “The kids friends are going to come, and their families are going to come, and they are going to tell other people,” he added.
“The weather is also a huge part of it,” said Farkas. “If it’s 40 and windy, it will be tough to come and sit outside for 4 hours, but if it’s 65 and sunny, the attendance will be great,” he added. The weather has been brutal; already forcing two postponed double headers over the weekend.
The fan support at the games this year has improved from previous years, but has still struggled. The biggest unanswered question is whether the rest of the campus will notice the world behind the campus center.