No fans in the stands

By: Hunter McIntyre

Sports Editor

The difficulty of getting Hudson Valley Community College students to attend campus sporting events has been a long-lasting dilemma.

This last week a poll was taken to determine why there is such a small audience at games.

In the poll of 45 students, only five claimed to have attended a Viking related sporting event.

Three of these students claimed to have little interest in the actual game and only went because a friend or relative was playing. The other two only attended to see what they were like.

They all said they would consider going again if the games were more entertaining or if their friends went with them.

“I don’t attend campus sporting events because they’re straight up boring,” Cameron Edward, an individual studies major, said. “I grew up playing sports almost any chance I got, but unless I specifically go with a group of friends, I feel like I’m just going to end up leaving early.”

Among the 40 students who haven’t attended a game, 27 of them said that they would go but never knew when the games occurred due to a lack of posters and announcements.

Twenty students didn’t even know that the Vikings had a homecoming game.

Hudson Valley Community College generally has competitive teams that have no issue succeeding, however, for some reason, the attendance still remains low.

Jon Lawson, a liberal arts major, expressed why being a commuter school was part of the problem.

“I would love to attend games, but between working and traveling it is very difficult to get to campus,” he said. “At the end of the day I think that’s really why students don’t go to games.”

This is something that non-commuter schools usually don’t have to deal with.

“I know that we have a lot of successful student-athletes here,” Lawson continued. “If you walk through McDonough, you can see a lot of the [Hudson Valley Community College] Hall of Fame players and read about their accomplishments.”

Although a majority of the seats remain empty, those that are filled, are often occupied by parents or relatives.

One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, explained how things seemed different now than in the past.

“I understand it’s a commuter school, but back when I was in college, varsity games used to be filled with students,” they said. “Here I just don’t see it.”

The parent continued. “I try to show up to all the lacrosse games, and I’ve noticed that not many students actually show up to the games,” they said. “I could count maybe a handful today, but it’s never more than that.”

Students seem uninterested by the games themselves and just resort to not going.

Even at special events that the college throws like Senior Day, where there is a chance for free food, the attendance isn’t much higher.

One thing is for sure, there is no problem finding a perfect seat.