If you look around a Tyler Junior College sporting event, you will see lots of students. The question is where?
If you are at a football game you can find them all over the place in the band on the field, not to mention the cheerleaders, and the apache belles.
The low student turn outs and the soccer and volleyball games are even less difficult to spot but why aren’t TJC students showing up to support their sports teams.
A recent survey was conducted at TJC to ask students if they attend any of the sporting events. The survey excluded any student that was apart of a team or any organization that is required to be at any school game.
Out of 100 students that were asked if they attend school sporting functions, only 38 said yes, they attend these events and 62 said that they do not.
When all 62 were asked why they didn’t attend games, almost a third of the students said that they were working during the time of the games.
But a larger majority of the students asked cited other reasons for not going to the games. One resounding answer was the lack of students knowing when the game was.
“There is not really any way that we know when the games are, unless you walk by the gym,” freshman Emily Sullens said.
There is a sign that is placed out in front of Wagstaff gymnasium for all home volleyball and basketball games.
One other reason that some said they didn’t attend games was lack of transportation.
“There is no transportation; there are a lot of students on campus that don’t drive,” said Mike Taylor, a soccer player at TJC.
Most of the road games are out of the question for students but many feel like there just are not enough of them.
“There are not that many home games,” Jacolby Traylor said.
Other Students said that there is no real sence of school spirit.
“Nobody goes to the games because there is no real student life,” sophomore Nicholas Bremby said.
Several of the students that were polled said that they were very busy and didn’t have time to come all the way back to Tyler to go to a game.
“I don’t have time because I live an hour and a half away,” TJC student Shannon Spindle said.
Certain students feel that the time it takes to go to a football game, sit and watch the game. Then turn around and drive back home is not a priority in the busy life of a student, especially in when the students were working there attendance at the games around work.
“With school and work and all of the other responsibilities of being an adult, I just do not have time to go. But I am there in spirit,” student Avante Rogers said.
A few of the students said that they were just not interested enough to go to any of the sporting events
“The games are just boring,” student James Faulkner said.
College Sports are a big part of the college experience, and it doesn’t matter if you’re going or not a majority of students at TJC don’t consider it an important enough event for any sport, not just football, soccer, basketball or volleyball, or any of the many TJC sport organizations, to stop and take time and go to the games.
