Supporting New Trier teams–all of them

The spirit at New Trier is undeniably colossal. With over 4,000 students and an entire grade devoted to be the schools spirit team through the Green Team. None can argue we have a huge team support system.

Walking through the halls of both campuses, green and blue line the hallways, with people wearing their team sweatshirts or Green Team apparel they bought. And students don’t just wear their spirit, they show up to games.

Despite a disappointing turnout for the last football playoff game, the student section was packed during most home games with cheers led by the Green Team captains as well as the cheerleaders.

During the Quad Header, students filled the cramped bleachers at Wilmette Ice Arena. However, the biggest crowds were reserved for the boys games and even though there were people at the girls games, a large amount of those people were just there in order to get better seats for the boys games.

The Green Team and the immense spirit is reserved, it seems, only for boys’ teams.  And the boys team alone.

Although the problem of attendance at girls hockey is because of our reluctance to attend girls events,  the New Trier Boys and Girls Hockey associations could do more to help get the Girls Hockey teams closer rinks for practice and games, so they could play in front of their community.

But unlike in hockey, ice time is not preventing the Green Team and other fans from attending other girl events.

Field hockey reports in seeing around five student fans during their regular season games. Student attendance spikes during girls’ team playoff games, but in  order to get to these playoff spots that New Trier teams are expected to get to, they need student support.

Not attending girls events and considering them a lesser athletic event can no longer be the norm.

Yes, some things like the location are out of students’ control, but the collective student body needs to change the way we treat girls athletics.

The easy way to do this is to just show up for the games. Treat girls games with the same level of spirit you would the boys.

As Trevians, we need to show up for all teams. We need to support our girls teams in the same way we support our boys teams. Furthermore New Trier is lucky enough to have amazing girls athletic teams with reputations and records that sometimes surpass their male counterparts. Girls swimming, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and basketball, to name a few, all have astounding records. Showing up to any of these games would be entertaining.

But despite the countless state titles and the nail bitting athletic events, still small amounts of students attend these events.

Parents almost always outnumber the student presence at many girl sporting events. Athletes should be able to see their friends and classmates in the stands when they play, as it gives them valuable encouragement.

We shouldn’t just be showing up to the “good” teams. It seems like the teams that have done the best always have big student attendance numbers. Take the Varsity Football team for example, throughout the season they had huge turnouts and did very well. However, one of the only home games when they had dismal turnout, they lost in the playoffs.

So student turnout is important. It is important to the players, the scoreboard, and reflects well on the school.

Furthermore New Trier students have always been on the forefront of new innovating ideas. We never falter in being accepting of positive change. We can change the inequity in the treatment of girls athletics by being active and aware in our show of spirit.

We have to turn out for our girl teams.