Why Didn’t More People Show Up?

Every year my school has a homecoming in the fall; it is a big event that brings the

school’s community together. They have the regular food trucks that they always have; there are

inflatables and games set up for the younger kids, and sometimes they have a mini petting zoo.

Every fall sport has a game, and usually, the teams play against our rival school; therefore, the

games are very intense and competitive which makes them enjoyable to watch. Homecoming is

usually on a Saturday and we have a pep rally the Friday before.

At the pep rally, all the teams dance to a song of their choice, with the usual goal of

embarrassing the freshman, and some teams have costumes too. We have a half day on that

Friday, and the people rally in the afternoon in the gymnasium. It is always so loud and high

energy, as we watch the different creative dances put on memorable performances.

Since I was a freshman on the girl’s varsity team, I can remember the excitement that

lingers around Homecoming. As the event approached during my senior year, I can remember

the feeling of wanting to make it extra special and memorable. Our team usually has a team

dinner the night before and goes to a diner the morning of homecoming as a way to bond and get

the team together. After we get breakfast at the diner, the juniors and seniors drive the

underclassmen to school so we can get ready for the game altogether. The whole team crowds in

the small locker room, and everyone tries to do the same hairstyle, braids going into a ponytail.

We represent our school through the shiny blue and gold bows and glitter that decorate our hair,

getting ready for an exhilarating game with two upside-down triangles on our faces with black

face paint and our numbers written on our legs in blue paint.

Our game was at 11:00 in the morning. For the past four years, the Athletic Department

put the girls' game in the morning and the boys' game in the afternoon because they believed
people would gravitate more toward the boys' game rather than the girls, providing the boys’

team with a time slot of 2:00 in the afternoon.

After we got ready, we all headed to the field together. While I was walking I looked

around my school campus and saw all the decorations set up, with blue and gold balloons

standing out as they spell out KING. Smelling the amazing scent coming from the food trucks, I

looked at my team, seeing our matching hairstyles and uniforms, and our goalie standing out in

her bright neon pink uniform. All the cones were set up on the field for warm-up, the scoreboard

turned on, and our rivals just arriving on the field. I looked around and saw the trees becoming

bare as fall approaches, the smell of a nice crisp fall breeze surrounding me. I heard the distant

chatter coming from my teammates, as they listened to what my coach was saying to us during

warm up before they headed out to the field to start dynamic warmups.

With blasting music and a cheerful mood lingering around the team environment,

everyone was excited to play our rivals. We were warming up with an intensifying energy,

confident that we were in a good position to win,

As we approached the start time for the game, I looked around and found our stands

practically empty, populated only by the parents of my teammates. However, I pushed the

thoughts out of my head, remembering that it was only the start of the game. My nerves take

over as I get ready for the biggest game of the season, bouncing up and down and waiting for the

referee to blow the whistle for the start of the game. The referee blew his whistle, and we were

off, channeling our adrenaline and passion for the game. I sensed the competitiveness coming

from my teammates; the desire and dedication to win this game. People getting shoved. Jerseys

getting pulled. I heard my heavy breathing as adrenaline coursed through my body.

 The whistle sounded and I ran toward my teammates as we gathered around, sweaty

bodies piling together to celebrate our goal. Our team was yelling, and people in the stands were

cheering and clapping. I gave my teammate a high five and a hug, as we ran back to our

positions with confidence and smiles on our faces.

It was halftime and we were up by one goal. I looked over at the stands and I saw more

people shuffling in. The second half was just as intense as the first. As our opponents scored a

goal against us, I made sure that our team kept their heads up. We were still in this. We could

still score another goal.

Time was running out, leaving our team to amp up our skills and push with everything

we had left. People were getting impatient; our coach yelling instructions from the sidelines,

“Get it upfield! Run faster!” We were getting aggravated and short with each other; everyone

wanted another goal and we were pushing ourselves to keep going until the very end. I yelled

words of encouragement, “Come on girls, don’t give up! We got this!” I looked up at the

scoreboard and saw the big red numbers; we had thirty seconds. The buzzer sounded. The game

ended. We tried.

We walked off the field tired and sweaty. My teammates complimented each other on

their performances, and our coach talked to us at the end of the game. While she talked, I thought

about all the things I could have done better in the game. My coach understood how upset we

were to not have won, but she said, “I know you girls gave it your all, and that is all we can do.”

She is right. We gave it our all, and sometimes our all is just not enough.

I made sure to remind my teammates that everyone played amazing. I said, “Although we

did not end up winning, that does not mean we played badly. We gave them a fight, we made
sure it was not easy for them. I want you guys to still be happy and proud of yourselves for how

you all played out there today.”

After we finished our debrief of the game, we wanted to go watch the boys' game. They

were playing our rival team too. It was about 1:30, and the stands were already filling up. Both

teams were out on the field warming up. By the start of the game, the bleachers were full, people

even had to stand up by the bleachers and the fence because there were not enough seats. Some

of the girls on my team noticed this; my friend said to me in a joking way, “Damn we didn’t

have this many people watching us, what do we suck?”

I said, “I don’t know, I thought we played a pretty entertaining game. It was close

practically the whole game.”

However, this was drilled in as a normal occurrence to us, usually, more people wanted to

watch the boys' games rather than the girls' games because they thought it would be more

exciting.

When the dean of athletics made the boys' games later in the day, he thought more people

would be at homecoming around then, not thinking that it had any effect on us, the girls' teams. I

could not speak for my teammates, but this only pushed me down, not understanding why this

ideology was normalized. .

Justice can be thought of in many different ways. Some might not think that the size of an

audience for a sports game can be considered an injustice, evident in the decision of our dean of

athletics as he planned the boys' game later in the day. With a bigger turnout than the girls' game,

this decision was an example of injustice. However, this year the dean of athletics changed the

time of the soccer games so that the girls’ team played at 12:30 while the boys’ played at 11:30.
 It is known that men’s sports games generally have bigger crowds than women’, such as

men’s basketball and men’s soccer. Men’s sports are usually easier to watch since they are put

on the TV during prime time hours when people are available to watch them. However, women's

and men's tennis both are very popular to watch, and most of the time have very big crowds. The

Williams sisters, professional tennis players, have been very successful tennis players and have

won numerous tennis championships throughout the years; Serena and Venus Williams

incredible talent for tennis opened people's eyes and made them realize that women’s tennis can

be just as good as men's. In most cases, men’s sports are advertised much more than women's,

catering to the male world of sports to the general population and often ignoring the women’s

world of sports. The men's soccer World Cup was more publicized than the women's, but they

are different years so people are able to watch them both. Overall, men's sports are watched

more and publicly advertised more; however, there are some womens sports that have gained

publicity, like tennis, that are therefore paving a road away from injustice. Normally men’s

sports games are televised at the time when people are most available to watch them, so therefore

they would have more views, whereas women’s are not televised at the most available time for

people.

When the audience lacked not only at our homecoming game but the other games

throughout the season, it affected our mindset, game, and skills. The female population is just as

capable of enticing an audience as we pour passion into the sports we love, but many people still

gravitate toward the men’s game. This topic has gained more recognition with advocacy sourcing

from the sensation that was the Venus sisters, as they brought more fans to the tennis world. This

change can further be seen in my own world of sports as the homecoming game for the 2023

girls’ varsity team was moved to a later time. Even though I have graduated, I hope that the
injustice that is present at all levels of sports will continue to be addressed on the smaller stage of

high school sports as well as the world stage of larger and globally watched sports. People may

think their actions have no effect on others, but in reality, they actually might.