Opinion: When's the game?

By Monica Healey

The athletic programs throughout Sauk are not advertised properly.  Sauk Valley Community College caters to a diverse range of education levels as well as areas of study. The college also hosts a variety of athletic programs as well, although they aren’t publicized effectively. 

There was a survey sent out to the students of SVCC, where they were asked “Do you feel informed about sporting events at SVCC?” Sixty percent of the student respondents answered “no.” When asked, “Why have you never attended a sporting event at Sauk?” A common response was that current sporting events are not advertised well and sports that lack the obvious facilities like fields and courts go unnoticed. For example, the girls tennis team’s success at regionals, the information sent out was reused from the previous season and provided no accurate news about the team or current players success. 

Another good example of how uninformed the student body is about Sauk’s athletics is when asked in the survey, “What would make you want to attend (Sauk Sporting events)?”  The top response was “free admission”, even though there is free admission at sporting events for all students and staff of the college. The sporting events hosted by Sauk are catered to attract their student body, but due to lack of proper advertisement, these benefits go unutilized. 

Students should be more informed about not only the current athletic events at SVCC but also the existence of other sports that are not prioritized by the college. Aside from posters with athletic schedules sparsely placed throughout the school and occasional announcements on social media about upcoming games, there is not much else being done to spread news about current games or awareness of unnoticed sports. More information could lead to an increase in attendance at sporting events. 

When asked if a team’s performance would benefit from an increase in attendance, the women’s head basketball coach Julie Schroeder-Ranz commented, “The more cheering we have the better we play and the more fun we have!” 

When asked the same question, Petia Dogale a forward for the Skyhawks men's basketball team said in an interview that, “A larger crowd gets us excited to play and makes us feel like we have supporters that we don’t want to let down.”  

Sporting events allow for connection that is needed in a college that is so academically diverse. Without an increase of advertisement, possibly a greater social media presence or an even effort in accurately representing all athletic programs at Sauk, the students of SVCC will continue to miss out on information about this opportunity.