At EHS football games, it’s not a surprise that student fans are packed into every nook and cranny of the far side of the bleachers. Whether it’s 70 degrees or cold and stormy, Orange Rush flocks to the sports complex. But at EHS volleyball and field hockey games, or cross country and swim meets, it’s rare to see more than 15 student fans. The staff of the Tiger Times, which includes a field hockey player, calls for change.

Last week, Student Council hosted one of its annual Tiger Tours that entices students to attend different events with things like free hats, t-shirts, rally towels and more. Soccer was on Tuesday, and as usual many student fans appeared and supported the boys in their win against Collinsville.

At the field hockey game on Thursday, only around 20 fans came out and stayed silent during the whole game even though the girls won 4-0 against Parkway West.

On Friday, the Tiger Tour made its final stop of the week at the home football game. Many students who were a part of the ever-large fan section at the stormy football game joked about “getting pneumonia” after standing in the cold rain – for the entire game – while the football team hosted and shutout O’Fallon.

“I was really surprised with how many students still came and how much spirit they showed despite the bad weather,” senior Kenzy Probst said.

Bad weather doesn’t seem to stop Orange Rush when it attends basketball and football games. The roads of Edwardsville could be covered in black ice and the fan section at boys basketball games would still be multiple rows high and cheering as loud as it can. But at girls basketball and volleyball games, which are hosted in the same exact gym, Orange Rush attendance doesn’t compare.

Understandably, the majority of fans don’t know the rules of field hockey or the scoring of a cross country meet, but a substantial amount of the Orange Rush fan section at football, basketball or soccer games don’t know the rules of the sport either. Even so, volleyball games are still under-attended, and a basic knowledge of the rules of volleyball is common among the student body.

Girls volleyball and field hockey games are under-attended to the point that the two teams have made a pact in the last couple of years: one team chooses a game where they invite the other team to attend to make up for the lack of student attendance. Sports teams should be confident that student fans will come out and support them rather than having to resort to another team to make up the entirety of the fan section.

Probst thinks that part of the reason that some sports are under-attended is because they aren’t announced as often as basketball and football games.

“We announce football and basketball everyday but I never know when a volleyball game or field hockey game is,” she said. “Basketball and football are on Friday nights so it’s easy to go and not worry about your homework and getting to sleep.”

Yet, when other sports host games on Friday nights, student fan attendance still lacks. On weekdays, the entire student body should not be no-shows for a 60 minute field hockey or volleyball game.

“I think if those sports were promoted as much as football and boys basketball (on weekdays), more people may come,” senior Makenzie Silvey said.

EHS, undoubtedly, is home to some of the best sports teams in the area. Most sports have a reoccurring history of finishing with winning records on the season. We wish that all sports get credit and support for their accomplishments, whether its football, with its reoccurring success and fame around the area; field hockey, with its record-breaking success over the last couple of years; swimming, which continues to literally blow the competition out of the water; or baseball, which has a roster filled with college-commits every season.

“After the students figure out that (other sports) are just as fun and competitive, they would start to attend more sporting events,” Probst said.

The student fan section is a place for students to have a good time supporting their school, no matter the day of the week or whether or not they are an expert on the sport.

“In the end, it’s all up to the people,” Silvey said.

The fan section at high school football and basketball games is tradition. The Tiger Times staff doesn’t want to rid EHS of that tradition, we just encourage students to further its roar to other EHS sports.