By Kevin Harris
It is a well known fact that female athletics are not as celebrated, watched, promoted, or attended as male athletics. In fact it does not even come close. It is even more noticeable in the lower levels of sports such, as at the high school level. Most would agree that the boys basketball team has the biggest and most passionate fan base of any of the sports the Royals participate in. But why?
The girls basketball team is having a far more successful season than the boys. So why do the fans not flock to girls games as they do for a boys games? Maybe it is because girls games are not promoted as well as boys games. Or perhaps it is because we are not exposed to female athletics like we are to male athletics.
For example, major sports networks like NBC sports CBS sports and ESPN rarely give coverage to girls athletics. And because of this, we are not as likely to see it. The reason I believe there is a difference in the following is because girls athletics lack the flashy, quick, and exciting play that we can get at a boys game.
Even at the professional level, there is a huge difference in promotion, attendance, and following. Just look at the attendance averages per game for five of the major NBA cities from the 2006-2007 season according to www.insidehoops.com: New York-17,000, Los Angeles (Lakers)-18,000, Chicago-22,000, Detroit-22,000, and San Antonio-18,000. Now look at the same five cities’ attendance averages for their respective WNBA teams for the 2006-2007 season: New York-8,000, Los Angeles-8,000, Chicago-3,000, Detroit-9,000, San Antonio-7,000.
But, who am I to judge who goes or does not go to a specific game. People are going to go where they feel they can get the most for their money and if that happens to be a boys game instead of a girls game so be it.
Tyler Thompson • Mar 30, 2012 at 6:15 am
This article has alot of truth in it. Girls sports are very underrated even though they have more heart than some boys teams do. It is not fair that they are overlooked on such a mass scale but it really all does come down to what people want to see rather that is fair for not; rather that is guys or girls sports or not. This is an idea that is not thought of but from reading it the author does a good job of bringing his point across. Its good to see topics like these being brought into question.
Curtis Williams • Mar 30, 2012 at 3:33 am
It’s sad that girls are still at an unfair disadvantage after all this time. People should show support to the women athletes because they are good at what they do, not their sex. A true fan likes the sport and doesn’t make a bias for what the athlete is. I like the fact that even without a large group of people attending the games, the girls had a great season. Women in society deserve more appreciation for what they do, especially those in the public and athletic spotlight. By degrading these higher women, other young people are affected. By showing some respect for these true hardworkers, it can help out the youth to come.
Kayla Hubert • Mar 30, 2012 at 2:53 am
It is really sad how girl teams do not get enough support. I know that only a few years back Prince George Lady Royals track team had 15 straight District Championships. But does anyone care? Not really. With all of our Lady Royals, no matter what sport they play, you are doing a wonderful job. It is just sad to see such a distinction between girls and boys sports.
Faven Butler • Mar 30, 2012 at 2:24 am
The fact that many people mock the WBA for instance is completely unfair. Although women did get their rights much longer after all types of men did, it is time to put those times to a final end and treat everybody equally. Women should be seen on television as well as other forms of press just as much as the men are. This brings me to commend TRN for writing articles and taking photos of both Boys and Girls team sports.
Chloe Alexander • Mar 29, 2012 at 8:34 pm
As a former softball player, I have noticed the lack of attendance at games; however, the crowd that is there is just as passionate, if not more, as spectators of male sports. With male sports like ice hockey and football especially, there is almost a dramatic theme to the games because of the high competitiveness. Fights break out all the time in hockey, making the games more interesting. Even in major leagues, physical conflicts occur. Even though we have evolved into a country where women have just as many opportunities to participate in sports, they are still often stereotyped as the type to not want to “break a nail”. I am just glad that someone addressed this problem in modern entertainment.
Becca Soon • Mar 29, 2012 at 7:59 pm
I think the reason why boys have more fans come to games than girls because boys have always been looked at as tough and strong in athletics. Even though girls can be just as rough as guys, people are just used to seeing guys on the soccer field or football field being aggressive as ever. Also, football is one of the most popular sports that people watch on TV. Who plays football? Guys do. So I think people go to male athletic games because guys get super serious and rough and people want to see that.
Kayla Bishop • Mar 29, 2012 at 4:26 pm
I have always noticed that there arent womens games on tv as much and how not that many people go to womens games and even in PGHS I’ve noticed that the girls teams arent as well supposrted or advertised even though half the time at PGHS our girl teams do way better than the boys. I feel that it is unfair to the women athletes that they dont get to be seen on tv and that they arent as appreciated as mens. I wish that this would change but society still now only wants to see men competing hard in sports and getting dirty not women. I feel that the author wasn’t clear on his position on the topic if he had more clearly choosen his stand point i think the article would of been better but overall i really liked this article.
Alex Crowder • Mar 27, 2012 at 10:45 am
As a female athlete myself, I have to say that this article is true beyond words. I don’t understand the appeal of one losing team to the other, though maybe more people know about boy’s games than girl’s? Maybe it’s because of the fact that it’s apparently more fun to see guys tackling each other to the ground? Who knows.
Olubusola Olanrewaju • Mar 23, 2012 at 7:53 am
I have always wondered the same thing concerning our basketball teams. I think a huge factor is the fact that most of the boys’ basketball games are on a Friday, while the girls are during the week. Also media plays a huge role. I don’t think I have ever watched a WNBA game.