This past weekend Tufts had the honor of hosting not one but two NCAA Tournaments: the New England Regional Volleyball Tournament and the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament. To top it off, the women's volleyball team won the regional tournament, defeating Williams, a team that had taken down Tufts in the NESCAC finals. The women's field hockey team, ranked fourth in the nation, reached the final four in their own tournament.
Those are momentous triumphs. The one outstanding factor that doesn't seem to correlate with the level of achievement displayed on the field and court this weekend is the level of attendance.
On many other campuses, students demonstrate school spirit and pride at sports events. Tufts students do not follow this pattern. At Tufts, it is no secret that athletics are not a central focus of campus life. Theater, a capella, improv comedy, charity events and a multitude of other activities often draw more of a crowd than our sports games do. And that's laudable — it shows the diversity of interests and opportunities that characterize Tufts as a school.
That said, while sports may not be the nexus of the university's student community, that doesn't mean that athletes' accomplishments should go ignored by the majority of the Tufts community, as happened this weekend. Counsens Gymnasium, which in the past has seen a turnout of as many as 1,500 fans, was hardly full on Saturday, with only 350 people attending the women's volleyball regional tournament, many of whom had come from Williams to support their team. Field hockey, likewise, saw dismal attendance.
While this lack of interest could be attributed to the $4 fee charged by the NCAA for admission to the sporting events or, in the case of field hockey, the rainy weather, it is the Daily's view that the issue runs deeper. If it had been just another game and just another tournament, this lack of attendance might have been understandable. But these were out of the ordinary.
So what was the roadblock that deterred students from supporting Tufts' sports teams? In large part, it was that the tournaments, especially that of field hockey, were not well-publicized on campus and were thus overshadowed by B.J. Novak's appearance and the Laughs of Love student comedy festival. It could have been that people simply felt no personal connection to the teams. It could just be that, unlike so many other schools, athletics isn't the avenue through which Tufts as a community expresses school spirit.
But showing up to a sports event isn't just about school pride. Just as attendance at a concert or theater production is an acknowledgement of performers' work and dedication, so too is attendance at sporting events — and this is what makes this weekend's low attendance so disappointing.
Whereas student performance groups often have Tufts Community Union Senate-conferred funds to disburse as they wish, and they often do so by advertising their events with flyers, the Athletics Department is in charge of promotion for sporting events. The Athletics Department should put more effort into advertising games, promoting them as a fun, social form of entertainment instead of something reserved for only the die-hard fans of a particular sport. The department could also partner with clubs and organizations, especially those looking to do fundraising, to have them set up booths at big games; this would create an inclusive, festive atmosphere while attracting more people — booth proprietors and their friends, to name a few.
How Tufts as a community approaches its extracurricular activities is part of what establishes the unique character of the school; the university owes it to its teams to more actively solicit student interest in sporting events.
