Where fire All the People? Jordan Cripps Sports Editor It was on a bright Saturday afternoon, September 7, 2002 to be exact, that I attended my first college athletic event. I arrived at Coquitlam Town Centre's fields, pen and paper in hand, prepared to watch our Royals soccer team compete in BCCAA action against the University College of the Cariboo’ Sun Demons. I certainly feel like I witnessed an exciting display of college athletics and look forward to attending others in the future. I was however, surprised by the small crowd that gathered to watch the game. The crowd seemed to be composed almost exclu- sively of parents and other dedicated family mem- bers watching relatives play. There was no sense, from the crowd’s reactions to the game, that it was being played on Douglas’ turf, or that our players had any sort of home- field advantage. The loudest Douglas supporters were the coaches and players shouting instruc- tions from the sidelines. Even when there was a chance at either end, these were the only voices to be heard. Even as I write this, I feel like a hypocrite. I’ve attended Douglas College and other schools for six years and this is the first time I’ve attended a sport- ing event. Who am I to talk about attendance? To further my hypocrisy, I didn’t go to the game with the sole intention of supporting the Royals, but because I wanted to write a story for the Other Press. It would be truly hypocritical for me to tell people that they should go support our team, so instead I would like to look at why people don’t attend events. Thinking back to my own experiences at various schools, I realize that this is not something that is unique to Douglas, nor is it unique to sporting events in general. I recall student elections where only four or five percent of the student population turned out to vote on a particular issue. I’m sure that there are many reasons that people don’t attend col- lege sporting events, but I’ve identified what I think are a few of the main ones. First, as has been indicated before in the Other Press, not everyone likes sports. This makes sense. Why would someone spend their Saturday after- noon watching something they don’t enjoy? Second, the events are not in a good location for some students. Someone living in Surrey or Vancouver is probably not going to make a special trip to New Westminster to watch a basketball game. Again, this seems a reasonable explanation for not going to a sporting event. Third, students don't have time to go to sporting events. Many students have responsibilities outside of school and truly don’t have extra time. At the same time, though, I’ve used this as a way to justify not going to a particular event and then gone home and done something really productive like watching EY. Fourth, it could be that I’m making a big deal about nothing. Maybe my observations have been influenced by turning on the TV and seeing American college stadiums filled to capacity with 45,000 fans, all sporting face-paint in their school’s colours, screaming encouragement to their school’s athletes. Maybe I’m just being too critical. I’m sure that there are a number of people at Douglas who go out of their way to support the athletics teams, and do their best to get more people out to support the Royals. And finally, and this is the possibility that con- cerns me most, is it that some students just don’t care about their school, don’t feel any pride or school spirit. While I'd like to think that this isn’t possible, in assessing my own situation I can say that none of these other factors truly apply to me. I can’t think of a justifiable reason why I'd never attended a sporting event until this year. Perhaps the biggest stereotype about soccer is that 90 percent of the game takes place right in the center of the field. At least in these particular games, that wasn't the case. I had to constantly move to a different position to follow the ball as it was kicked up and down the field. I’ve always viewed soccer as a slow sport, but the Royals game provided almost constant action, with a few lulls as the ball was brought up from one goal toward the other. Live sports provides a totally different perspective than watching a game on television. While the rule- books may forbid body contact, I witnessed a num- ber of big collisions as players leapt into the air try- ing to deflect a ball towards the opponent. In addi- tion to these collisions players frequently jostled for position around the opposition net. Being close to the action and effectively supporting your team is a worthwhile endeavour. So, I would like to encourage you all to not only get out and support DC sports, but also to join me in writing about it. Surrender to the Force of the Other Press!