The crowd presence

Max GumbelStaff WriterYou can work as hard as you want at your sport; running in exasperation up the Greek theatre, working out in the gym for hours on end or swimming laps until your muscles can no longer move. But when there is no crowd to fill the seats, all the hard work does not seem to pay off.According to Samo Athletic Director Daniel Escalera, while Samo athletes spend much of their time practicing to improve their individual and team skill level, sports teams also aim to build an audience for their games.“Putting our sports programs out there and getting a wider audience increases school-wide interest and spirit,” Escalera said.Junior boys’ varsity basketball captain Trevis Jackson finds that a bigger fan base can also improve the quality of play.“When you’re on a run and you have your crowd behind you, it makes you want to work harder and keep going,” Jackson said. “It gives you the energy to make the next play.”Statistically, having a bigger fan base increases the likelihood of winning. Harvard University researcher Ryan Boyko found that in the English Premier League (soccer), home teams, which usually have the most fans in their stadium, score more goals than away teams. In addition, Boyko calculated that every 10,000 supporters a team has in their stadium increases that teams advantage by 0.1 goals because having a big fan base promotes better play.According to Boyko, a reason for this advantage is a referee’s bias.“The potential is for a game to be altered because of factors that subconsciously affect the referee,” Boyko told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).According to the BBC, Boyko’s studies, “seem to imply that referees are making calls in favor of the home team, possibly as a result of the influence of the crowd.”In addition, large crowds can insert themselves into games, such as when basketball fans distract opposing players as they take free throws.According to Escalera, large audiences can have a financial benefit as well. Some Samo sports teams that sell tickets succeed in filling seats on a regular basis, and therefore bring in funds to the athletic department.“Football, volleyball and basketball, both boys’ and girls’, have large attendances, especially as the season wears on,” Escalera said. “We therefore charge per ticket at football and basketball games, as well as at volleyball playoff games.”However, sophomore golfer Josh Lettiere says that his team rarely has an audience.“Even when we have home golf games, we do not get much of a crowd, because the games are not fun to attend,” Lettiere said. “Audiences are not allowed to even cheer from the sidelines. They can only watch silently, which is not very exciting.”Sophomore pep squad member Sam Lewin agrees that the excitement a sport induces affects its attendance.“Sports like football and basketball, which are often more exciting, usually end up getting more attention,” Lewin said.Some students also believe that boys’ sports have a bigger turn out than girls’.“Boys are by nature physically stronger than girls, so the quality of play is better at a boys’ game,” sophomore volleyball player Remi Nathanson said.In addition, Lewin finds that boys’ sports are more widely attended because of the tradition that surrounds them, as opposed to girls’ sports, which have historically been less appreciated.“A sport’s attendance builds off itself. With a bigger crowd, there is more excitement at games, and the crowd grows faster and faster,” Lewin said. “If watching girls’ sports was as traditional as watching boys’, then its audience would grow more quickly.”Junior ASB member Matilda Mead says that the lack of supporters of girls’ basketball compared to boys’ was the reason for the rooter bus fiasco, when parents threatened to sue the school on sexism charges when the boys’ team was provided with a fan bus to their away CIF game but the girls’ were not.“The girls just did not have as many fans. The boys had around 40, but the girls only ten or so,” Mead said. “It is not sexist, it is choosing wisely how to spend money on buses.”But Nathanson finds that, despite the difference in attendance between sports, Samo students are proud and enthusiastic about all school sports.“We are lucky to go to a school where we are united and have a lot of school spirit,” Nathanson said. “Even if some have more students in the bleachers, Samo students have spirit and pride in all the school sports.”mgumbel@thesamohi.com