 "Photo: Alex Vera")
 "Photo: File Photo")
In the past three years, the University of Tampa has brought home four National Championships to a school that has shown them almost no support.
Regardless of how well the teams perform, the stands are more than likely to be empty.
The lack of crowd has a negative effect on the athletes’ game. Statistics show that playing in front of a home crowd influences athletes to play better.
In years past, students at UT have not been informed, motivated, or interested in attending sports games. The reasons for this can be linked back to UT’s Student Government.
“Whether we are going to have a good year or not depends on Student Government.” Gil Swalls, Associate Director of Athletics and Director of Sports Advertising, said.
Advertising on campus is a big problem. The school does not want flyers up everywhere because it wants to be a “picture friendly school,” and not like an advertising billboard.
This limits Swalls from posting flyers in places that students would normally be able to view frequently. Even if flyers are posted, they are after ripped down, or other student organizations place their own flyers over them.
“Basically there is no ad space on campus,” Swalls said. “I’ve tried to put up giant flyers in Plant Hall, but they always get torn down.”
Swalls for years has been trying different methods to boost attendance at games. He tried sending mass emails to UT students’ inboxes, but often got responses back that many boxes were full, so many students didn’t even receive the email. He also tried telephone messages, but students would hang up before even realizing what was being said.
“Students just have a way of protecting themselves from general information,” said Swalls. “Whatever they don’t want to listen to or see, they just avoid it.”
So what is the best way to get the attention of UT students and attract them to the games?
“Word of mouth is our best advertising tool. Having personal contact with the students on the campus, and this means talking to them one-on-one or in groups, face-to-face, is the best method.”
But the past is now the past, and Swalls is working on improving the present. Two weeks ago, soccer and volleyball had record attendances. Over 300 people attended volleyball and women’s soccer, while the stands were filled with 500 fans for the men’s soccer match. What makes this year different?
Swalls now works with Student Government every week to come up with ways to boost attendance.
“Our main goal is to coordinate different organizations,” SG president Andrew Learned said. “There are different groups already doing so much to get the word out, but now we just need to get them on the same page. We are trying to get more people to go to one event in one night.”
Together, they have put together a team of sports marketers, comprised of students in the marketing and sports management fields, as well as any one else who was interested, to recruit students. One of these organizations is the In-Crowd.
Lauren Hammond is not only a member of the In-Crowd, but also a member of the women’s soccer team. She knows first hand how important home crowds are.
“This year will be better because we have Student Government involvement,” Hammond said. “Every club has to go to the Tuesday night meetings so they will get the information regarding games and tell their groups.”
Even though it seems school spirit and attendance may seem on the rise, there are also other factors that might not be so helpful in the long run. The market that UT sports teams are in hurts. With professional sports teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Rays, and Lightning, students seem to focus their attention more on the professional athletes rather than the collegiate ones. Also, more than 70 percent of UT students go to class during most of our sporting events in the late evening. These are obstacles that Swalls and Student Government are aware of and have to face.
“Since 1990, this student government organization is one of the top two or three groups that we have ever had,” Swalls said. “They have been very productive and have been active in motivating students. President Andrew Learned is much more interested than any president we have had in the past, even dating back to 1990 since I have been here. He innovated a new organization that is comprised of students from different groups which focuses on athletics.”
Another major problem is that most of the Division II teams that UT faces are not well known and therefore students are not interested in seeing the different match ups.
Swalls’ goal is to draw five to ten percent of the student body. This estimates 500 students to show up in the future.
A good thing about UT sports is that the programs as a whole hold a winning record. UT sports teams win about 75 to 80 percent of home games in all sports. It is extremely important that they have the support of their fellow students cheering them as they take a shot on goal, spike a ball over the net or cross the finish line first.
Information contributed by Shelby Kuni
