A near empty stadium at a Franklin Girls Soccer preseason away game. Lack of attendance at school sports games was a common occurrence throughout the school year. Photo via @fhswomenssoccerr on Instagram
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual writer and are not endorsed by the Franklin Post staff or Franklin High School.
Student athletes are very easy to come by in the halls of Franklin High School, as many students represent their sport on the field and in the halls throughout the year. Dedicated fans, on the other hand, are much harder to come by.
Whether at indoor or outdoor venues, it is very easy to see the deflated energy and participation of the crowd as compared to opposing teams. Franklin home games, while receiving more fans in the family and student sections due to proximity, can still feel far from other high schools’ level of school spirit, and when it comes to away games, the Franklin fans are few and far between.
The majority of the crowd at games are the families of student athletes, friends hanging out after school, and the Franklin Storm Squad. The Storm Squad is dedicated to “showing up to athletic events, leading chants, and engaging the student section,” according to @fhs.leadership on Instagram. The @fhsstorm Instagram shares clips of athletes, promotes specialty games or senior nights, and shares game information with ASB for the weekly “Lightning Forecast” video.
The Lightning Forecast debuted to the Franklin community on Dec. 7, 2022, which means that many events, specifically fall sports events, were potentially unknown to many students due to lack of coverage within Franklin or promotion via athletes. Many smaller sports teams such as swim, golf, and ski can be overlooked due to their events taking place exclusively off campus. Off-campus events can be inaccessible to students for many reasons, or unknown due to last minute promotion which causes a decrease in attendance.
In a survey of 15 students, 40 percent believe Franklin has strong school spirit, while 60 percent do not. Sophomore Kyra Kreuscher shared that if the student population had more information about how to get involved in coordinating and planning spirit activities at athletic events, there may be more excitement for games. Nala Day, who is also a sophomore at Franklin, stated that participation could be encouraged more if there were more student leadership at these events.
Kreuscher also believes that the promotion of these events is too minimal and that student-run platforms like the Franklin Post, FHS Leadership, and clubs can help to remedy this issue. The lack of athletic promotion is a common cause for poor attendance at Franklin events and was mentioned by numerous students in the survey.
This can be fixed by not only utilizing social media accounts for each team, and continuing to promote games in the Lightning Forecast, but also having reminders in the main hall, daily announcements, or allowing student-athletes to use a portion of class time to encourage attendance and participation at games.
Caroline Bederka, a student-athlete at Franklin, shared that a possible method to attract more people to athletic events can consist of fellow classmates hyping up the games, and more students cheering on friends. Strong crowd interest and student attendance at athletic events, in Bederka’s opinion, “shows the team that we care about them and gives them something to be proud of.” Bederka also believes that posters around the school can help raise awareness for athletes.
Other students in the survey shared that a stronger sense of community can be fostered through rivalries with other schools and can help shift the mentality behind attendance at games. With a stronger community involvement, athletic events can become positive and uplifting for those in attendance and for athletes. Halftime games, signs, mascot battles, and singing songs are also potential incentives to improve participation in the student section.
While Franklin has a long way to go to get to the level of school spirit seen in various high schools on social media, an understanding of what people want to see at athletic events is the first step. I believe that the student body’s advocating for these things will help to create a better atmosphere for attendees, players, and parents at games.
