Attendance for NWC athletics deserves a boost

During a Northwest College men’s basketball game at Cabre Gym last month, a colleague of mine took notice of the fans in attendance.

“There’s a good crowd here tonight,” he said.

I nodded, and in my head I said, “Finally.”

I know I’ve only been here for about four months now, but if there’s one thing I’ve noticed, it’s that the attendance discrepancy between Powell’s high school sports and its college sports is present and drastic. So much so, that on a night a certain NWC coach’s team was playing at the same time the PHS football team hit the field, that coach said, “Well, I know where everyone will be tonight.”

That shouldn’t come off as a knock on Powell or its sports fans. If anything, it’s a testament to the passion and support our community has for athletics and the young men and women competing month after month. But what this particular coach understood is that when it comes to a choice between PHS’ sports and Northwest College’s, most fans are putting on their orange and black, not their red and white.

I understand that with PHS, there’s a different makeup. The kids wearing Panther jerseys have been Powell residents for most, if not all, of their lives. This community has an emotional, and for some, a family tie to our prep athletes. It would be impossible to count how many times a parent or coach has told me how talented a PHS athlete was as a young child. This community latches on to its athletes from kindergarten to high school graduation — and that’s special.

From my experience, the teenagers competing in sports at PHS love their community and their supporters. They’ve come off as nothing but appreciative and thankful to be playing in Powell. In this community, there’s a strong relationship between fan and prep competitor. But it’s time for that relationship to welcome a new member into the family.

When it comes to Trapper athletes, I get the arguments. Ninety-nine percent of the athletes at NWC didn’t grow up in Powell, and many may not be from Wyoming at all. NWC athletics are mostly made up of unknown kids from unknown parts of the country, and sometimes the world.

I can guarantee that none of those athletes laid out a map on their beds, closed their eyes, pointed to a random spot in the United States and said “Well, I don’t know where Powell is but that’s my college destination.” The current Trapper athletes made both an educated choice and a decisive commitment to come to Powell. It’s likely most of the athletes at NWC had other options, yet they chose Powell.

A common theme among many of the PHS athletes this season was family. “We’re a big family,” is a quote I could have put in every sports story during the fall. And what’s great about it is that every time it was spoken, it was true.

It was a statement that stretched beyond the PHS teams and into the community. And, save for the boosters and lifelong fans, that’s what’s unfortunate about the lack of athletic support at NWC. And I don’t mean support by wearing an NWC T-shirt, or the Trappers sticker you have on your rear windshield. I mean support in the bleachers.

These Trapper athletes aren’t surrounded by hundreds of their friends and family members on game nights. The majority of NWC’s athletics attendance is comprised of students, and as you can see from the photo above, even that leaves much to be desired.

The other argument is success.

There’s a lot to get excited about at PHS. The football team entered this past season on a string of three straight Class 3A state titles. The volleyball team won state a year ago and was thisclose to doing so again this year. Swimming was last fall’s runner-up and repeated that finish this season.

On the flip side, NWC is no pushover. The Lady Trapper volleyball team finished eighth in the nation a year ago and fourth to finish this season. NWC wrestling was a national runner-up in 2013-14 and is loaded with young talent and veterans this winter, and both basketball programs had winning seasons in 2013-14. This year, the NWC men’s basketball team has started quickly with a 9-2 record, putting up robust numbers on a nightly basis, and boasts several legitimate Division I hopefuls.

Yet, more often than not, Cabre Gym is more than half empty when these teams take the court.

I did a story in September about NWC’s volleyball team spending time with Powell kids in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Two Trapper sophomores stated that the desire to be a part of the program and give back to the community existed because Powell had been so supportive and welcoming, and that being given the opportunity to learn and compete here meant so much to them.

So if it means so much to these NWC athletes to compete in front of all of us, imagine how much it’d mean for us to be there supporting them.