Team Troubles: Through equal attention fleeting, students all play important part

By: Dino Odobasic

Recently,Twitter was blowing up as some student athletes were upset that their sports are lacking the attention that they deserve. Some saw football and basketball as the big dogs in sports and questioned how much attention the other sports receive.

Of course, attention does matter, and administrators at the high school have tried to do what they can to validate the accomplishments of those involved.

Activity Director Gary Koenen said, “We try to encourage students regardless of what the sport is.” Koenen has tried many ways to help students hear about all the other activities other than football and basketball. “It’s really up to the students and their interests,” he said.

Some students have also pointed out that a lot more staff are found at football and basketball events than any other sports that the high school offers. These students are getting the vibe that even administrators don’t want to come to their activities other than the two main ones, but Koenen said there is another simple reason for the difference.

The reason for more administrators at those activities is because there are simply a lot more students there, which means that there “needs to be more supervision,” Koenen said.

If there are more students at those games, administrators need to look over them in case things get out of hand, and since not as many students attend the other activities there is just no need to have that many administrators at those activities.

“The media plays a big role on those sports too,” Koenen said. A lot of the sports talked about on TV are mostly basketball and football.

He also pointed out that many of the fans at football and basketball events are there for other activities scheduled at the same time. “There are students that are involved in dance, cheerleading and the marching band, which have a lot of students involved, so that brings a lot more people to the football games,” he said.

Koenen said he wants students to know that he is trying everything he can to get students involved in other activities other than just football and basketball, and the rewards are worth it regardless of the degree of public attention.

And isn’t that what it comes down to in the end? Increased attention to sports like football and basketball at Cedar Falls is no different than anywhere else in the country. In the end, let’s not forget that we have such a wide variety of opportunities to get involved, and many of them at a level of top competitiveness.

At the Hi-Line, we strive to give the most balanced coverage we can to everyone in every corner. If we fail, it’s usually because there are so many corners to explore that we may have simply overlooked the potential.

Send us your stories, and we’ll do what we can to tell them in all their details. In the end, we hope all CFHS students know that we are on a big team and pulling for every member.

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