While the EC athletics department has more than five competitive sports teams with star players being spotlighted, the varying degrees of student attendance to these sporting events can still have an effect on player performance.
Football and basketball are, more often than not, the most attended sporting events on college campuses, though each college is unique, Robert Uphoff, men’s basketball coach, said, even with our woman’s volleyball team is one of the top programs in the state, year in, year out.
“Attendance increases the excitement for kids and it’s high motivation for the team,” LeValley Pattison, EC women’s volleyball coach, said. “If it leads to a couple points that leads to a win, we’re thankful for that,” she said.
We appreciate it when they attend, Lindsey Colbert, 19, volleyball player and kinesiology major, said It helps a lot when we play.
We don’t get much of an audience here in tennis, Steve Van Kanegan, tennis coach, said.
Tennis is more of an intimate sport, Van Kanegan said, they need more of an ability to stay focused on the game, and people watching can take away from performance, he said.
“Our team is here to cheer each other on during the tournaments,” Anthony Ya, 18, tennis player and pre-dentistry major, said. “When people have matches with other schools, not a lot of people know about them,” he said.
John Britton, badminton coach, said that very specific people, such as parents, friends and loved ones, attend the badminton finals.
If they did pep rallies like they did in high school, I think people would go, Ryan Mand, 22, history major, said. In high school, demonstrations got more people aware and they would go. It’s a school spirit thing, he said.
“I haven’t actually seen any of the sports teams in action,” Christina Railey, 20, psychology major, said. “Advertising what is happening could possibly help,” she said.
We need to advertise five or six things that is happening on Sunday night, Pattison said, not all sports – it could be drama and sports, she said.
My three to five year plan is to find a way to fill our stands with El Camino students and create an atmosphere that is contagious, Uphoff said.
“It is my desire that our home basketball games would become an event that the student body looks forward to attending and also participates in with a lot of energy and enthusiasm,” Uphoff said.
