Putting the spotlight on York athletes

Victoria Alarcon
Sports & Health editor
Every York game follows the same formula: announcers at one end, music on the other, the cheery cheerleaders rooting at the lower side of the field and, without fail, the empty bleachers are in the middle, the placeholders for the missing enthusiastic crowd.
There are over a dozen different varsity teams playing at York – we have tennis, hockey, soccer and football and etc. – but looking at attendance numbers it seems no one even knows they exist. Most seats are empty and the ones that are taken are filled by parents and friends of the team. It is a sad situation for York sports.
What inspires this apathy? “I feel that it [sport games] is not really built around class schedules,” offers Alex Seelochan, a third-year biology major. Other students, like Mateen Khalid, fourth-year English and professional writing major, just can’t find a reason to go. “I don’t hear about them enough to want to go out. It’s not being addressed to me.”
If you ask me, therein lies the problem. York students simply haven’t been able to grow attached to the teams, whether it be because of a lack of awareness or because of class conflicts.
This supplement shows students why they should be hyped about York’s games, why they should watch the athletes and why they should come out and shout for their teams. There is so much that people don’t know. We have a men’s soccer team, first in the league standings and on the verge of winning the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championship; we have a women’s rugby team that’s working towards winning their OUA title after making it to the playoffs. And it’s not only soccer and rugby, but hockey and basketball, too. You should want to be part of that.
This supplement features some of the great athletes York has to of- fer, featuring players who have be- come top scorers for their teams. More broadly, it features one athlete who has made a successful career out of their sport. I guarantee you’ll be captivated by the talent these athletes possess, and by the determination each has to improve every day.
That’s why this supplement exists – to celebrate athletes.