They say motivation is the key to success. So why are the bleachers so empty? Over the years the attendance in LCHS sporting events has severely declined. Drastic changes have developed such as from not being able to find a seat, to now having the liberty to sit almost anywhere you want. However it’s not that students do not want to attend. It is the price of tickets and the atmosphere. It can be rather costly to attend every Friday night football game or every basketball game that goes on throughout the week. Students also feel uncomfortable sitting in the student section due to cliques and tension.
Ticket cost can range from $5-$6 depending on the event you are attending. If a student were to attend every basketball game during the week, they would be spending an average of $20-$30 a week. No wonder the game attendance is suffering. Not to mention over half the student body is either incapable of driving, or has no mode of transportation to attend. Staying after school really is not an option due to the games not starting until 5:30.
An attempt to bring back our student section was started last year. This is known as The Warzone. The Warzone is a student led club/student section. They often try to incorporate themes to add to the excitement of games. There has also been unnecessary conflict within the student section. An offshoot of The Warzone, The Battle Zone was created due to disagreement over the management of the section. This caused unneeded drama and has since caused several students to refrain from participating in the student section.
It is time to fix this problem. Several schools in the surrounding counties offer a very simple solution to this. They offer a student discount. Instead of charging students full price, it is cut in half. Or another solution is offering free admission to the first so many students. All students would need to do is provide a student ID. Every student at LCHS has a student ID given to them free of charge early in the year. However, these IDs serve no purpose. They are not used for entering the building, lunch, or anything else. We could kill two birds with one stone by giving these student IDs a purpose.
The student section as well needs some readjusting. We seem to be seeing the same faces each game. The atmosphere needs to be more welcoming to other students.
The desire to attend and be rowdy is present. It is time we fix these problems and bring back the enthusiastic atmosphere for our sports teams.