“Where did all the fans go? Are you sure the game is today?”
Does this sound familiar? Have you ever attended a U of T sporting event and found yourself asking these same questions because the six people in attendance were family, friends, and that guy who has been banging the drums at Blues sports events for 30 years?
The fact that sports events at this university are poorly attended is an oft-noted, and much ridiculed phenomenon. The important and key question, however, is why?
Several hypotheses spring to mind. Is it a lack of school spirit and student community on the sprawling campus? Is it because U of T has always stressed academics over athletics? Are students burdened with too much homework, and not enough spare time? Is there a lack of awareness and general ignorance of game schedules, times and locations? Or maybe, since Toronto is home to the Raptors, the Blue Jays, and the Leafs, students who do have time for sports would rather spend it watching the professionals?
According to U of T President Robert Birgeneau, there is no one answer. “It is true that crowds have been quite small for most events” he said, “I really don’t have an explanation to explain why.”
The lack of student support for athletics doesn’t irk Birgeneau. “The most important thing about sports is that they are for the athletes themselves. We have a very large number of students participating in sports at U of T.”
“Except for football,” he added “even in the States no one goes to games. It is mainly friends and parents that are at games, just like here. I went to Penn State… recently and the stands were not full there eitherexcept for football.”
While U of T may not be so different from its American counterparts, the questions that surround fan support, or the lack thereof, still remain unsolved. Even football does not bring in a full crowd here. Oct. 4’s homecoming football game, played at Varsity Field against the Windsor Lancers, brought in the biggest crowd of the season so far: a whopping 800 fans. There are 63,109 students currently enrolled at U of T, and 37, 915 of those are full-time.
Something, presumably academics, is keeping the student fans away. “It is true that academics are taken more seriously and sports are considered an extra-curricular activity here,” agreed Birgeneau. “Students don’t come to school to play soccer. They come here to study philosophy.”
The president is happy to keep education as U of T’s top priority, and not mimic the American university system which offers full scholarships based on atheltic, not scholastic, merit. “U of T belongs to a group called the American Association of Universities, including the Big Ten schools from the States,” he explained. “I sat and listened to a session about issues concerning sports and heard one professor try to explain how it was okay that all the football players at his school were failing their courses. I just sat back and thought to myself ‘boy, I’m glad we don’t have this problem here.'”
A Varsity student survey conducted this fall polled students on the St. George Campus to find out why they do or do not support their U of T athletes.
“I really don’t have any interest in them [sports]” said Marie, a second-year English and Art History student. “I also don’t have the time for them.”
A lack of time was echoed by many who took the survey. Close to 30 per cent said that work and studies prohibited them from attending games. Commuters also expressed the difficulty of taking an extra trip to campus on the weekend to watch a rugby game for example.
Being unaware of game schedules was by far the most common answer given for not cheering on Blues teams. When asked “do you attend sporting events at U of T, why or why not?,” close to 50 per cent said they do not know when contests are scheduled and are unaware of who the Blues are playing on a given weekend. And 54 per cent said they did not know that varsity games were free for U of T students.
“There seems to be a lack of awareness regarding match-ups” mentioned Andrew, a fourth year Spanish and History student. “There needs to be more publicizing of games around campus and in the local newspapers.”
That was the consensus among almost all of those surveyed. They agreed that there needs to be more posters, newspaper, and radio ads to increase awareness of when things are happening around campus.
Not a single person who took the survey suggested that they would rather watch professional athletes.
“Students are not going to watch professional sports either” said President Birgeneau. “When you go to see a Raptors or Jays or Argos game, for that matter, you do not see a full stadium.”
Perhaps a combination of professional and university sports would boost student turn-out. In a recent Varsity poll, 56 per cent of respondents said that they would like to see a 25,000 seat stadium built at U of T that would be shared by the Toronto Argos and Varsity Blues football teams.
The only real problem, as far as Birgeneau’s concerned, are the missed opportunities. “We still have a large number of students competing in intramural sports that cover the spectrum, and that is good to see,” commented the president, “but students are missing out by not taking advantage of the vast numbers of opportunities to see world-class athletes [U of T students] compete.”
