Crowd support good for sports
At first I thought I had stumbled onto a golf match Sept. 27 on my way to the Marion-Wichita Collegiate volleyball match.
I was in a gym, there were no sand traps, but it was so quiet you would have thought Tiger Woods was about to tee off.
The Spartans' cheering section looked like a Montreal Expos' home crowd. A lot of seats, not a lot of bodies.
Every point the talented Spartans scored, the tiny crowd cheered like a person really uninterested in what you have to say.
They're looking at you and nodding their head, but not really paying attention.
Now, there were no doubt some parents at the match who were interested and proud of their child-athletes.
But Marion was on the road, and its cheering section blew the Spartans' cheering section out of the gym.
And the Spartans are no chumps. They have a great front row, and a sophomore setter named Hayley Jansson who will be playing Division I volleyball in the next two years.
Despite hanging close the entire night, Marion lost both matches. You would have never known if you were just paying attention to the crowd.
The parents, fans, JV, and C-team members cheered and yelled chants to the very end.
The first home match Sept. 21 for Marion featured an almost packed gym. Marion High School football players filled the top rafters with their shirts off, and chests painted. It was a great atmosphere.
Crowd support at football games also has been amazing.
It's good to see the numbers at all sporting events, no matter what sport, or who Marion is playing.
It makes it more exciting for other fans, not to mention the players.
Maybe the Collegiate fans just had a bad night. Maybe there was something going on that conflicted with the match.
There are more schools in Wichita than in Marion, where everyone is a fan of the one and only high school.
But that doesn't take away from the atmosphere. It's good to see the support from fans, although I've been told it's nothing new around here.
