Illustration by Elza High
Matthew Will
Lantern Staff
Butler students do not attend sporting events often. Whether it be a football game in September or a men’s basketball game in January, attendees are primarily non-students. While the El Dorado community is quite supportive, some are even season ticket holders.
When designing BG Products Veterans Sports Complex, the main focus was to fit the most amount of people in, while still staying in budget. Now, eight years later, attendance at Butler Community College games is subpar. When looking back at the 2017 Butler football season, games were not attended well. Two games with constant downpour did not help the fact, with a third being postponed to almost 10:30 p.m.
The Butler faithful redeemed themselves at the “Last Chance U” game on Saturday Nov. 4, 2017, against Independence. The attendance was as good as Butler has seen in years, with cameras littered all over the stadium, field and uprights. With a 31-27 win, Butler gave the fans a reason to return. The following game would be one of the rainy games, with an obvious discount in fans because of the weather.
As the football season ended, the basketball season began. As expected, the women’s games are not as well attended as men’s games. The women begin at 5:30 p.m. with the men’s game beginning 20 minutes following the conclusion of the women’s games, usually about 7:30 p.m. A 5:30 p.m. start time makes it difficult for many to attend. Students can struggle to make it to these times because of class, jobs or dinner times.
The majority of basketball attendees are parents and other family members of players. The community members that support football make up most of the remainder of people in attendance. As for students, a small “student section” is made up of anywhere between 20-30 football players and other assorted students.
It appears this is not only a problem with the involvement of students at Butler Community College. Most of the schools in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) have problems getting students to attend. In fact, the fan base at each of Butler’s away football games was smaller than that of a game at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex.
The schools of the KJCCC have low attendance at basketball games, too. Of the away Butler basketball games I have attended this season (Seward, Allen, Dodge City), only Seward had more fans than a typical Butler game.
The fact is, Butler needs support to keep their programs alive. Despite already having more fans than other KJCCC schools, attendance is low and shows no signs of improvement. Games are free for students and are a great activity for your Wednesday or Saturday night. So this semester, whether it be a basketball game in February or a softball game in May, make it a point to get out there and support your classmates. Your school will thank you.