In a school of 23,000, Hunter sports struggle for an audience

The Hunter College Sportsplex is tucked away in the B3 level, the sub-sub-basement of the West Building. It is there that Men’s Wrestling, as well as Men’s and Women’s Volleyball and Basketball games take place. Sometimes, when there is a big game, such as homecoming or a CUNYAC playoff matchup, a sizeable crowd of a few hundred people will gather on the purple bleachers.

Most of the time, however, echoes from a basketball hitting the hardwood or a volleyball being struck can be heard without difficulty. This is the result of a negligible home crowd for the Hunter Hawks during most regular season matchups.

While the fencing, cross country, tennis, softball, and soccer teams play the majority of their match-ups miles away from campus, the wrestling, swimming, volleyball, and basketball teams do not, making the lack of attendance at most games in a school so large puzzling at first glance.

Hunter College, with a student body of over 23,000, is by no means a ghost town. The student population is a microcosm of New York City, with a racial diversity representative of the melting pot. Hunter students also flock to over a hundred student-run clubs and organizations that represent their interests. But in a city that loves its sports so much, why doesn’t Hunter?

Since Hunter doesn’t sell tickets to sporting events, attendance figures cannot be found online, but Hunter’s student athletes have taken notice of the sparse crowds at most of their home games.

Steven Tarquinio, a Junior on the Men’s Volleyball team, says that about 25-30 people show up during most regular season match-ups, citing the scattered crowds as a product of student indifference.

“I think we advertise a lot, but being a commuter school, a lot of people don’t care about athletics and don’t care about school spirit,” said Tarquinio.

In a survey, however, most Hunter students begged to differ. Out of 23 students surveyed, 14 had never been to a Hunter sporting event in the duration of their college experience. Out of those 14, ten cited “I don’t hear much about Hunter sporting events” as why they hadn’t attended, with “I don’t like sports,” “I don’t have time,” and “other” as alternate possible answers.

Fliers crowd Hunter’s 3rd floor bulletin board, which lacks advertising for sporting events

This is certainly a valid response. Throughout Hunter College’s 68th street campus, flyers are taped on walls and boards, advertising club meeting, campus parties, and general events. With the exception of the West Building’s sub-basement levels where athletic events take place, sports advertisements are few and far between. On Hunter’s main website, the link to the Athletics page is the very last link on the right side of the home page. In short, students have to go out of their way to find out when most sporting events are taking place on campus.

For athletes that have to compete off campus, the struggle for a crowd is even greater. The Men’s and Women’s tennis teams play their “home” matches at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens. In order for a student to reach the matches on public transportation, he or she would have to take the 7 train to the penultimate stop.

“Only eight people show up on average to regular season matches, and around 25 people showed up to the [CUNYAC] championship,” said Bilal Naeem, a Senior on the Men’s tennis team, suggesting that Hunter should provide a “Fan Van” that would drive students to and from the matches.

Despite having a space to promote the athletic teams, the sports schedule that is posted is outdated

Geovani Valerio, a Senior on the Cross Country team, estimated that only 15 people showed up to the Championship meet at Van Cortlandt Park, also suggesting that Hunter provide a Fan Van to the meets.

While Hunter will never have the atmosphere of Division I College Sports, it is important that students have a means of coming together. At Hunter, most students commute from all over the city, some working jobs outside of school just to help pay for their studies. In a school of over 23,000, it is easy to feel anonymous and dispassionate, but if Hunter can get its students to rally around their athletes, maybe it can give a portion of this crowded school something to cheer about.