As one of The Prairie’s sports writers, I go to almost every major sporting event on campus to either write about it or take pictures. But one thing I almost always notice is that other than a few hardcore students, the stands are usually only filled with older members of the community or other athletes.

While I get that we are in football territory, it always amazes me other than football games, students just don’t seem to care about WT athletics.

We have some awesome teams here at WT and games can be truly exciting. Our volleyball team is one of the best in the nation and has an outstanding home record of well over 300 games won and only something like 11 games lost in The Box and had an LSC winning streak going back to 2006 on the line this year (that was broken in September). At the time of this writing, our women’s basketball team is ranked No. 3 in the LSC and is locked into the playoffs.

Students also pay an athletic fee with their tuition that goes to the athletic department so in a way, you are paying to watch these games without actually going to them. Sure, not everyone likes sports, but coming to games and supporting those that represent our school is part of the college experience. And if going and mingling with other students while watching a bunch of teams isn’t up your alley, sometimes you can even get free stuff.

Most people only have four years of college, so why not spend it getting everything out of college that you can? Going to a school that has good sports programs is extremely cool, so do yourself a favor and get a group of friends together to go watch a game. You’ll definitely be getting your money’s worth.