SUPPORT OF ALL ATHLETIC TEAMS

Problem

            At the University of Maryland, athletics play a very important role to the university. Thousands of students are student athletes and are attending this university because of scholarships. Some players are the faces for their teams, but most of the students at the university would never know some of these athletes if it were not for the gear they wore around campus. The University of Maryland promotes heavily on their men’s teams, such as football and basketball.

 

Background

            The University of Maryland has a huge emphasis on football and men’s basketball and seem to let the other teams go under the radar. Women’s teams, such as field hockey, soccer, lacrosse, and volleyball do not get as much advertisement around campus and on Maryland approved websites. These women’s teams even have recently won national championship titles while the two supported men’s teams have not. The university favors these men’s teams because they bring in the most money, but the lack of support for the other teams is just simply not fair.

            Women’s teams and other men’s teams work just as hard, but have a small fan base because the university does not advertise their games. Football and men’s basketball are the two sports with the most fan attendance and a majority of it has to due with the fact that advertisements around campus are constantly reminding students when the games are. Advertisements also let students know fun events that will be taking place at only these sporting events, which acts as another incentive for students to attend.

 

Remedy

            To fix this inequality, the Athletics Department at the University of Maryland should promote all in season sports equally. This is allow students to be aware of each sporting event and be aware of added incentives to attend. This will in turn strengthen the fan base for each sport and make all the student athletes feel equal to one another. More posters for each sport should be posted around campus and the Maryland website should feature all sport highlights instead of just focusing on football and basketball. These sports teams are at the university for a reason and should be treated equally, no matter what gender is playing and what sport it is.