BY DANIEL BRNJIC (’17)

The Granville soccer team is currently engaged in the hardest schedule in years, yet attendance has been lower than recent years. The team has been playing the best division one and two teams in the state and earning respectful results against these teams. As they begin their tournament run the question of student support still weighs on the their minds.

In my three season playing soccer for Granville I have seen the droves of people who show up for home game dwindle down to a few students, parents, and the occasional girlfriend. Only against Bexley did a respectable crowd show up for the game. What once was a student section full of screaming students and verbal abuse toward the opposing goalkeeper has become a bland congregation of quiet students.

Against Saint-Francis DeSales, which is the best team in the state, we had between 12 or 15 people show up to a game that could have changed the season. The general consensus is that the boy’s team is having a rough start. This schedule was designed to challenge us in the season so we perform better in the tournament we are still going to dominate the Licking County League and place a top seed in the tournament. The only piece of the puzzle remaining is the lack of student support being shown for the soccer team.

“We take pride in our home field, and the student section is a major part of that,” Coach Shawn King said.

People need to come to the games to experience the thrill of the game of soccer. The passion and the drama of the game can be felt in the student section with its close proximity to the field. The students can involve themselves in the game by respectfully harassing other players of celebrating goals along side Granville players. I think that soccer games are a fantastic display of energy and athletic drama that makes the fan experience much better than any other sporting event.