EMU at Third Lowest Basketball Attendance in ODAC

According to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference website, the attendance at Eastern Mennonite University men and women's basketball games is among the lowest in the conference.

Reported attendances on that website indicate that the men's attendance is third to last at 323 people per game, which is only better than Lynchburg and Washington and Lee. The league leader in attendance is Virginia Wesleyan at 846 people per game. On the woman's side, EMU is also third to last in attendance with an average of 112 people per game. They are ahead of only Hollins and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. The league leader is Bridgewater averaging 502 people per game.

According to athletic director Dave King, the conference as a whole is struggling in attendance this season. Both he and woman's basketball coach Kevin Griffin seem to think that what is being reported isn't accurate. Griffin commented, "I disagree with what is being reported. The only school that we have played this year that has any one at a game is Bridgewater."

Woman's junior basketball player Jolene Kratz agrees, "…honestly there aren't that many games that we've gone to that have had an overwhelming number of people there so to say we are the among the lowest seems a bit off."

Despite the disagreement in attendance figures, it is safe to say that EMU does struggle in attendance at home games. Even with fans there, Griffin noted, "they just sit there and don't make very much noise; I am not sure why that happens."

Whatever noise is made seems to focus on the other team. King commented, "…for whatever reason, I have noticed our fans spending more time putting down/making fun of the other team(individual players) than they do encouraging our own team."

There are several things that could contribute to the lack of attendance and noise at games. For one, King suggested that the individual seats are more related to watching something and may limit fans. Lack of advertising and half time shows could also lead to lower attendance totals. EMU senior Jason Troyer, who works on the athletic events staff, also commented that day games on weekends don't seem to attract many people.

Winning should help improve attendance, but it hasn't shown at the woman's basketball games as they are currently in third place of the ODAC. Both King and Griffin suggested different ways of improving advertising. King proposed, "I would like to see a student (or group of students) take this on as a project or internship for a sport management or marketing class." These students would also help plan halftime shows. King also suggested developing a pep band. Griffin recommended that advertising should happen in the cafeteria where there are lots of students.

After questioning several students about the lack of attendance and school pride, a couple stated that pride starts with the athletes. As a whole, better attendance at EMU athletic events is needed and it's not only from students, but also from EMU staff members and the community.