The Nevada women's basketball team are in a huddle as Coach Jane Albright give's out a few words of encouragement.
Last year when Louisville came through town, they were upset by Nevada but
only 250 people were there to witness the amazing feat.
This year’s Nugget Classic championship game against West Virginia saw 1200 fans come out to support the Nevada women’s basketball game.
Coach Jane Albright who has been the coach of the women’s team has seen a tremendous growth of followers. The year before she became coach, only about 200 season tickets were sold. This season there have been over 500 season tickets bought. Though, this seems like a small number, the women’s teams in general are not as highly regarded as the men’s teams on campus.
Nevada is primarily known as a football school, with much of the revenue made coming from their games. The money gets sorted out amongst all the teams recognized by school.
“We are pretty well funded. It is tough on everyone with the budget cuts and all,” Albright said. “Football revenue goes to everybody. It is like this all over the country, which really isn’t a good thing but we are really working hard on it.”
With the women’s team not being in financial trouble, or in jeopardy of not being around, they are not getting the fan support that they need. Vinny Bush, 19, Sophomore, History major, is a fan of the team. He does his best to make to the games if classes are not in the way.
“I like the women’s team a lot,” Bush said. “I have followed them since I started coming to UNR. They work hard and are exciting to watch and I have fun with my friends when I go. I was extremely excited we opened the season with a win versus Cal State. That tells me we are headed in a positive direction.”
Albright feels that her players are going to play well and to the best of their ability regardless, but she knows that it would make it a better situation if their fellow students showed up for support.
“As a peer you want to be recognized and respected by your peers rather than the community,” Albright said. “I really hope that students on campus will come out and see us. We hope for conference games, we can do a better job getting them. It is free of admission and don’t have to pay to come. It is really great entertainment.”
Players on the team definitely take notice of the absent seats when they play their home games. Though they keep a straight face, it can sometimes be on their mind when they think about it. Johnna Ward, 20, Jr., SG, admits that fan intensity can give you more energy when your out on the court every night.
“I think that the fans bring energy and without that you lack outside influence,” Ward said.
Each basketball season at the men’s games the fans are packed to the roof mostly. A lot of students make sure that they get to those games. Just with those, the women’s team play the same schools with equal competition.
Coach Albright feels if more organizations got involved with helping with the attendance, then more students would follow suit and come to the games. She feels that the Greek community could easily pull in more students to the games.
“A lot of students are in the fraternities and sororities and I think if they got involved a lot of students would come, and we would have a bigger turnout,” Albright said.
There are the fair share of students who are not big fans of the women’s teams. A lot of these students feel that going to the games isn’t worth their time or going somewhere nobody is at. Some students feel that it is a plain waste of time and can do other things that are more valuable. Michael Langberg, 19, Soph. Journalism major feels that the men’s game is more exciting to watch than women in general.
“No, I am not a fan of women’s basketball. It is not exciting for me,” Langberg said. “I just feel that women are not as athletic as men. I actually went to a game my freshman year with some friends. I was there for the first half and left. I could not pay attention, and found more fun with playing with my friends in the stands.”
Though a select few students don’t like the team, there are many fans to still even them out. A lot of the fans out there feel that women are just as athletic and can do the same things. Cameron Nowells, 19, Soph., business major, thinks that women on the team are just as athletic and can beat most of the guys on campus in a single match.
“ I think people like that are dumb. Women in sports is a great thing overall, and I like to watch them play,” Nowells said. “These girls work hard every day and practice a lot. It really pays off and they are deserving of much more.”
Just like the men’s team, the women’s basketball team practices on a daily basis and work just as hard. Amanda Johnson, 20, criminal justice major, G, works hard at her game everyday to make sure she can go out there with her team to compete and win.
“I think when fans don’t come to the games we are affected slightly,” Johnson said. “I mean, we work hard and play hard to make sure we can win. I think we are coming along well, a lot better than last year.”
Along with Johnson is Brittany Woodard, 19, Soph., journalism major, G, who feels support from the home school pays off in a big way.
“Compared to last season there hasn’t been a big change in fans and the media,” Woodard said. “We get support here and there. Our families come and support us, which is nice. Coach Albright has done a lot for us and a lot to make sure more fans have come to the games.”
Outside of practice, the team does a lot of community service work for groceries stores and local high schools. Their GPA is outstanding, making sure they keep the allocated GPA and higher. The team does as much as they can to get the word out, but like anyone, will need help down the road from the school and students.
“I think more people will start coming out to the games if we start dunking,” Ward laughs. “It is going to take school spirit and people wanting to come and cheer us on I suppose.”
