Both girls’ and boys’ play basketball in the winter season, but players amongst both teams don’t think the girls are getting equal opportunities or student support.

“I feel like when they put out the themes it’s more directed towards people going to the boy’s game,” senior varsity player Ava Bojanski said. “We’re an after-thought for them because we play earlier and it’s a girls sport. The boys are like the main event.” 

Girls’ and boys’ basketball usually play on the same nights, but the girls’ team is always scheduled earlier in the day, starting at 5:30 pm. However, Bojanski doesn’t think low attendance at girls’ games is necessarily because their games are held before the boys. 

“People usually don’t come to see the girls at 5:30, they’re usually there at the end of the game because the boys’ game is right after us,” Bojanski said. “But if we were to play later, people would go to the boys’ game first then leave. I don’t think changing the schedule would help, it would just have a reversal effect.”

She thought that there wasn’t much the school could do to encourage attendance at her teams games. She believes it’s more on the students to step up and want to support them. A sizable perk the boys’ team gets over the girls is that the boys’ varsity game holds the Sweetheart (formerly Winter Royalty) dance crowning every year at halftime. Bojanski seemed thrilled at the idea of the girls hosting the Sweetheart crowning.

“I think it would be really cool if they changed it up,” Bojanski said. “They automatically give it to the boys because they know there will be way more people there.” 

Team members on the boys’ side had an opinion regarding how the girls’ basketball team is treated. 

“I don’t know [why the boys hold the crowning],” junior and varsity player Mitch Mauk said. “I didn’t even know we held it.”

When asked about his opinion to give varsity girls a chance to hold the crowning, he added his opinion about that opportunity as well. 

“It’s fine with me,” Mauk said. “Wouldn’t be bad to change it up at all.”

While he admitted that more students show up to the boys’ games than the girls’, he proudly explained that he and his teammates always support the girls. 

“We watch their games and cheer them on every time they play before us,” Mauk said. “And I’m always asking ‘Did you guys win?’ ‘When are you guys playing?’ ‘Are you home, are you away?’” All of us are friends. Boys and girls, we all get along fine.”

Blazerettes are only instructed to perform at boys’ games, but senior cheerleader Ryanne Ham cheers for both teams and she sees the difference too. 

“[The student section for the boys is bigger than the girls] by a long shot,” Ham said. “The girls don’t usually have a big student section, we’re cheering to pretty much no one. The boys game gets way more hyped. There’s no national anthem for the girls’ games…the girls’ team just needs more hype. They need to be promoted more; they’re awesome.”

Bojanski, Mauk, and Ham all agreed on the concept of holding the Sweetheart crowning in the time space between the two teams’ games, thinking that that would be a good compromise.

“It makes me feel put in the dark,” Bojanski said. “The girls’ practice just as hard. We play the same schools. It’s the same sport; it’s not football or volleyball, it’s basketball.”