‘You get what you pay for’

The phrase, "You get what you pay for," implies many things. For instance, by attending Gonzaga, we get a better education and benefit from paying a higher tuition than other universities. The more you pay for something, the higher quality you expect in return.

Concerning Gonzaga athletics, we do get what we pay for. In fact,      I am willing to bet many students came to Gonzaga for the basketball team over academics and social justice. That is fine because Gonzaga offers a great education (third Best School in the West, according to the latest U.S. News College Rankings), but many like myself value athletics just the same. I am as big of a fan of the basketball team as the next person, but I am not here to praise them. My goal is to talk about the forgotten sports on campus.

The problem with students around campus is they only care about one team: men's basketball. But the last time I checked, Gonzaga has 16 Division I varsity teams. As great as the basketball team is, it is about time we showed some of the other teams some love.

Let's look over at the Gonzaga Soccer Field, where sophomore Ryan Caballero is putting his name into the record book. He is top six all-time in shut outs and top five all-time in saves. At the Zags last home game versus Oregon State, a weak 708 students and public (but mostly public) showed up. For the women's team, at their last home game versus Montana, only 557 fans showed up. Does no one care that the women's team is on the rise, and since 2009, when coach Amy Edwards came on board, the Zags have shut out opponents in 14 games? Or how many students have actually seen one of Sarah Rhodes' record-breaking assists? If the attendance numbers indicate anything, not many have.

Or what about some of our other fall sports like golf and tennis? Women's golfers Victoria Fallgren, Alice Kim and Tai Jade Kliebphipat are quietly having a great season; and recently, they finished fourth at the Rose City Collegiate. The men's team also has some momentum after placing fifth in a rain shortened Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational when it finished ahead of Santa Clara and three strokes behind defending WCC Champion Pepperdine.

On the court, the tennis teams have been tearing it up. At their first tournament of the season, Álvaro Nazal, Pablo Mosquera Pérez and Olivier Jamin all won singles matches. The women have been just as successful with Kristina Zauere clinching the consolation title at the Eastern Washington University Fall Classic. Unless you are friends with anyone on the tennis teams, you probably had no idea, which is a shame.

I know the Kennel Club is promoting more than just basketball this year, but they are just as guilty as every other student on campus. The Kennel Club has done a fantastic job embracing transparency but of all their posts on Facebook, there is not one mention of the golf, cross-country, rowing or tennis teams. I wrote the story on the Kennel Club having a larger impact; but when you talk the talk, you need to walk the walk, because I know it would be a nightmare for them to miss a basketball game, but simply making face at a few volleyball and soccer games is not cutting it.    

Please understand my issue is not with the Kennel Board. They have improved astronomically from last year. My issue is the lack of support for our other teams from everyone. We are getting what we pay for in terms of performance from all our teams, not just basketball. My call to action is for students to make me look bad, show up to games! Just understand, that it is frustrating as a fan to see the stands as crowded as Gonzagapalooza.

Considering just a swipe of your student ID card is all you need to get into the game, is there any reason not to go?