CU Boulder is fortunate to have two incredible ranked basketball teams in the 2023-24 season with CU Men’s Basketball at #25 and Women’s Basketball at #5. With the opening of the season, both teams have had fantastic starts with undefeated records against their non-conference schedules.
The gender gap in sports has been a topic that’s been extremely prevalent in talks about gender equality for many decades. With Title IX’s formation over 50 years ago, it is expected that female athletes will receive the same opportunities as men in the sports world, but fan attendance and media coverage still falter for women’s events. Why is that?
Follow along as I discuss some of the issues women face in collegiate sports and potential solutions that we as a CU fanbase can contribute to in order to help solve them.
The Problem
As an intern with CU Athletics, I was fortunate enough to attend both the CU Men’s Basketball Home Opener on November 6th and the CU Women’s Basketball Home Opener on November 8th. Both teams were going into their respective games having won one game prior. The difference was that the women’s team had just shocked the nation by beating the LSU Tigers who were, at the time, the #1 team in the country.
Despite this incredible achievement, the attendance for the women’s first home appearance following the game was severely lacking compared to the number of fans who attended the men’s home opener.
This is not an uncommon occurrence in men’s and women’s sports around the world. Whether consciously or unconsciously, many people tend to have at least a slight preference toward attending men’s sporting events because of the notion that men are more athletic than women and therefore provide a more entertaining game. However, as someone who has attended every home game for both Men’s and Women’s Basketball at CU so far this season, I can guarantee that is not the case.
Not only have the women been beating better teams than the men making close, exciting games, but the team’s success has brought more resources for us as an Athletics department to build a more exciting game atmosphere for you. There are more giveaways of CU merch, more opportunities to personally participate in the game, and more ways for you to meet and get to know the players themselves. Attending a women’s basketball game has become an unconscious burden to so many despite often having more exciting reasons to go than men’s.
So how do we fix it?
The Solution
Although I wish there was one definitive answer to solving this problem, there is always going to be a slow process to creating the change we so desperately want to see. The good news is that anyone and everyone can help contribute to that change.
#1: Buy a Ticket!
How simple is that? If you don’t believe everything I’ve been saying about how awesome the CU Women’s team is this year, go see for yourself! Just you being there shows an effort to bridge the gap by showing the team your support and giving them one more cheering fan.
#2: Share the Good News!
Last year, the CU Women’s Basketball team made it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003. This achievement was huge for our program, but unfortunately went unnoticed by many as news articles and social media posts were limited to only those who were following the team.
If you see some crazy cool achievement by the women’s team, talk about it like you would the men! There’s no reason why milestones should be any less significant because of a player’s gender. Repost things you see on social media and bring it up to your friends. Get people talking about the team so they have more of a reason to support them.
#3: Educate yourself!
I don’t know about you guys, but I am always more likely to support a team when I have a more personal connection to them. Take some time to educate yourself on the players and their impact on our community.
I was fortunate enough to meet and talk with Maddie Nolan (#24) at an event this week and found out so many cool things about her that strengthened my support for her team. As a fifth-year student, Maddie is getting her grad degree while she plays basketball so that she can one day work in sports as well. Getting to know the person behind the athlete is always such a good way to build a unique connection to a team and helps increase support through good and bad times.
Now I know getting the chance to hang out with a player isn’t a common thing, but there are so many other ways you can build that connection. The CU Women’s Basketball team almost always takes the time to meet and greet their fans with an autograph session following every home game that anyone can attend. You can also get to know players through their individual social media accounts, showcasing the behind-the-scenes of their athletic careers.
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The point of this blog post is not to hate on the Men's Basketball team or anything they have accomplished. PLEASE keep supporting the guys and all that they do!! All I'm saying is, what harm is there in sharing some of that love?
Bridging the gap between male and female sports isn’t a hard feat, but is one that will take the initiative of individuals like you to make progress. How cool would it be to say your university is one that appreciates all sports, no matter the gender of those playing? For real-time updates of new blog posts and behind-the-scenes content of CU Athletics, make sure you’re following my social media @cufromtheside on Instagram and X. In the meantime, sko buffs and I hope to CU from the Sidelines!
Works Cited
Photo 1: Taken by Cassidy Davis
Photo 2: @cubuffs
Photo 3: @cubuffs
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