The Impact of Spectators At Athletic Events

Alexis Fuscaldo ‘22

This year, like many other aspects of school, athletic competitions look very different than in past years. As a COVID safety precaution, fans, including students, family, and alumni, are no longer allowed to attend games during the school week. However, there are limited spectators allowed on weekend games. Underclassmen athletes received two passes that each allow one fan to watch the games, while senior athletes received three.  The status of allowing spectators for away games depends on the rules of the opponent school and more often than not do not allow EA fans on their fields or in their pools. For many student-athletes, the lack of fans cheering them on has affected their performances in these athletic competitions.

The impact of limited to no fans has impacted all of EA’s student athletes differently. Jake Fant ‘22, the new starting quarterback for the football team, says, “I’m not very happy about the spectator rules this year because my parents and friends aren’t able to go to the games. But, I know that it is necessary, and the amount of money that they’ve put into the live streams for all the games is really great.” On the other hand, Girls Water Polo co-captain Jovana Sekulic ‘21 states that she is unaffected by the lack of fans and is “glad that we have enforced the spectator rules if it means that we can all stay safe and are able to have a season during these hard times.” Sekulic continues, “And personally, I am not bothered by the lack of fans because as soon as the whistle blows I am one hundred percent focused on beating the player I am defending and helping my team defeat the opposing team. Having people cheer for me doesn’t encourage me in the pool.”

Evidently, the impact that fans have on student athletes differs from sport to sport. Every fall athlete has their own unique view on how the new spectator rules changed their individual performance as well as the momentum of their games. Soccer player Xander Lotsis ‘21 shares,  “I miss seeing fans all the time; there was definitely more energy at the games [before the spectator rules], but it hasn’t impacted how we play as a team.” Tennis player Maddy Mitchell ‘22 also believes that fans do not impact her performance, and says that  not a lot of people watch tennis, which is understandable, but on AIS Day, since we’re the first event, everyone normally comes to watch for a little bit.” She recognizes a two-edges nature of the lack of fans, continuing,  “The limited spectators isn’t really affecting me, but I definitely get less frustrated yet more nervous when we do have fans.” Soccer player Bella Piselli ‘22 says that “it is definitely a vibe change this year not having as many fans. When there are fans, they give positive vibes and it’s so great to have people cheering for you that aren’t just your teammates.” Nic Staley ‘22 from the boys water polo team notices the change in atmosphere, but explains that he understands “why we have the limited spectator rules this year, especially for water polo since we are inside, but I wish that we could have some more fans because it increases the motivation and creates more energy during the game.” 

Fans also play a key role in how coaches get their athletes ready for games, and similar to the athletes’ perspectives, every coach’s perspective is distinct as well. Coach Klein, assistant football and defensive back coach, states that “[the presence of fans]  isn’t affecting the way that we get our team ready to play and I think that they are just really excited to have any sort of season. They know that at any point it could end, so we’re just taking it one step at a time.” In contrast, Coach Moore, girls varsity water polo coach, believes that “it is definitely more difficult to get our athletes in the right mind-set for a game because there is nothing there appearance-wise to get them hyped up. They can hype each other up and we can try as coaches but without fans it feels like we’re not playing in an official capacity.”