PREP NET / SPEAK OUT

What could your school or team do to help increase attendance at your games?

BLAKE TIPPETT

Newport Harbor, Volleyball

It starts with your friends. You’ve got to get your friends to come and then maybe they’ll tell other people. The most important thing is having an exciting team and a fun team to watch.

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DARREN DOBASHI

Valencia, Baseball

I play baseball and we don’t have many students attending our games, it’s mostly parents. However, I think we can increase the attendance by promoting the games through pep rallies and over the announcements.

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MIKE CHAPMAN

Aliso Niguel, Baseball Coach

Winning always brings attendance. It’s amazing how many people will jump on the bandwagon when you win. But I think we can do a better job through the school and local media to build up the excitement of high school baseball. We have music between innings and a great ballpark to come out to. But in a high school setting, you can’t make it too Disney-ish and give away everything.

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KEN DIEBOLD

Brethren Christian,

Baseball Coach

I truly believe that in every league, the rivalries should be enough to get the excitement going. But we don’t have one, so we need to pump it up a little more. We need things like rallies to promote the games.

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JIM PERRY

La Quinta, Athletic Director

Success is a part of it. The teams that are winning, or have charismatic coaches or players, tend to be more popular than those that aren’t. Being prudent with scheduling helps, being sensitive to holidays, final exams and testing dates. And having on-campus coaches helps because it helps students identify coaches with the teams.

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JILLIAN SANDOVAL

Villa Park, Softball

At our school, football and basketball announcements are consistent, but with the other sports, especially the girls, there’s not as much consistency with letting people know when the games are and how the teams are doing. Our softball field was upgraded, and it enhanced the program, and I noticed there were quite a few more people at our games this year.

NEXT QUESTION

Do you have any superstitions when it comes to playing sports? If so, what are they?