It’s an unfortunate fact of life for the RPI field hockey team that sometimes they play games where it seems there are more people in uniform than in the stands when they play games. To make matters worse, this is not just an occasional occurrence, but it has become the status quo for home games.
At least they can take solace in the fact that those few dozen or so spectators watching the game, most, if not all, are rooting for RPI, right? Wrong!
The sad truth is that the people who travel numerous miles to Troy from their distant homes or campuses to watch their team take on our Red Hawks actually outnumber the amount of RPI fans who wander the thousand feet from their dorms to Harkness Field.
What makes this particular situation even more ridiculous is that the field hockey team is currently one of the best on campus! Besides the football team (which has only played one game), the field hockey squad boasts RPI’s only undefeated record. The team possesses a solid veteran core and several electrifying freshmen.
And the games aren’t snoozers, either. All three of the team’s victories have been by two goals or less, with two of those wins coming in overtime. What can be more exciting than a sudden death overtime?
The fact of the matter is when visiting fans outnumber RPI fans, regardless of what sport is being played, it’s a slap in the face of the Rensselaer student-athletes on that team. They bust their butts preparing for games where they represent us. And how do we repay them? We don’t even bother to show up to cheer them on...at home!
It’s time for a change. Let’s make RPI a nightmare for opposing teams to visit. Get out there and root like crazy for your fellow classmates as they battle the Golden Knights, the Saints, the Dutchmen, the Hawks, the Thoroughbreds, the Continentals, and all those other squads that think they can invade our campus and escape unscathed.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual writer and are not necessarily held by The Polytechnic.
