Most Underappreciated Sports at GP

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Jordan Handshy

Boys JV Lacrosse team

Jordan Handshy, Staff Writer

After talking to a few athletes, I started to notice a similar comment from most players. While yes, they play their games, may people don’t come to cheer them on, many of their sports aren’t even known by the school staff and students. Sometimes, when you know better, you do better and so here’s the list of some underappreciated teams who would love some more support.

1. Lacrosse. Many people don’t even know that we have a GP Lax team, that’s mostly because we technically don’t. We have a Glacier Peak team with players from Glacier Peak, but it’s a club sport, so it’s not actually a school sport. you basically only know if you’re one of those family members having to drive them to events and practices. Lacrosse unfortunately, is a club sport, so the school doesn’t advertise it the same way they do their own sports. “Before this year, I never watched lacrosse, but I started helping with concessions for the Varsity games and realized I really enjoy watching it” Maggie Borland said.
2. Swim and Dive. “Swim and Dive? We don’t even have a swimming pool!” Yes, we do have a swim and dive team for those of you who didn’t know about it. The swimmers practice at another location rather than in their home school. So, of course many students didn’t know about it or wouldn’t know where to go to watch their peers meets.
3. Cross Country. To keep up with cross country, you kind of have to be moving around. Cross country is sometimes difficult to watch as the students are constantly moving around. Cross Country was ranked as the third most unappreciated sport as it is advertised less than Track and Field. Mr. Parker himself has agreed that Cross Country is an underappreciated sport.
4. Golf. I myself haven’t been to a golf match of any kind. Many people would say it’s a very boring sport and wouldn’t want to go watch their peers play considering. Golf is a sport many students know we have, but don’t participate him.
5. Cheer. “Cheer isn’t even a sport!” Actually, yes, it is. (At our school it is designated a club because to be a sport, you must compete.) Cheer requires a lot of practice, flexibility, and a peppy attitude. Considering many people don’t even consider cheer to be a sport, it was ranked as number five on this list. Honestly, cheerleaders try hard to hype up the students and the teams and you know that many sports wouldn’t be the same without their glittery pompoms.
6. Tennis. Tennis is an interesting sport, I wouldn’t really know though, I’ve never watched a match. If that doesn’t say something, I don’t know what does. Tennis may seem like a common sport, but in all actuality, it isn’t watched as much as some other sports. It should be more appreciated as the men and women who play the sport work very hard.
7. Wrestling. We have a wrestling team that consists of many different people. It’s hardly watched by students and staff, even though its normally after school and the posters put up tell you when and where to go.
8. Track and Field. Many GP students participate in Track and Field.
9. Baseball and Softball. Many parents show up to the games and some of the yearbook students struggling to take pictures of the game through the large gate. Most GP students don’t come to watch the games even though they are so close by.
10. Soccer. Soccer games are so quiet. The only people who show up are the loved ones of the players, such as Girlfriends/Boyfriends and so on. And to some games the yearbook kids, who desperately try to take nice photos of the game. Many people would agree that soccer is simply unappreciated by outsiders of the sport, not only at GP, but in America as we are concentrated on American Football instead of European Football.
11. Volleyball. Girls Volleyball isn’t as advertised as Macho Volleyball, mostly because the boys have to listen for announcements that tell them to sign up. Not very many people end up going to the Volley Ball matches, but it’s actually a really fun sport to watch.
12. At Boys Basketball games, there will usually be a few rows of students cheering on their friends. While at girls, it will normally be about one row and whatever year-bookers are scattered all around the court. There’s no real need for the comparison, but the difference in crowd is a bit astonishing.
13. Football. Most people will agree that Football, especially in America, is in no way underappreciated. The highest crowd attendance for GP is the football games. 0% of students surveyed said that Football was underappreciated.

This was all based on a survey that I had given out, so this is all based on students own opinions rather than any outside information. Many of the students who took the short survey agreed on these sports being the most underappreciated sports at GP.