School spirit still a question mark

By Tom Schreier

"Santa Clara is like what Maine is to New England," explains a freshman at Santa Clara. "People from Maine say they are from New England, and students from Santa Clara wish to represent another school."

A bold statement provided by a student who observed that many of his peers choose to wear apparel from Washington, Oregon, USC, Cal and Stanford, instead of Santa Clara merchandise.

"It's a very disunited campus," he said.

As the men's soccer and basketball programs struggle to build a strong fan base and the baseball team hovers around an even record, the student body is divided on whether or not to support the athletic programs.

One of the advantages of attending an institution that has a strong academic reputation placed in a vista of luscious flora is that it attracts people from diverse backgrounds and various places. People should be proud of where they come from and encouraged to represent themselves by what they wear.

Freshman Jared Bradley mentioned that he knows people who wear apparel of teams who have superior athletic teams or of schools that they would have preferred to attend had they gotten in.

Sophomore Jen Dyckman, has no problem with people who choose to wear clothing from other schools.

"It's more of where you come from, or if your parent works there, or if you had an older sibling that went there," says Dyckman.

Many sports fans who attend Santa Clara channel their school pride through the accomplishments (or lack thereof) of Santa Clara's athletic programs.

"I would probably put Santa Clara as my first pick overall, over any school, if their sports had been better," reflects Bradley. "I would put Santa Clara way higher on my college list if their sports had been better."

However, Assistant Athletic Director Jeff Mitchell noted that attendance at basketball games saw an increase this season.

"We're excited about having the Ruff Riders and students packing that lower section because it really does give an obvious 'sixth man' advantage."

Recognizing the importance of student support, Santa Clara has incorporated their student-athletes into the Residential Learning Community program. At larger universities student-athletes are placed in separate residence halls.

Here, basketball players like freshmen Ray Cowels and Rob Smith, can be seen just walking down the hall.

Dyckman's friendship with these two players has led to her attendance at their games regardless of whether or not there is a large crowd in attendance.

"If I have friends on the team, then I don't mind going," said Dyckman.

The Santa Clara athletic department understands the importance of successful programs to the student body, said Mitchell. Their goal is to produce teams that are successful in their respective conferences and serve the loyal fans by providing them with quality sporting entertainment.

"It starts with recruiting. All of those (teams) are going to have tremendous recruiting classes coming for next year. All three teams are going to have a solid core of student-athletes that are on the team now that the talent level is there," says Mitchell. "Throughout the (athletic) department we are seeing a youth movement...and that is a great thing for our future."

Last year men's soccer freshmen Erik Hurtado and Larry Jackson were named to the WCC All-Freshman team and Hurtado to the All-WCC second team. Next year they will share the field with five U.S. Soccer Development Academy players.

Freshman basketball player Robert Smith was named to the 2010 WCC All-Freshman team and led the team in minutes. Next year he will be alongside All-WCC teammate Kevin Foster who missed last season with an injury.

Baseball freshmen Pat Stover -- 17th round pick in last year's MLB draft -- and Chris Mendoza, who pitched a complete game in his second collegiate start, continue to complement the work of senior Geoff Klein and redshirt junior Tommy Medica.

"Ideally I would want everybody, when they are wearing college gear, to wear the gear of where they are going to school," says Mitchell. "The future is going to be bright. You want to be part of this."

Contact Tom Schreier at tschreier@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.