By Christopher Boulay

Everyone who follows sports and goes to CCSU, knows that we have had problems with support for our own teams in the past. It is nothing new, and something that CCSU fans have come to expect. We don’t do enough to support our teams, and it could be because we are a mid-major school at best.

There is a solution, though it doesn’t come from the fans themselves. Look at any school that has big support from their fans, and you will see that it all starts with apparel. Walking around a campus that really gives their all for their school sports, the support is tangible. There’s not only hoodies, t-shirts and caps with the school name or emblem, there are also jerseys everywhere.

At CCSU? None.

This is a big problem, that could be alleviated if the school decided that each individual sport was important by itself. Yes, we go to CCSU, yes we have all been to the bookstore when school begins and our parents have bought us countless t-shirts and hoodies, and CCSU clothing probably takes up a decent part of our wardrobe, even if we don’t wear it all the time. But to not have jerseys is a huge problem. There may be school spirit in the sense that we all have clothing that tells people where we go to school, but that is seemingly where it ends.

Let’s start with football. We usually get some good crowds, and the crowd for the Albany game was very good. But why does it have to be that the game is on a Saturday and until then, no one knows about it? Where are the James Mallory #2 jerseys? Aubrey Norris #10? Josue Paul #5? This is a common practice for most Division I schools, and it should be commonplace here in New Britain.

Even with basketball, Robby Ptacek, Joe Seymore and Shemik Thompson should all have their jerseys on the backs of fans around campus. It wouldn’t be too bad to have these players go to class and know that they have the support of their peers. It might just give them that little extra boost on the court, especially in a year that has started off slowly and not without injury.

Even with soccer, the men’s and women’s teams could have their own designed scarves for fans. Possibly a blue and white-striped scarf with CCSU or the school’s name spelled out on it. It is very common for soccer teams to have scarves to hold up during matches, and with the increasing attendance for men’s and women’s soccer, why not? Coach Shaun Green has begun creating a very inclusive atmosphere with the fans of the men’s team, so fans should have a better opportunity to show support.

The CCSU Campus Bookstore does have some good ideas, but they are only a start. Currently, they sell football t-shirts designed by Coach Jeff McInerney, which are great, but they also sell t-shirts with the number 88 on them. Too bad there is no one with the number 88 on the roster.

We have had some great successes in Division I over the past few years, and people from all over the country are beginning to realize that we are building some good programs, but without the fans getting the right ammunition to support the teams, we end up looking like more of a glorified high school than anything else.