By Wendell Epps

Swish!

Jenson Edwards, leading scorer on the High Point University women’s basketball team knocks down a three from the right corner. Approximately 905 fans at the Nido Mariana Qubein and Conference Center rise to their feet to applaud.

Three hours later, Zach Austin knocks down a three from the same spot as Edwards. However, this time 4,698 fans at the Qubein Center stand loud and proud rooting for their Panthers.

This was the case on Feb. 5, 2022, where the Qubein Center was home to a women’s and men’s basketball doubleheader. The girls played versus Winthrop and won in dominating fashion by a final score of 86-44. The guys then narrowly beat UNC Asheville in overtime 91-83. Yet, the attention of HPU athletics that day solely focused on the men’s basketball team.

Given these facts and numbers, we argue that there is a clear discrepancy regarding the attention between male and female athletics here at HPU.

In a research poll conducted for this article, 106 out of 110 people agreed that female athletics at HPU does not get the same exposure as male athletics does.

Students on campus are also very well-aware of this issue, especially on March 31, where the men’s basketball team appeared on national television against Longwood. The university held more giveaways and promotions than they’ve held at the last 20 women’s basketball games.

“You’ll see empty rows for the women’s games with a smaller spirit squad, whereas in the men’s games, there will be a full spirit squad with a standing room only crowd,” said Ben Membrino, a senior at HPU.

HPU students are not the only ones who have been aware of this ongoing problem. Nicole Frechette, director of creative services in HPU’s Athletic Department, is also in agreement that gender inequality is a prominent issue within the world of HPU athletics.

“I always wish the female sports here got more fans, especially on the basketball side,” said Frechette. “It’s a little sad and frustrating when you don’t see as many people at those games because they’re working just as hard as the men’s team.”

Then, there are those who believe there isn’t a difference between male and female athletics at HPU because both teams have the largest home attendance rates out of any team in the Big South.

However, we contest this by examining the logistics of HPU’s home venue. HPU has the largest arena in the Big South by over 1,200 seats, so of course they are going to draw in more people by default. Not to mention the arena at HPU is brand new and paired with a conference center and adjacent to a hotel and Mediterranean restaurant.

Even then, HPU’s men’s basketball team is currently averaging 3,004 fans per home game in the 2021-2022 season while the women’s team is averaging just 844 fans per game. That is the largest difference in male and female attendance rates by a school in the Big South this season.

The gender inequality problem doesn’t stop in the Qubein Center, however. HPU’s women’s lacrosse, soccer and volleyball teams have all recently won a conference championship. Despite this, the men’s lacrosse team was the only team recognized at the 2021 commencement.

So how do we solve this dilemma at HPU?

If we simply look at what Davidson College did, it’s really not that hard.

Their university has been actively hosting giveaways and promotions at their women’s basketball games, which has featured giving their students who show up to games Under Armour pack prizes and Apple Watches.

These features being incorporated into Davidson’s women’s basketball games is also the reason why their attendance rate has gradually increased over the past few seasons.

Davidson has been in the top 50% of attendance rates in their conference, the Atlantic-10, in three of their last four seasons.

The administration at HPU needs to start taking a similar approach and start including more giveaways and promotions at their female athletic events.

As for us as fans, we can show up to the games of female athletic teams at HPU and continuously celebrate them. These female athletes put in the same amount of time and effort as the male athletes do and deserve the same recognition.

With a combination of these solutions, we can make change at the female athletic events at HPU. Instead of seeing those empty rows at the next women’s basketball game, we can see a rowdy sell-out crowd, a full spirit squad and a HPU student jumping for joy after just winning a giveaway for free AirPods.

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Wendell Epps is a junior at High Point University majoring in Sports Media. For contact inquiries, please email wepps@highpoint.edu.