Life for Smaller Sports on a Big Campus.

Smaller sports at the University of Minnesota have trouble drawing fans.

By Andrew Kicmol

When you think about university sports, what comes to mind? Usually it’s football, hockey, and basketball. The popularity of these sports has led to airtime from ESPN and CBS, as well as a large audience outside of campus. The community surrounding campus also shows its support by paying ticket prices, buying merchandise, and attending their various events. 

But for the other sports on campus, it can be a struggle just to get attention. Baseball player Noah Berghammer knows what that’s like. “In terms of fan draw and campus popularity, it’s not in the upper echelons with the hockeys, the footballs, and the basketballs,” said Berghammer. According to him, baseball is a slower-paced sport that doesn’t necessarily draw in fans. 

That lack of popularity can even be an outright lack of acknowledgement when it comes to a non-varsity sport like synchronized swimming. At the University of Minnesota it’s a club sport only found on the school’s Recreation and Wellness website. That means no recruitment, less resources, no scholarships, and no excused absence for anything related to the sport. 

“[Synchronized swimming] on any level—even at the high school and middle school level—it’s like the invisible sport: no recognition [and] very little funds,” said Maya Duffy, a member of the University’s synchronized swimming team. 

It also means the team has to fight to get pool time in order to train. When synchronized swimming does train, it's just like a varsity sport. “I started powerlifting, I got so much stronger, I built up a lot of muscle, I got flat slits from it, [and] at one point I had a breath span over two minutes, nearing two and a half,” said Duffy. 

Both Berghammer and Duffy think that if their respective sports got more exposure, they would become more popular with the student body. But it’s not as simple as just getting the word out. “I think it’s hard to get college kids into sports that aren’t exciting, just because college kids have so much going on already. They’re looking for a bigger social event, so it’s hard to draw them in,” said Berghammer.

Football and basketball’s popularity brings media coverage, but does the media coverage bring the popularity? Probably both: it’s hard to say that even with coverage the students would engage in the sport overall. Like Berghammer said, they’re looking for an exciting social event. The slower pace of baseball doesn’t seem to work on a college campus like it does for major league baseball. Fan giveaways like free hats for the first hundred fans is something that the baseball team has done in the past to try and get fans in the stands, and it seemed to work well. Berghammer also admits it helps when the team is playing well.

For synchronized swimming, social media like Tik Tok is something that can help the sport get exposure. “I’ve seen videos of synchronized swimmers walking upside down in heels in the pool,'' said Duffy. It can also showcase the unique skill set of the athletes and how difficult the sport is. “My coach always described it as a combination of swimming, ballet, and gymnastics; it’s dance, but you’re very low on oxygen,” said Duffy

Fan events, social media, and getting the word out all help, but smaller crowds and less resources may just be a fact of life for smaller sports at the University. But for the students of those teams, it's not about the crowds, it's about the opportunity to continue their education while participating in the sport they love. Berghammer is planning to pursue a career in the creative industry dealing with music and film, while Duffy is majoring in food sciences and hopes to continue synchronized swimming after her college career is done. If you find yourself with some free time, try checking out some of the less covered sports at the U. At the very least you’ll give some support to a smaller sport, and it may even end up being a new passion you follow.