The lack of coverage on our women’s sports here at CHS is drastic and noticeable, here’s why:

Charlottesville High School has a large student body, as well as various sports to choose from. However, does the school engage in girls’ sports enough? Is it the fault of our own unawareness, or the fault of our communities overshadowing female athletes? From our social media to even our own announcements, the mentions of women’s sports is close to none. KTR wants to bring awareness to the drastic difference in coverage of women’s sports here at CHS, not only to support our female athletes, but to collectively spread love here at our school.

KTR wanted to hear students’ thoughts and opinions about this issue. When asked about the disparity in social media presence, the sport most talked about was football. 90% of students had attended over three boys’ games. When asked if they went to any girls’ sports games, there was a lot of “no” and “not many” responses. Based on the results, the recognition of football is overwhelming and is shown and heard more through admin and social media. Some students seemed unaware of all aspects of our womens’ sports teams, such as the time, place, and even players. Although this isn’t the student body’s fault, it should be students’ responsibility to support one another, especially when closing the gap between our girls and boys athletics. 

KTR also wanted to hear the opinions of CHS staff and coaches for the women’s teams. First, KTR talked to Marcelle Van Yahres, the CHS Girls Soccer coach, CHS staff member, and SOCA female coach and player advocate. The largest number of students she has seen at a girls’ soccer game was twenty-five. Marcelle works hard to give young women a platform to grow and learn, as well as gain confidence on and off the field. KTR interviewed Megan Williams, the CHS Volleyball coach. Ms. Williams has prior experience coaching for other schools. Ms Williams has high hopes for our students as well, as she knows CHS can have an engaging student section and is excited to see it. This is her first year with us at CHS and she’s putting the work in, along with all of our new coaching staff. She told KTR about all the work the student athletes are putting in, and she wants the student body to see that. “If you saw the work that we do, you will get hooked into these games. They are close nail biters every time!”

Visible in day to day life, girls’ sports are clearly not getting enough support. But how can students change this? Coaches gave KTR some great ideas, which are achievable, and promoting female sports is a great place to start! Students should start attending and engaging in women’s games, and can get to know female athletes better by giving female athlete spot lights on the school news channel. As a student body, CHS can take control of its own engagement, and can bring energy! During double-header games with the boys and girls, the school can switch the times so that the girls play last, as this will attract a larger crowd. Everyone would certainly like to see a more hyped women’s varsity event that includes themes and a large crowd, and this can start with you.