D3 Coach calls sport at D3 level 'glorified high school football'... thoughts?

[Bombers798891]

What percentage of college athletes at all divisions get a chance to play multiple times in front of a crowd of 2,200?

Atmosphere is more than just the number of people in the seats though.

Ithaca students go to games, but to a good number of them, it's just a place to hang out and talk with friends. There's nothing wrong with that of course, but if you're letting in students for free (which I suspect most D-III schools are) you can absolutely get quite a few people who kind of wander in to check out the game, watch for a bit, cheer if there's a TD, and head home in the 4th quarter. We can all sling anecdotes back and forth of course, and mine aren't any more representative than yours, but attendance is not always indicative of a good atmosphere

[AO]

What percentage of college athletes at all divisions get a chance to play multiple times in front of a crowd of 2,200?

Atmosphere is more than just the number of people in the seats though.

Ithaca students go to games, but to a good number of them, it's just a place to hang out and talk with friends. There's nothing wrong with that of course, but if you're letting in students for free (which I suspect most D-III schools are) you can absolutely get quite a few people who kind of wander in to check out the game, watch for a bit, cheer if there's a TD, and head home in the 4th quarter. We can all sling anecdotes back and forth of course, and mine aren't any more representative than yours, but attendance is not always indicative of a good atmosphere

Getting them to show up is half the battle.  Next step is to relocate the track so you can get the fans closer to the action and make them check in their iphones at the gate.

[Bombers798891]

What percentage of college athletes at all divisions get a chance to play multiple times in front of a crowd of 2,200?

Atmosphere is more than just the number of people in the seats though.

Ithaca students go to games, but to a good number of them, it's just a place to hang out and talk with friends. There's nothing wrong with that of course, but if you're letting in students for free (which I suspect most D-III schools are) you can absolutely get quite a few people who kind of wander in to check out the game, watch for a bit, cheer if there's a TD, and head home in the 4th quarter. We can all sling anecdotes back and forth of course, and mine aren't any more representative than yours, but attendance is not always indicative of a good atmosphere

Getting them to show up is half the battle.  Next step is to relocate the track so you can get the fans closer to the action and make them check in their iphones at the gate.

The track stuff is irrelevant, I believe. I've been to Cortaca games where the stands were full and walkways occupied—if you've never seen Butterfield, the road bleachers are literally on top of a building,  and the home ones are above a rockface—and the bleachers literally on the track around the field—as close to the action as you can get, were not full.

As for the phone stuff, that's just the world we live in. College kids want to be on their phones. Student attendance is an issue at major Division I programs, and at all levels, athletic administrators are looking for ways to draw kids in, and you're not going to do it by having them drop off their phones (not that they could reasonably ask that anyway).

Here's the problem for D-III schools. You might have a kid there who loves sports, played them in HS, follows them a lot now. So you've got a sports fan. The problem is, they don't care about [Insert school name] sports. That's the issue. My college roommates were like that. They all loved sports, and all of them could not have cared less about Ithaca's football team

[AO]

What percentage of college athletes at all divisions get a chance to play multiple times in front of a crowd of 2,200?

Atmosphere is more than just the number of people in the seats though.

Ithaca students go to games, but to a good number of them, it's just a place to hang out and talk with friends. There's nothing wrong with that of course, but if you're letting in students for free (which I suspect most D-III schools are) you can absolutely get quite a few people who kind of wander in to check out the game, watch for a bit, cheer if there's a TD, and head home in the 4th quarter. We can all sling anecdotes back and forth of course, and mine aren't any more representative than yours, but attendance is not always indicative of a good atmosphere

Getting them to show up is half the battle.  Next step is to relocate the track so you can get the fans closer to the action and make them check in their iphones at the gate.

The track stuff is irrelevant, I believe. I've been to Cortaca games where the stands were full and walkways occupied—if you've never seen Butterfield, the road bleachers are literally on top of a building,  and the home ones are above a rockface—and the bleachers literally on the track around the field—as close to the action as you can get, were not full.

As for the phone stuff, that's just the world we live in. College kids want to be on their phones. Student attendance is an issue at major Division I programs, and at all levels, athletic administrators are looking for ways to draw kids in, and you're not going to do it by having them drop off their phones (not that they could reasonably ask that anyway).

Here's the problem for D-III schools. You might have a kid there who loves sports, played them in HS, follows them a lot now. So you've got a sports fan. The problem is, they don't care about [Insert school name] sports. That's the issue. My college roommates were like that. They all loved sports, and all of them could not have cared less about Ithaca's football team

The phone idea was a joke, might have to re-think that one.  The track stuff I'm very serious about!  Being able to hear the coaches and see player's faces can make provide a completely different experience for casual fans.  Does Ithaca still use the configuration in this picture? 

The people above the visiting bench have good seats for sure.

I have found that student sections can change dramatically with just 10 students leading the charge in the front row.  Mob mentality, everyone follows along and has a great time.  If nobody steps up they'll all sit on their hands.

[Bombers798891]

The phone idea was a joke, might have to re-think that one.  The track stuff I'm very serious about!  Being able to hear the coaches and see player's faces can make provide a completely different experience for casual fans.  Does Ithaca still use the configuration in this picture? 

The people above the visiting bench have good seats for sure.

They sort of do I guess. I mean, they're high up there. But even so, there's only so may people who can go right there. I mean, you can't put 5,000 all in the front row.

Ithaca actually had a pretty vocal student section for awhile (the First Down Club) But I think there's just inherent issues it's incredibly hard to overcome. As an example, look at St. John Fisher in 2007. They were coming off the best season in school history the year before, they had a beautiful, top of the line stadium...and they drew 2,552 fans per game, good for 51st in the country.

I'm not arguing with you for the sake of it, and I know there are things each school can do that might help. But I think there's just a reality that we need to accept. Last year, for example, there were more teams who drew fewer than 1,000 fans per game than teams that drew more than 3,000.* There's only so much we can do about that.

*I know attendance figures for D-III games aren't always exact, but I'm going by the figures listed by the NCAA.

[olddog]

M 2 cents, two kids played in SCIAC, one could have played up....Best move we made as parents

1) The SCIAC champ would smoke the PAC 5 high school champ (our largest division) ....no even close. 17 year old do not match up to 21 year old...
2) Top 50 D3 football much different than the last 100 teams playing...I would agree in some parts with the HS comment on the last 50
3) If you can afford a private school in general better than large public on so many fronts...depends what your goals are ...etc...
4) If your kid is not a pro prospect, than pick the school that fits him, NAIA, D2 or D3...not the level...
5) Lastly the biggest advantage in picking D3, you as a parent have the chance to control the environment and people your kid will be around.

I have seen D1 bounce backs never start and some star in D3..it all depends....so just because D1 wanted you when your were 17, does not mean you can ball it up at 21. Enjoy the ride