Some schools have football or baseball as the “crown jewel” of their athletics program, the main team to which students’ passions and fanhood are channeled. At St. Joe’s, our area of sports pride is basketball. Legions of past and present students can attest to the unrivaled enthusiasm at St. Joe’s for basketball that transcends individual players or seasons.

Recently, there has been a profound shift occurring in the world of professional athletics, with a new outgrowth of support for women’s basketball. There is widespread enthusiasm for emergent stars such as Caitlin Clark, the standout player who led the University of Iowa to their championship game in March Madness earlier this year, and Angel Reese, who has contributed to record-breaking attendance and meaningful coverage of women’s basketball. While there is still substantial work to be done in uplifting women’s athletics in sports traditionally associated with men, this recent progress indicates a promising opportunity for growth — one which colleges nationwide, including the St. Joe’s community, can embrace.

As the St. Joe’s women’s basketball team seeks to build on their historic season from last year, setting the record for most wins in program history, it would be a major boost to see St. Joe’s collective pride fully manifested to support them. However, generating interest and passion for women’s sports isn’t as simple as just telling fans to go to more games. The key is to create a culture of genuine and generational enthusiasm in which the extraordinary feats of women athletes are seen as just that, rather than as a sideshow to the men’s teams.

No single fan or team can change this disparity alone, but the St. Joe’s community can, and should, continue this momentum, demonstrating how women’s teams are just as fundamental to the college sports experience.