Oswego State is known for having sports teams that help to put the campus on the map and make a name for the university. 

However, while everyone outside of the school may seem to see  Oswego as a top-tier competitor, what about the love that comes from inside the campus itself? Oswego men’s teams receive a lot of support and advertisement due to their success and passion for the sports. The women’s teams also receive support for the games as well, but it does not seem to be as much as the men’s teams.

Oswego houses many different sports and teams in a variety of ways. Oswego has varsity teams, clubs and even intramural teams for people to join. While intramural and club teams are for fun and do not really require announcement of their games, the varsity teams are different and while there are announcements for some of the men’s games there is even little for the women’s. 

Sabrina Taylor, a former Oswego student and member of the varsity volleyball team, said she experienced low advertising. 

“The only way people ever knew about it was if the girls on the team advertised,” Taylor said. “Or it being shown in the myOswego daily mail, through the Oswego mail just saying there’s a volleyball game versus whoever today.” 

Even with no male team to compete with for audiences Oswego still does less in helping create a bigger outreach for one of the women’s teams at Oswego. 

Women’s teams at Oswego are not the only thing that does not get as much attention among the faculty or students. 

“For instance, I am also a part of theater and theater was only ever witnessed and participated by other theater students,” Taylor said. “It was not advertised to buildings like Shineman or MCC.” 

Many things go under the radar of students and professors due to a lack of communication and advertisement.

Even those who try giving equal amounts of attention, recognize that there is not enough attention for the women’s teams. 

Cory Moehringer is the assistant director of athletic communications and has only been at Oswego for a month. However, in that time frame he was able to see what it is like and the difference in attendance and engagement. 

“It is about getting down to like making sure we know who was posted, when they were posted and the same thing with games,” Moehringer said. “So that I would say what is been implemented is just like the more specific tracking of who is getting the coverage and when.” 

Moehringer is eager to get change out there to help make sure that the women’s teams at Oswego are getting the same amount of coverage and audience as the men’s. 

Moehringer plans to continue evolving his ideas at Oswego and ensure that everyone has an equal amount of opportunity and coverage. 

“So that is something we track. So we track our engagement and our posting to see what we have posted, when we posted, who was on the post, how often they are being posted,” Moehringer said. 

One thing Moehringer really wants for Oswego currently is to help create a bigger audience for each team’s games. 

“The idea is that if we can build the attention onto that, that these things are happening, these are the exciting things that are happening on campus and you should come out and support then. That will kind of grow the attendance and attraction for the teams,” Moehringer said.

Moehringer has only been with Oswego for a short time, but he has already gained the trust and respect of his fellow coworkers, such as the women’s hockey team coach Mark Digby. 

“You know, I think as they get acclimated here, it’s been fun to see more and more stuff coming our way,” Digby said. “I think the future of our schedule is exciting, too, knowing some of the programming that they’re pushing to try to help get larger attendants for our program and for our players.” 

While Digby has confidence that Moehringer and his team can bring a better audience to the women’s games, he also knows that there are things beyond his control, such as the timing and placement of games when the schedules are made. 

“The men’s Plattsburgh (State) game, the White Out game; if that falls in January, there will be no students here,” Digby said. “It is not as well attended, right? I think some of it is just timing.” 

However, Digby believes next year with the women’s hockey team doing the same days the men played this year they will see a boost in attendance and overall a much bigger audience compared to what was tracked this year. 

With the men’s and women’s teams constantly experiencing changes involving players and schedules, it is possible that they will not only see a fluctuation of people attending these games but also an equal amount of people going. 

With Moehringer behind the wheel, the teams are confident that change will come. Until then, both teams at Oswego State will continue to give it their all.

Photo by: Oswego Athletics