By: Brianna Wasil, Feature Contributor
This Saturday, Sept. 22, another tailgate will be held at the Koessler Athletic Center. While the tailgate serves as a way to build up hype for the teams playing, it also highlights the importance of having an active and supportive community. Whether it’s against another rival, beating a personal record, executing a flawless routine or hitting the mark, every sport has some sort of competitive element attached to it. But what’s not as well distinguished is the battle that takes place in your mind.
In a team or individual sport, there’s always a moment when you're burdened with fatigue and sweat. Your mind starts to wonder if you have the strength to pull through. It is the game-changing moment when your body and mind are at odds while the whole world seems to be screaming at you to win a game: a game where you have put in every possible effort and strained every muscle, dedicating your whole life to succeeding in a place where you want to be the best, where you want to make people proud — including yourself. And suddenly, when you feel the eyes of the crowd on you, there’s a feeling of mutualism that exists within that space.
Witnessing the atmosphere surrounding a group of people who come from different parts of the world and unite for a singular love of a sport can outweigh any feelings of apprehension. The sports colors automatically align the audience and team as a community, regardless of whether or not they know each other, a stance that screams the recognition of team bonding and values that can’t break. The rumblings and adrenaline that come from the stands, followed by a chant that one lone man shouts, and, like clockwork, everyone knows how to fill in. Just like in a symbiotic relationship, while the crowd feeds off the athletes, the athletes feed off the crowd. The team knows the fans are the backbone of the games. It is an event where the exhilaration of large crowds sharing a common goal and love is enough to be satisfied.
This is the fundamental basis of creating a formula to banish doubts in a time where there is power in each individual willing to stand with their team. It is our unities that will always allow us to create the most inseparable communities.