It is the first game of the season, and Jane sees that there are only a handful of fans in the stands and they are all rooting for the opposite team. All of her dreams are crushed when she notices that her classmates and teachers who said they would come to the game to support the team didn’t.

She goes to class full-time then goes to practice and works hard on the field. She also has to work to pay for school supplies and books because she does not qualify for financial aid, and she still finds  time to do her mandatory volunteer work in the community.

Through trying her hardest on the field, in practice, in the classroom, at work and in the community,  she assumes that because her family couldn’t be there all the time, at least her classmates and  teachers would be there to support her at games.

Jane now realizes that her campus community, the students and teachers at the school whose pride she issweating and bleeding for on the field, is not completely behind her.

Although Jane is only a made up person, there are several men and women in-state and out-of-state athletes from all SJCC sports who have felt this way at one time or another.

It is true that athletes may not be as visible on the campus, or as interactive with students and teachers as the campus community would like.

On the other hand, perhaps this is the reason why the campus community has not come to support SJCC sport events in the recent years.

But why should the athletes get more involved on campus, and why should the campus get more involved with sports on campus?

The answer is simple. The campus needs to become a community again rather than just a place where we play sports and go to school.

Without students and teachers, there is no SJCC. Without SJCC, there are no sports.

What this means is that the students, teachers, athletes and coaches all help make this campus a community.

Although this idea of campus community seems to have gotten lost, the solution to find it can be for a group, whether students or athletes, to take the initiative and create an event where students and athletes can bond.

Since the athletes are already in teams that play on our campus, and the students have organized clubs for other students to engage themselves on campus, how do these groups become more interactive?

There is one group that has always acted as the conduit between the students and administration, and now the campus community needs them to be the glue between students and athletes, clubs and teams, cultural events and games. That group is the Associated Student Government.

They have the power to publicize games on campus, rally before games, give out prizes, hold raffles, sell food and drinks and be the spirit builder this campus needs by bringing together the athletes and the students for one purpose, the SJCC campus community.