When most people think of college sports, they think of Division I schools and the considerable hype generated around their athletics programs (especially now, around March Madness time). However, not everyone goes to a large school where students are paid (and receive academic leeway) to play sports. There are just as many people in D-III schools who go to watch their teams not because they’re on their way to a national championship that will be televised and watched around the country, but because they want to support their school.

College sports and school spirit are funny things. On some campuses, they’re very important, and it seems like everyone follows the sports teams. On others, it’s hard to find a single person who cares about the athletic program. Maybe it has to do with the type of people that are attracted to a particular school, or how successful the sports teams are—I’m not really sure. But I can definitely tell you that getting involved as a fan of your college’s sports teams is a lot of fun.

Even if you don’t pay any attention to your high school’s football team, Division I hockey, or professional basketball, you can get into your college’s teams. You don’t have to know much about the sport. In fact, I know people who don’t even like the sports that they watched a lot of in college. It’s all about getting out with a bunch of our friends and classmates and representing your school and showing your school spirit, especially during games with rival schools (as you can see in this slideshow of a St. Thomas-St. John’s football game, both home and away fans can have a good time). Going to games with friends that know a lot about the sport can be a good way to learn about the game and begin to develop and understanding of rules and strategy; or it can just be an excuse to spend some time out in the sun.

If you’re really serious about support your sports teams and showing school spirit, you can definitely go all-out. Face and body painting (and even dressing up in costumes, like this guy) is common at games, and is a fun way to get ready for a game (involving alcohol in your painting session can be a lot of fun, or be disastrous . . . judge your artists’ intoxication level before letting them paint on you!).

Whether you’re really into sports and follow all of your favorite teams on a daily basis, or you really couldn’t care less about athletics, I strongly encourage you to check out your college’s sports teams. You might find that you really get into it—and even if not, you can certainly still have a lot of fun!

As always, if you have any questions, comments or funny stories you'd like me to share about college or the blog, email me at stu@stuvu.com