By Avari Nwaesei

Downsview Park, home to the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s and women’s soccer teams, is being cast aside by none other than TMU itself.

When it comes to TMU’s investment in its varsity teams, students are getting the sense that soccer is not as much of a priority as it should be.

“They don’t really promote soccer as much as they do the other sports,” said second-year sport media student Jayden Prasad.

Prasad isn’t the only one to have this view. Fellow second-year sport media student Aidan Loftus said that TMU’s interest in soccer is “kind of lacking.” The observations made by the two are not without reason. “I haven’t seen many banners around the school besides in the Mattamy Athletic Centre,” Loftus said.

Not only is there a shortage of soccer media presence on campus, but for students there appears to be a notable difference in how promotional material for varsity sports is pushed in comparison to the various sports clubs at TMU.

“I think soccer is kind of grouped together with a lot of other sports at TMU that aren’t promoted as much like baseball and…rowing and cross country and all that stuff,” said Prasad.  

Students are not the only ones to take note of how TMU might be putting their soccer teams on the sidelines. Fifth-year men’s soccer midfielder Justin Santos said the promotional work he’s done for soccer so far is “nowhere near” as much as the other teams.

“I feel like obviously they still do pay attention to soccer but I feel like just because it’s on campus, the volleyball, basketball and hockey teams definitely get the most attention, which doesn’t always feel greatest,” said Santos. 

Fewer chances given to the soccer teams to have a larger presence in TMU athletics goes hand in hand with what game turnouts look like.

“They don’t really promote soccer as much as they do the other sports”

As far as crowd encouragement goes, not much of it can be heard at the Downsview Park fields.

“When it comes to playoffs, I think we get more fans than usual, obviously but definitely not as many fans as the teams that play downtown,” said Santos. 

Crowd presence is an essential part of the game and something that Santos said is a “massive thing” when it comes to how the team ultimately plays. 

“They do say ‘home advantage’ and it is an actual thing. Just that noise from the crowd, encouraging us and obviously trying to shake up the opponent, definitely plays a factor in the game,” said Santos. “And I don’t think we have that at Downsview.”

The desire to have a crowd is no different for the women’s soccer team. First-year forward Taylor Fazzari is also appreciative of fans who come out to watch her team’s games.

“I think having that crowd is definitely a lot more motivating. It definitely brings up the spirits pretty high for myself and my team,” said Fazzari.

While filling up seats does a superior job in motivating the team, the frequent absence of TMU’s mascot, Frankie B. Bold, is a dent to the school spirit at games that can’t be patched over. Frankie’s most recent appearance was at the women’s soccer Think Pink game on Oct. 4—which had a table that allowed attendees to donate money for breast cancer research—but more often than not, his attendance is a rare occurrence.

“I don’t think [Frankie has] ever been in a soccer game that we had,” said Santos. “I know he’s come to basketball, hockey and volleyball games and given out TMU Bold towels or t-shirts. I don’t think we’ve ever had a giveaway at Downsview.”

Without the mascot showing up for these varsity teams, it begs the question of how TMU’s soccer culture can possibly grow. The sport media students have an inkling of what might bring in a crowd.

“Giveaways to the first hundred students or something would be really cool,” said Prasad. “A lot more promotional content, promotional videos. That would certainly help initiatives.” 

Regarding the soccer teams, second-year sport media student Alex Gisonni wants TMU to “put it out there more” in order to get a bigger community around the sport. “Relay the information more so that it attracts people,” Gisonni said.

“I don’t think [Frankie has] ever been in a soccer game that we had”

The call for more team visibility and consistent community engagement is a long time coming. 

“No matter what, if we’re already in a high or if we’re in a low, it helps us to push harder,” said Fazzari. “And in the end, for that game, we got the biggest result that we could possibly ask for.”

The TMU Bold soccer teams continue to give their all on the field—but the question remains, when will the university match their energy?