This year at RAHS all Varsity sports games are free for students to attend. This policy, called The Game Day Pass, has been implemented by the new athletic and activities director Adrian Turner and the Roseville athletic and activities office.
In deciding to advocate for the Game Day Pass, Turner emphasized the importance of students being able to attend sporting events, as well as the growing the school’s student section attendance here at RAHS.
Turner said, “When I first moved to Minnesota, I was coaching out at Chanhassen High School; the student sections were decently big, and I found out that the kids got into games for free.”
Turner also added, “then when I was working at White Bear Lake, the student sections weren’t as big, but there were a lot of students who were participating in other sports. For instance the football team would come into the gym, and they weren’t able to watch their teammates play because they didn’t pay for a ticket.” Turner expressed distaste for the idea of kicking his own students out of games just because they didn’t pay for a ticket.
Turner said that the process to make the Game Day Pass happen was quite simple. He stated, “I talked to the finance director and she simply said ‘okay, do it’, and that was it.”
The students around RAHS are optimistic and excited about this change. Sophomore, Alan Kimmel was happy about the change. He said, “I don’t go to [sporting events] but I think it’s great and it gives people who can’t afford tickets opportunities to go to games.”
Anne Reichelt, a sophomore cheerleader, gets a first hand look at football student selection attendance. She said, “I think that the attendance for home games have been getting bigger the longer we get into the school year, but I feel like the attendance was higher last year.”
Reichelt also added her opinion on free entry, “ I think that that’s nice; it means people can come support the teams while not being worried about the cost. It makes [sporting events] more accessible.”
Junior Ian McConn expressed his approval, “oh yeah, I love it.”
It’s safe to say, students at RAHS are supportive and upbeat about this change to their school community.
