Community support slim for Bremerton basketball

I am writing this letter because I went to a Bremerton basketball game in Port Townsend Tuesday and there were exactly 10 adults and four children there representing both the JV and varsity Knights (that is a total of 25 boys). I realize people have jobs and other commitments (as do I), but when our children are doing something constructive they should be supported. My son has played sports for Bremerton High School for four years and the turnout for the games has always been poor (even the home games), but none as poor as for basketball. It is bad enough the referees don’t give the boys a fair chance, but for those boys to look up in the bleachers and not see the support they want and, in my opinion, deserve is even worse. Even though the support should come mainly from family, it also should be represented by our community. Coach Lindberg has the varsity basketball team help with the Special People’s Cruise every year at the Bremerton Yacht Club to teach them community responsibility, so it would be nice if we could show them the community cares about them. We have one high school in the Bremerton School District, so the support should be there. These kids will hopefully be living and working in Bremerton; buying homes, cars, using services, etc. so they should be made to feel that representing their school is just as important to their family and community as it is to them. There was a time not more than five years ago that all the games had a crowd of spectators. I am not sure what changed to bring about the decrease in attendance, but whatever the reason we need to change it back and show other communities that we are proud of our kids and will support them 100 percent.

CHRISTINA KOETS

Bremerton