We encourage you to cheer on the SIU men’s club soccer team, which currently holds first place in the Midwest Alliance division this year with a record of 6-0-1.

The soccer team, established in the early ’80s, is made up of two teams of about 20 members of all backgrounds and majors. The players show extreme dedication to the sport, competing every weekend and practicing Monday through Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m.

They play 20 to 25 games in a season, with fall as the main season and spring as a much smaller, less-intensive session.

The SIU team faces other soccer teams from the Midwest Alliance Division such as the University of Illinois, Western Illinois, Northern Illinois, St. Louis University, Purdue, and the team heads to Dayton, Ohio, this weekend to take on the University of Ohio.

John Hatch, a second-year graduate student in anthropology, is the men’s soccer club vice president and said an increase in leadership has allowed the team to expand and improve.

He said the team usually has 50 or 60 people try out and previously only kept 20, but because a couple of guys stepped up and offered to be in charge of a “B” team, the club can now keep 40 players.

The “A” team travels more than the “B” team, Hatch said, but the “B” team participates in the International Soccer Tournament, which is going on at Stehr Field during the weekends now through Oct. 27. The “A” team will be back in town again for a tournament Sunday, Oct. 13, against St. Louis University and hope to see some fans along the sidelines.

Hatch said there were a few fans for the only home game of the year so far, but “not a whole lot.”

“It would be much more enjoyable; it would create a much better atmosphere,” Hatch said. “I mean, I like it already, but it would be more fun to have people at the game cheering us on.”

Not only should the club soccer team’s winning streak give students something to cheer about, the University should be on its feet too. While the school does not have an official team, club soccer is another way to get a positive message about our school and our students.

If students have the initiative to practice for two hours everyday – along with the class, work and homework the rest of us go through – to give themselves and this University a winning team, then it should be our duty to give them the props they deserve. First, show up at Stehr Field, which is near Wham, for most of you who wonder what that big lot is used for. Second, slap your hands together and use your voice for something constructive.

Good luck to the team at this weekend’s tournament and throughout the rest of the season – students, be there or be square.