By Lemmy Nemuel

As Mercy College’s enrollment increases, so does its possible need for a bigger gymnasium.

Three years ago, a new gym was built, not figuring the dramatic growth in school attendants. The gym currently has a 220 person maximum (including players and coaches) which has recently left some fans out in the cold, as not all of the Mercy students supporters have been allowed to watch the men’s and women’s basketball games.

The sports department is well aware of the situation and is working on remedying the problem.

“Mercy College is in talks on how to upgrade the seating problem we are having for both basketball teams,” said Chris Gonzalez, Assistant Director of Athletics.

He stresses that regardless of record, basketball is a major sport at the college and often has a very high attendance record.

“This is a good problem to have. I’m glad to see so many students getting involved,” he said. “I was thrilled with the number of fans who attended Maverick Madness.”

He noted also an issue was the “traffic flow” in the gym before and after games. The gym size can become a problem before games.

There may be an advantage to the current size of the gym, said Gonzalez. Every game brings an “electrifying” energy due to maxed capacity of the fans.

There is an alternative currently for those who cannot attend the games live, or would like to watch the games from home or their dormitories. Mercy College offers a live stream of its games on www.mercyathletics.com.

“Here you can watch the game in real time and still have the proud feeling of being a Mercy fan,” said Gonzalez.