As one of the few sports at Naperville Central with the girls’ and boys’ seasons occurring at the same time, the basketball teams are often compared to one another, but actually do not have much in common.

While the girls’ varsity team has 11 returning senior players, the boys have a younger team with three seniors, only one of them in the starting lineup.

“[The boys’ varsity] is a very young team,” head coach Pete Kramer said. “A senior, three juniors and a sophomore are starting. But the kids are already accepting their roles and what they can do. It’s huge for us down the road.”

When fans watch basketball games, they may notice fewer Redhawks cheering on the girls as opposed to the boys.

“A difference I see between the [boys and girls programs] is consistent support from the students,” senior guard Emily Kraft said. “The boys always have the band or the cheerleaders. The girls don’t.”

One cause may be game scheduling conflicts.

The players must cooperate with scheduling, whether it is when each team plays games or which gym they practice in. While the girls must face their opponents on Wednesday or Thursday nights, boys play games on Friday or Saturday nights, the coveted prime-time.

“The boys always have the prime-time to play their games on Friday nights,” said senior Casey Smith, the girls’ varsity forward. “Nobody wants to go to a game on a Thursday or Wednesday night. We don’t get the prime-time. I know in some other schools, the girls and boys switch the times they play during the prime-time.”

Kramer believes larger crowds at boys’ games compared to the girls’ is natural in many professional sports.

“If you look at the pro-level, college level, high school level, the men’s game is just bigger than the women’s game, but I think the women’s game has come a long way,” Kramer said.

Kraft also thinks this problem is not only at Central.

“In any sport, for some reason people just like to watch boys more,” Kraft said.

However, when you are looking at the start of the season, girls may have the advantage.

“The girls’ team starts around two weeks ear- lier than [the boys],” said senior varsity forward Alex Pomeroy. “Their season started early, so their skill and chemistry is definitely a lot better in the beginning of the season.”

Girls’ and boys’ varsity received new uniforms this year. However, the boys’ basketball program paid for boys’ uniforms while the athletic booster club, which aids general sports at Naperville Central, paid for the girls. Uniforms cost around $3,800 for each team, which means the booster club used its own money for the women while the school paid for the men’s uniforms.

“The boys also get new practice uniforms ev-ery year with a top and bottom, but girls only get a [practice] top,” Smith said.

The girls fundraise by selling popcorn in the beginning of their season, which raised around $1,600 this year for their program. To create more “fair” programs, some girls varsity players want change in the scheduling.

“I would like girls’ and boys’ varsity to play on Friday night,” Smith said. “That would be really cool. If people show up early to the boys’ games, they can come watch the girls.”

No matter what differences, both teams hope to gain a lot of support from each other and expect success for one another throughout the year.

“The girls are really good this year, I heard,” Pomeroy said. “Probably better than us, even though we are good too.”

Boys and girls will both be up against Wheaton North High School for their next home game: boys on Dec. 19 and girls on Jan. 8.