The first week of October in 2017 was filled games, chants, and fun as the annual Homecoming festivities and dress up days hit. Homecoming week brought an electric pulse to the start of school, and by SAC’s pump-up assembly on Friday, students were truly excited to attend a school sporting event as the Girls Varsity Soccer team prepared for the annual Homecoming soccer game. However, for the second year in a row, the festivities were drowned out by a large storm, discouraging students and fans from going to the game. Not only that, but the storming of the field was redirected to the bottom of the field instead of the adrenaline charged top of the hill because of safety concerns.

Sophomore Tommy Stolpestad, who played on the football team, said, “Our Homecoming game [that week] was super fun and close, especially when we got the win on a late interception. But, the lack of Spartan student support made it not as fun as it could’ve been.”  

Now, at the start of February, a full four months since Homecoming week, school spirit is in need of a desperate kick. Attendance at sports games has fluctuated all year, and most news of sports is not known until the now-famous weekly Spartan Booster announcement of results before senior speeches or through the Rubicon Twitter account.

Sophomore varsity soccer player Helen Bartlett said, “Our school spirit is horrible…people should show up to more stuff.”

At hockey and basketball games, the student section is often outmatched. Not to mention that sports that aren’t as popular as others have slim to no student support. Varsity tennis player and 9th grader Kate Hick, said: “School spirit for sports besides soccer and football is not very good…even when [Spartan Girls Varsity Tennis] got pretty far in sections and had a home match, no students came, and only parents showed up.”

It can be hard when no one shows up, as student support can heavily boost confidence in athletes.

This was the case when goalie Peter Kilborn got his first varsity hockey start in net. After asking some seniors to come to the game, the word quickly spread, leading to a packed student section against the rival Blake Bears.

“Fans make the game fun…my best memory from this season was when a lot of students came to see me play and were very loud in the stands,” Kilborn said.

Kilborn’s favorite moment of the season so far was not making a spectacular save or even playing in the game, but instead seeing his friends in the stands.

Fans make a difference. Showing up to just one event could have such an effect on an athlete or performer.

Our school spirit has improved from last year, as there have been multiple instances where Spartan fans have come out in full force to support not only Kilborn and the hockey team but also a recent boys basketball game against Minnehaha and the soccer section games for boys and girls this fall. 

Sophomore Varsity Hockey and Varsity Soccer player Thomas Bagnoli said, “I was thoroughly displeased with last year’s [2016] Homecoming as nobody ever wanted to cheer at games or Homecoming events. This year was much better.”

Swim Captain Ned Laird-Raylor also remarked about improvement from last year as he said, “School Spirit is much better than last year, but we still can improve.”

Students can do better. So, look at the game schedule and make it a goal to attend at least one game this winter. Because, as in Kilborn’s case, it could make one of your fellow students athlete’s year.