Different things set the atmosphere for high school sports games, such as the location, the other team and, arguably the most important, the student section. Whether you’re at a football, volleyball or basketball game, whether or not the student section is involved sets a tone for the game—and the Yutan student section needs some improvement.

The biggest problem with Yutan’s student section is the low number of people that show up. It’s understandable for fewer people to show up to a game that is far away, like the football game this year that was Hartington Cedar Catholic, two and a half hours away. In contrast, it’s very disappointing to go to a nearby game only to see that very few people show up. I think that if you’re able to go to the games, you should. Our sports teams deserve the support from not only the parents but the students and community members as well. Our student athletes put a lot of time and effort into the sports they play, and the least people can do for them is to show up and support them–-show the athletes that they have people who care enough to show up and cheer them on, which could ultimately build a stronger community bond. 

The other part of involvement that is important is that the students who show up need to actively participate. There isn’t much of a point in showing up to the game when you aren’t going to cheer on the team. Whether it’s chanting along with the rest of the student section or standing up to cheer during timeouts, participation is a big factor. As a cheerleader, it’s very difficult to go onto the court and cheer to get the crowd more involved when they just sit down and stare at us instead. Even if our teams are losing, I believe the crowd still needs to participate. Although we might be down in points from time to time, it can be uplifting for the team to hear that the crowd is there supporting them no matter the circumstances. I’ve seen games where when things take a turn for the worse, the crowd stays quiet. And at those games, as the crowd goes silent, the game doesn’t turn around in our favor. In contrast, I’ve also seen games that have a lot of crowd support, like a rivalry game, end in a winning outcome that is extremely satisfying for athletes and community members. Sometimes the energy of the crowd is really what sets the tone for the game, and as a result, gives the athletes extra fuel to play an amazing game and win. 

If you’ve ever been to a high school sporting event, the best of the games are the ones where the student section and the spectators are involved and participating. The energy in the room is completely different when the crowd is involved compared to when they’re not. Rivalry games are always the best games to attend because of the amount of people that show up and the amount of energy they put into cheering the team on. But rivalry games aren’t the only games people should be attending. The community and students should try to attend as many games as they can because being there for our athletes is something we as a community need to work on. We should support our athletes in their success and their failure and cheer them on no matter the circumstance of the game. And I don’t know about anyone else, but I enjoy supporting our teams no matter what, and it doesn’t matter if the score is zero or 20. By supporting our teams no matter the circumstances of the games, you can be a part of a winning combination, which I think is something every community member and student should try their best to be a part of.