Most people would say that one of the main reasons that fans attend sporting events is to watch the game being played. For high school, another key reason that gets overlooked is the student section themes. A number of people attend sporting events to socialize rather than actually watch the games. To make games fun for everyone, the student section themes should be fun and exciting. There are countless different themes across the country, but which one is the best?
There are many different theme options that student section leaders choose, such as white-out, blackout, pink-out, western, Hawaiian and USA. At Antioch Community High School’s Cardinal Crazies, the student section leaders are in charge of getting everyone in the student section excited and choosing the themes for each game. The Cardinal Crazies try to schedule the crowd’s favorite themes for the more exciting games, for instance, a big rivalry. The stands are more likely going to be fully packed for a rivalry game, so the Crazies need to choose a theme that most people, if not all, will enjoy.
“My favorite theme is beach or Hawaiian,” junior Anton Augusto said. “There is a lot of variety that people can wear. You could wear shorts and a t-shirt, a tank top, a Hawaiian shirt or a swimsuit.”
For football, the Cardinal Crazies have to choose themes for at least nine games and maybe more, depending on how far the team makes it in the playoffs. During basketball season, there are even more themes that the leaders need to develop.
“I personally don’t love the themes that are solid colors, like black out, white out or pink out,” junior Callaway Maar said. “With those themes you cannot really go all out and show your spirit. All you can do is show that you have a color in your closet.”
Regardless if the theme is a big hit or not, most students like to participate in it and see who can go all out and be the best dressed. At some schools, it can be considered rude not to participate in the themes. Fans do not think that others have school spirit or care about their team if they do not participate.
“I think that school spirit brings our school together,” junior Nicole Kutcher said. “When everyone participates, it brings a sort of energy that our team thrives off of.”
Essentially, the student section themes are one of the most loved and important parts of any high school sport. Without the student section, there would be no energy in the stands and sports may become boring.
