Students look forward to dressing up in themes, cheering, and chanting for their school team. Oftentimes students do not think of the deeper meaning behind the cheers, but they hold power to motivate our teams.
The student section often plays as a “sixth-man” for the team, as they provide support and encouragement for the athletes. These student sections can become even more competitive at times than the sport themselves.
School spirit brings an exhilarating atmosphere to the field. They provide energy for the athletes to feed off and fuel towards their performance. The excitement of the next football game provides a sense of unity in the school community and gives athletes confidence to impress their audience.
Home-court advantage is a term that describes the benefits sports teams gain when playing at a home-venue instead of an away-venue. According to Chicago Booth Review, there is a 57.6% win rate for American football when playing at home.
The Elkhorn North football team plays at a very competitive level and is always ready to compete their hardest even in away games. The athletes still feel a change in experience when not playing on home turf.
“Our players take a lot of pride in playing at a high level,” head coach Sam Stanley said, “When we have a lot of people out at the games, it creates an environment that is advantageous for us.”
The student sections light the fire of competitiveness and helps motivate the teams to be more aggressive. They get into the heads of the opposing athletes, and make it challenging for a team to play in a hostile environment.
While the student section can provide an energetic atmosphere to the game, athletes lose the motivation as they travel to perform at other schools. As an away-team, it can be very intimidating to perform in front of an opposing student section. Cheering against their own team, or even stand-alone players can be very discouraging. It causes athletes to lose motivation throughout a game. Student sections are not only vital in football games, but also in basketball and volleyball environments.
“At an away-game, the fans are trying to mess us up,” junior basketball player Addy Bratt said. “We all just kind of get frustrated with each other and ourselves.”
Student sections can be a major distraction towards the athletes, and it can feel like a personal attack on their own team. However, student sections are beneficial to the home team as long as they remain controlled and calm. As soon as a student section gets out of hand, it can lead to a negative environment and outcome.
“It can be negative because they [student section] might get the roster, and say your names, and find ways to get in your head,” junior volleyball player Kaitlyn Huff said.
Student sections are there to provide support for their school and to cheer them on, but when they begin to shout negative comments to their rival team, it can create an unhealthy environment. The comments towards players and even referees, can cause an issue to arise in the purpose of the sections.
The lack of student support can also be detrimental to the athletes’ performance. They rely on the support from the students in order to drive their performance. Athletes feel that when the section is lacking, it has a direct effect on their motivation.
“I think we play with more intensity and more drive to compete when there’s people watching,” Huff said. “It is deflating if there’s no one there.”
Students may not realize the importance of showing up for athletes and their purpose of being there to cheer the team on. While student sections still have boundaries, they are great school experiences and a vital part of athletes’ performances.
