Student sections are vitally important in high school sporting events. They are loud, bring energy, and can get into the other teams heads and make them cause mistakes to turn the outcome of the game. Greeley West High School has had strong student sections show up for football games, volleyball games, and basketball games.
However, an anonymous teacher reported,”Apparently, our student section was doing inappropriate chants, attacking opposing players personally … and apparently someone reported us to CHSAA (Colorado High School Activities Association).”
In an official email sent out to Greeley West coaches, it said,” We recently received an official notification from the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) regarding concerns about inappropriate cheers, chants, and comments at recent athletic events.”
The email further explained, ”During two recent contests involving our school, there were incidents in which our fans used inappropriate language, directed name-calling toward opposing players, made offensive gestures toward opposing student sections, and engaged in inappropriate verbal exchanges.”
Senior Jonathan Roman has been a part of the student section all four years of high school and became student section leader this year. He said that he didn’t recall the incident but took pride in the school spirit he was helping create. “I take a lot of it (pride) because its being chosen as a leader of most of the kids that go to Greeley West, and being able to have that influence on others,” he explained. “I bring energy by always being the loudest, losing my voice at every game, I’m always trying to make sure everyone’s having a good time.”
Being loud in a student section is important as you can get in an opponents head and make them make mistakes. For example, yelling while someone is shooting a free throw can cause them to miss the shot. “I would draw the line when it’s a very serious situation, as like an allegation or something.” Roman explained. “You don’t mention the allegation … but if its like a heated moment, call them trash or something but you don’t mean it.”
