"Spirit Nation" Tradition:
A few years back my school hosted a playoff basketball game versus Peninsula High School. Peninsula’s students came out in droves to the big game, which was abut 70 miles away from their home. I had never seen a more enthusiastic and quite frankly bizarre group of rooters in my life. Every Peninsula student came to the game dressed in elaborate costumes, and had pre-made chants for all the different situations that occur in a basketball game. After the game, I spoke with their activities director and asked him how they created such a spirited group and how could I get my crowd to be that way. After speaking with him for about a half hour my mind was filled with various steps on how I could start a “Spirit Nation” for our school.

First, I held a luncheon with all of the varsity sports athletes. Together with or athletic director, we communicated the importance of supporting one another’s teams.

We told the varsity athletes that they are the most recognizable faces on campus, and if they exuded school spirit so would everyone else.

We developed a calendar of the big events for the school year. Prior to all these events we had some sort of community building activity (pizza feed before a game at a restaurant).

We created prizes for the most spirited fan at all the contests.

We elected a president to coordinate themes / activities for the big games.

We spent time rehearsing chants and developed our own identity.

Creating a “Spirit Nation” requires a lot of preparation and a lot of lunches with free pizza. Our “Spirit Nation” grew into one of the most popular groups on campus. Going to a game became a lot more fun and spirited. I would like to say we rival Peninsula, but we still have a little ways to go. Now I am finding my biggest challenge to be on how to best control the student fans. They get so excited that they forget it is high school competition. As a result, we have established some guidelines for cheering and celebrating. The students have responded well to these guidelines, but they do keep me on my toes.