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BOTF VIII: It's Your Time to Shine
January 14, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Battle of the Fans VIII semifinalists: The spotlight is all yours.
You have 12 days to show the MHSAA's Student Advisory Council why your section is a must-see on this year's BOTF finalists tour.
This year’s nine semifinalists are Petoskey, Saginaw Heritage and Traverse City West from Class A; Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard, Buchanan and Wayland from Class B; and Carson City-Crystal, North Muskegon and Petersburg-Summerfield from Class C/D.
Battle of the Fans VIII, organized by MHSAA staff and its 16-member Student Advisory Council, kicked off by inviting schools to submit short videos, via YouTube, of their cheering sections in action by Jan. 13. The Advisory Council has selected nine semifinalists to accomplish a list of tasks showing off their sections over the next 12 days – and the Council will then select three finalists for MHSAA visits.
This year’s winner will be announced Feb. 22 and recognized March 15 during the MHSAA Boys Basketball Semifinals at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
Semifinalists are required to complete 10 challenges via their social media channels by 11 p.m. on Jan. 26. Five mandatory challenges focus on contest criteria: positive sportsmanship, student body participation, school spirit, originality of cheers, organization of the group, student section leadership and overall fun.
Five elective challenges (taken from a list of 15 opportunities) will allow semifinalists opportunities to show the unique characteristics that make their sections elite. Click to see descriptions of all 20 challenges on MHSAA.com.
“We’re basically in the ‘Regional’ round now, if you compare this competition to our other tournaments. And these nine challengers are just getting warmed up as they prepare to make a run at earning one of the three finalists visits,” said Andy Frushour, MHSAA director of brand management and advisor to the Student Advisory Council. “The next two weeks should be a lot of fun as we follow these student sections on social media. We’re looking forward to seeing their creativity and positivity.”
The Student Advisory Council will select the finalists for announcement Jan. 28 on the MHSAA Second Half website. MHSAA staff and Student Advisory Council members will visit all three finalists for home basketball games during the second half of this regular season, with coverage and video from those visits and the announcement of the winner all to be published on Second Half.
The winner will be selected by another Advisory Council vote based in part on support each section receives on the MHSAA’s social media sites. All social media postings regarding Battle of the Fans VIII should include the hashtag #BOTF. The MHSAA will share semifinalists’ challenge posts over the next two weeks on its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sites and Snapchat feed. The MHSAA also will post from the three finalists visits on those channels.
A total of 20 schools applied for this year’s contest, including six schools for the first time to bring the total to 97 member schools that have applied for the contest at least once over its eight-year existence. Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard is the only school that has applied all eight years.
Also among semifinalists, Buchanan and Traverse City West both have applied six times and Petoskey has applied five. Saginaw Heritage and Wayland are three-time applicants that made it past the first round this year for the first time, and North Muskegon has made it past the first round for the first time in its second attempt. Carson City-Crystal and Petersburg-Summerfield were among first-time applicants.
The other first-time applicants were Allendale, Chesaning, Niles and Oxford. “The addition of a number of new participants this year made the competition even more exciting,” Frushour added.
Buchanan is the reigning BOTF champion. “The Herd” also won BOTF II in 2013 and made the finals in 2014 and 2015.
Traverse City West earned the BOTF title in 2016 and was a finalist in 2014 and 2017 and a semifinalist last year, while Petoskey was a finalist in 2012, 2017 and 2018. Father Gabriel Richard made the finals in 2013.
Click to view all applications on YouTube.
The contest is sponsored in part by the United Dairy Industry of Michigan, which promotes Michigan's locally-produced dairy products and nutrition education. Rules plus links to past years’ coverage of the contest can be found on the MHSAA #BOTF webpage.
The Student Advisory Council is made up of eight seniors and eight juniors who each serve two-year terms. The Council acts as the voice of Michigan's student-athletes; it serves as a student sounding board for the MHSAA's Representative Council, assists in planning Sportsmanship Summits, Captains Clinics and other student leadership events; participates in a yearly focus group about the state of high school sports for Michigan State University's Institute for the Study of Youth Sports and assists with medal ceremonies at MHSAA championship events.
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Jayhawk Seniors Nesting for the Future
February 4, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
JACKSON – It’s tradition – at least symbolically – that a graduating class leaves behind lessons learned and memories they've helped make for the students who will come next. The same will be said for those graduating from Vandercook Lake this spring.
But a group of 13 who for the most part have been friends since kindergarten decided last fall they’d attempt to also pass on a legacy that already is making noise – literally – throughout the small community on the south end of Jackson.
The Jayhawks to come will inherit a new mascot costume, flags bearing the initials “VCL,” spirit towels and student section T-shirts.
And most of all, they’ll be able to take part in a new tradition that has made the “Nest” a Battle of the Fans II finalist this winter and symbol itself of what makes Vandercook Lake most proud.
“How close-knit we are, how much we all get along so well and everyone has fun,” senior Janessa Krueger said. “I feel like our school is good about including lots of people. Our class, we just want to leave a legacy of being the ones who started this section, and being a close-knit grade that’s really supportive.”
Vandercook Lake on Friday was the second stop on this season’s Battle of the Fans II finalists tour. The MHSAA will next visit Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard on Tuesday followed by Zeeland East on Friday. The postponement of last Thursday’s boys basketball game has pushed Buchanan’s trip to Feb. 15, and the Facebook voting that will contribute to the determination of the champion will begin a day later than previously scheduled – Feb. 19 – and end Feb. 21 with the winner then announced Feb. 22.
The Battle of the Fans played a big part in the creation of a more organized Vandercook Lake cheering effort this winter. But it wasn't the original cause.
The Jayhawks started out with the main goal of replacing the mascot costume that was stolen years before. To do so would cost $1,700. It became possible, though, because the seniors had done some significant fundraising as juniors to go with what already was in the class fund.
That got the ball rolling. But the seniors – led by that 13-member group – weren't done.
They did have some tradition from which to draw. A much less formal section was formed three seasons ago to take part in a local TV contest to pick the Jackson area’s top cheering section – and the Jayhawks finished second.
And even long before that, there was the Spirit Jug. Based on the Spirit Stick made popular by the original “Bring It On” movie, the high schoolers have long battled for the right to possess the Spirit Jug, which goes to whichever class cheers loudest during an in-school competition at the beginning of the school year (Vandercook Lake’s middle schoolers compete for a similar, but much smaller, milk jug.).
The Nest committee pushed the effort to a new level.
It’s made up of four girls and nine guys, including two basketball players and 12 athletes total. Together, they make up 15 percent of the senior class. “There isn't really anybody you don’t know. We all pretty much become friends,” Tyler Petress said, glancing toward the rest of the committee. “This is pretty much our lunch table.”
Spreading the word and sharing the work is easier with 13 people contributing. Two leaders in particular have taken on the tasks of making fliers and posters. Two more share mascot duties.
Since all are friends as well, they are comfortable sharing ideas and policing each other and the rest of the section when a chant doesn't share in the positivity the section as a whole is aspires to achieve.
“I think a lot of the planning that happens, happens outside of our meetings. ‘Oh I have a great idea; let me just text any one of you because we know each other so well,’” senior Tricia Parmalee said. “We talk to each other throughout the week, and then when we come back into the same room we at least have some idea of what’s been going on all week.”
Initiative also makes this group special. To initially get the ball rolling, half the committee met with the high school’s principal, assistant principal, athletic director and the district’s superintendent to explain desires and plans to purchase the mascot costume and spirit towels and even an idea for creating a student-only pass for games. The committee has constant dialogue with athletic director Barb Blair, who raved about the group and how it has gone about accomplishing its goals.
Of course, there have been challenges. The committee originally included others before whittling to this core group. And again, every committee member is a senior – and it’s an ongoing task to include the younger classes and make sure the legacy continues on.
The Battle of the Fans II has served as a rallying point – although that too came with some concern because Vandercook Lake is about 22 percent smaller than the next-smallest finalist.
But the Nest has simply added that to the list of worthwhile challenges that have taken on to make what they’ll leave behind so meaningful.
“Being at a smaller school, getting the recognition that we are for all of the hard work that we've done through the basketball season, to show (that work) pays off is a huge thing for our confidence,” senior Tyler Mihalatos said.
“(It shows) that maybe, even if we’re not the biggest school, this still means something.”
“For us, we’re never going to forget this stuff,” Parmalee added. “It was so fun, and it’s so fun now.”
Subway is a sponsor of this season's Battle of the Fans II contest.
PHOTOS: Vandercook Lake's cheering section follows a leader during a rollercoaster cheer Friday. (Middle) Vandercook Lake's mascot, the Jayhawk, poses with its unofficial mascot, the Junior Jayhawk. (Photos by Jenography Photos by Jen.)