BOTF X: Dow Aims to Give Teams Advantage with Charger Spirit
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 1, 2022
MIDLAND – The 10th MHSAA “Battle of the Fans” – and first after a COVID-induced pause for 2021 – appropriately started Friday with a never-seen-before experience.
Midland Dow’s student section mostly makes its presence known at “Herb’s House” – the unofficial name of the Chargers’ gymnasium. But Dow hit the road, traveling four miles southeast to rival Midland High for the first of this year’s three finalists visits – the first time a section has ever hosted the MHSAA staff and Student Advisory Council at an away game.
Challenge? Chargers accepted it.
“We want to show up and be the best student section at their school,” Dow senior Daniel Watkins said. “That’s always the best thing ever.
“We bring the same energy. If nothing else, (the road game) almost feeds it more. Not only is it against our rival, but we’re at their place.”
This year’s BOTF X finalists tour also will include visits to Buchanan and Traverse City West.
Below is our highlight reel and 10 “X Factors” from our first stop with Dow’s student section.
1. Battle Plan
As noted, Dow’s section traveled to rival Midland High, which packed its own student cheering section to match. Dow students dressed in scrubs and lab coats for a “Doctors & Nurses” theme and collected money during halftime to buy snacks for the local hospital emergency room staff.
2. This is the Year of Dow
While a Dow student section has existed for years, a number of factors lined up well for this to be the section’s first applying for Battle of the Fans – and making the championship round. A focused group of leaders was eager to get to work after spectator limits kept crowds small during 2020-21.
3. Follow the Leaders
Every year four seniors – two girls and two boys – take over leadership. Those four leaders then select the next year’s leaders, to be announced at an assembly at the end of the school year. This year’s are Watkins, Kourtney Fischer, Abby Rey and Nolan Sanders. “We know the qualities a section leader needs to have, and we’re picking someone we know can handle the job and go the extra mile,” Rey said. “We make sure they’re driven, because it’s not an easy job – sometimes you just want to go to the game, but you have a bigger responsibility. And obviously someone who can communicate, especially with administrators.”
4. Believe in the Spirit Stick
At least since 2014 – when it started appearing in yearbook photos – a Spirit Stick has been the instrument used by leaders to direct the section. The stick is green – and recently repainted – and also recently busted after one end broke off during that hockey game. But section leaders claim it’s still got plenty of magic – when a ball falls out of bounds their way, they make sure the pompom end of the stick sprinkles a little Charger spirit on it before putting it back in play. “It’s powerful, really,” Watkins said. “It changes games.”
5. Strength in Numbers
With an enrollment of nearly 1,300 students, getting a couple hundred to big games is a goal. Section leaders knew there was potential when the section showed in force for the football season opener at University of Michigan – which kicked off at noon on the first Friday of the school year. Despite being on the road this past Friday, nearly 150 students showed for the boys basketball game against the Chemics.
6. Get Social
Without argument, the biggest driver of Dow’s student section strength this year has been the addition of dedicated social media channels. Putting out announcements and themes on Instagram spreads the word, as those posts become part of students’ stories and get passed along quickly. Senior Kimberly Douglas puts together video and the section started a TikTok as well.
7. Making the Difference
Dow’s goal is to affect the game’s outcome – it’s that simple. All four leaders are athletes and know the confidence boost the section can provide. “We just want to be the turning point,” said Sanders, who plays hockey, baseball and runs track. “To allow our sports teams to get the closest to a win as possible … like a sixth man on the court, to help get those extra points. It’s important to understand that we’re not on the court, but we can have a say (in the result).”
8. They’re Everywhere
Dow is part of the Saginaw Valley League, which stretches from Lapeer to Mount Pleasant and makes rallying the section for frequent two-hour road trips difficult. So the section focuses on home events – and not just football and basketball. Watkins would rush from football practice to lead the section during volleyball matches, and the section supported its boys soccer team in the fall and is big at hockey.
9. Coming Attractions
The section drives attendance by taking sporting events up a level in terms of fan participation. That has included some significant setup for football games; before the game against Midland this fall, Fischer and Rey built enough shakers – two solo cups taped together with corn inside – to fill six garbage bags. “Toga” and “Grandma & Grandpa” have been among popular themes, and they expect a big turnout for tonight’s boys basketball game “Teddy Bear Toss” with stuffed animals to be donated to a children’s hospital.
10. Keep it Classy
Behavior can go south during a rivalry game. Friday’s was a perfect example of how it doesn’t have to do so. While there was plenty of responding to each other’s cheers, it was basically some friendly back and forth and there wasn’t a hint of negativity coming from either side. For Dow’s leaders, cheering is more about giving their teams confidence – they don’t like booing, they don’t do the “who cares” during pregame introductions and they don’t tear opponents down. “That’s the way we do things,” Rey said. “It’s always positive. (Our students) respect that; they know that. They should be cheering out there for our team, and nothing else.”
The Battle of the Fans X finalists tour will resume Friday at Buchanan and conclude Feb. 8 at Traverse City West, with the champion announced Feb. 18.
PHOTOS (Top) Senior Daniel Watkins leads Dow’s cheering section with the Spirit Stick during Friday’s boys basketball game at Midland. (Middle) Students cheer on their classmates during a "Doctors & Nurses" theme night. (Below) Senior Abby Rey, front in purple, helps lead the section after scoring a team-high 16 points in the girls basketball team’s win over the Chemics to begin the evening. (Photos by Kaylee Emrick/Midland Dow Yearbook staff.)
Century of School Sports: Good Sports Are Winners Then, Now & Always
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 12, 2024
The above photo came to us two years ago this fall, from a now-retired athletic director, who was especially taken by these 10 runners from eight schools huddling together before their races during the 2022 Lower Peninsula Boys Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway.
Representing Bloomingdale, Bridgman, Centreville, Coloma, Constantine, Parchment, Schoolcraft and Watervliet, these racers had competed against each other all season, and for some several seasons. But during these moments before what would be the most high-profile event of their athletic careers, they joined together for support, motivation and camaraderie.
Sportsmanship is one of the MHSAA’s core values – the “4 S’s” – of educational athletics. It has served as part of the bedrock of this organization from its beginning 100 years ago, and should remain so as long as school sports are considered a valued part of the educational experience.
Two weeks ago, we covered in this #MHSAA100 space the history of the MHSAA Sportsmanship Summit – first conducted in 1997 – and our latest statewide tour concludes Thursday in Grand Rapids. But those sessions welcoming student leaders every year are just one of many efforts the MHSAA has made to continue teaching sportsmanship through athletics over the last century.
An essay, “Athletics – Why and How” by Grand Rapids Union athletic director John Truesdale, was included with the November 1925 edition of the Bulletin of the Michigan High School Athletic Association and addresses how the creation of the MHSAA from its predecessor organization played a part in immediately improving sportsmanship in school sports during that first year:
“Because of (the creation and fulltime nature of the MHSAA), the standards of sportsmanship are more nearly approached. Bickerings have been reduced to a minimum. Better understanding exists between schools. The conducting of games has become the exhibition not only of skill, strength and wisdom, but of sportsmanship, obedience to accepted rules, and consideration of those who for the moment are in the position of enemies, although friendly.
“In fact, athletics in Michigan are in position now to accomplish the purpose for which they were designed – the building of character. … It is entirely reasonable that each, the player and spectator, emerges from a contest a better citizen because of his experiences.”
High Schools change over entire student bodies every four years. Freshman eventually become seniors, and when they leave take their parents and others who have spent a portion of time in the school sports space, to be replaced by the next classes of athletes and families playing, cheering and altogether carrying forward our time-cherished activities.
And as such, the lessons of sportsmanship are constantly in need of renewal.
After both arrived during the mid 1980s, retired MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts and retired Communications Director John Johnson embarked on a mission to transform sportsmanship in Michigan school sports – and in doing so, made the MHSAA a national leader in that work, which continues today.
These MHSAA sportsmanship campaigns from the last 30 years should ring at least a few bells for those who have spent time around our games:
“Good Sports are Winners” – Beginning in 1989 and over the following two decades, the MHSAA (and with help from the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and multiple sponsors) annually distributed 100+ page sportsmanship kits to member schools which included materials to assist in promoting good sportsmanship, including letters to be sent out to various stakeholders, public address announcements for events and other content for programs and publications.
An awards program celebrated teams best displaying these ideals from every season – Fall, Winter and Spring – with those winners receiving recognition across statewide media and MHSAA publications through the conclusion of this campaign during the 2010-11 school year.
“What Kids Wish Their Parents Knew About Sportsmanship” – This six-minute video produced for the start of the 1999-2000 school year featured students addressing adult behavior at their events. The video was designed to be shown as preseason meetings, booster clubs, school board meetings and similar athletic department or school gatherings.
“Battle of the Fans” Fast forward to 2012. The MHSAA’s Student Advisory Council, in an effort to affect sportsmanship especially among peers, created a statewide competition to promote positive cheering from the growing number of student sections across the state.
The “Battle of the Fans” continued for 10 years (skipping 2021 due to COVID-19 precautions) and annually recognized not only a champion but additional finalists with banners during the Basketball Finals at Breslin Center. The contest was almost entirely video and social media-driven, and during later years of the competition included multiple rounds that required sections to complete challenges to advance.
The BOTF program also was recognized nationally and copied by other states after seeing what Michigan’s student leaders were capable of influencing.
And that work continues.
The following was created this summer by the Student Advisory Council based on 10 pages of notes from their experiences at 2023 Sportsmanship Summits.
One of the most revealing truths in studying the 100-year history of the MHSAA is that many issues of the day then and now are remarkably similar. It’s not that there haven’t been improvements along the way. But rather, the process of educational athletics is ongoing as generations of students take their turns and continue on – and the work to keep sportsmanship at the heart of competition remains of great importance.
To that end, let’s allow Truesdale to close this latest history lesson.
“Let us then, in this year of 1925, demonstrate to the people as a whole that victory is not all we seek.
“Let each of us, whether superintendent, principal, coach, player or spectator, emphasize the point that to win is welcome, that to demonstrate superiority is one goal we are after. But let us not lose sight of the fact that the means employed are of great consequence, and that the results we seek are not championships alone but victory of the player and the team and the school over the temptations of unfair tactics.
“Championships will be forgotten but character is lasting.”
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
Nov. 5: MHSAA's Home Sweet Home - Read
Oct. 29: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship - Read
Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15: State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Sept. 25: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read
PHOTO A group of Southwestern Athletic Conference runners huddle up before their races at the 2022 Lower Peninsula Boys Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway, including Bloomingdale’s Jaden Barnes and Joe Stocchiero, Bridgman’s Andrew Mabry and John Sanderson, Centreville’s Logan Weis, Coloma’s Boden Genovese, Constantine’s Ethan Glick, Parchment’s William Winter, Schoolcraft’s Dante Pilot and Watervliet’s Daniel Mandujano. (Photo by Alan Bobalik/Bloomingdale cross country.)