BOTF X: West's Creatures Filling Bleachers with Support for Titans Teams
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
February 11, 2022
TRAVERSE CITY – The Bleacher Creatures have been waiting for this.
Of course, students everywhere were aching for some signs of normalcy over the last many months. But what’s that looked like at Traverse City West this school year?
Something like 400 students showing up to a Tuesday night nonleague basketball game/dance show/drumline concert/Valentine’s Day extravaganza reminiscent of gameday experiences Bleacher Creatures have enjoyed during decade-plus run as one of the state’s top student cheering sections.
“I think we’re all just so eager to get back at it after a year of pretty much constant disappointment because we just constantly want to be at games, and pick the themes and just be in that community and we couldn’t,” West junior Ella Boivin said. “Now that we’re back, we have such a good group of people. We just have so much energy. We just want to put it out there and have great school spirit.”
That’s turned into the biggest student sections anyone remembers at volleyball matches, a crew for home and road soccer games, a major turnout for wrestling and even some support at the ski hill – on top of the usual football and basketball gatherings. “It’s not just a thing where our school is having a game, we should just go,” senior Hattie Holmes said. “Everyone wants to be here.”
The MHSAA visited West and its Bleacher Creatures as the final stop on this year’s Battle of the Fans X finalists tour, taking in the Titans’ Feb. 8 boys basketball game against Ludington. This was our fourth visit to West, which won BOTF V in 2016. Midland Dow hosted the first of this year’s visits Jan. 28, and Buchanan was the second stop Feb. 4. Public voting begins on the MHSAA's social media channels Monday, with the BOTF X winner announced Feb. 18 on Second Half.
Below is our highlight reel and 10 “X Factors” from our trip to Traverse City West.
1. Battle Plan
As noted, Tuesday’s theme added some serious pink and red to West’s usual green and gold home court. Red and silver pompoms were another festive touch, as was the red flowery loveseat hauled in to become part of the first row. The Boys Dance Team – a collection of 20 “protégés” under the tutelage of trained dancer Boivin – performed at halftime, and the drumline provided a hard-hitting soundtrack including coordination with one of the section’s traditional cheers.
2. Jammin' in the Stands
An estimate of 400 students at Tuesday’s game is not an exaggeration. In fact, it might be light. We’ve been to West a number of times, as noted above, and this easily was the largest section we’ve seen – and perhaps can only be rivaled by Rockford’s showing during the first BOTF in 2012.
3. Follow the Leaders
Student life at West is driven in part by its Student Senate, made up of seven representatives from each of grades 9-12 who meet for a class daily. The Senate is charged with usual student government duties – mostly planning social and community service events – but also directs the student section. Input from all four classes is anticipated and appreciated – the most popular theme night of the year was thought up by a sophomore – and senators from every class give the group the ability to have leaders comfortably reach out to peers their own age. The leaders we met with Tuesday also represented seven sports, including senior Will Gaston taking the court with the boys basketball team that night and his football teammate Kale Cerny who helped organize those sections before playing in front of them in the fall.
4. It’s About Making Connections
Senior Henry Melcher was stunned earlier this year when, while asking a group of students if they were coming to an upcoming game, they replied that they thought they needed to be officially invited to be part of the Creatures. In the past, it was thought the section was made up of students from just certain social circles, but “I think this year that idea has been thrown away,” senior Patrick Guiney said. “We talk to every single person about games, and no matter what we encourage them to go – ‘If you’ve never been to a game before, try it out.’” Newbies figure things out quickly. “Most of our chants are pretty simple,” he added, “but they’re also really energetic.”
5. We Have History
The Creatures date the start of their section to 2007-08 and the student governor that school year. When West won BOTF V, the governor (who leads the Senate) was senior Cooper Kirby – who last school year was a teaching and coaching assistant at West, and he connected with Guiney and others as they sought to restoke the section after the COVID-induced break. Mission accomplished. Among highlights we've enjoyed every time we've visited: The drumline chant with “We Are The Creatures” – especially toward the end of games when it’s either crunch time or time to celebrate – is one of the most memorable we’ve encountered over our decade of BOTF travels.
6. Make the Most of Media
The Creatures utilize the normal social media channels, like many successful sections. But senators also do a ton of random, go-up-to-people public relations and promotions – “PR’ing” was one of the buzzwords of our visit. Guiney takes it up a notch by giving the section its own in-house media. A soccer player during the fall, he began interviewing teammates and posting those segments, and has branched out into interviewing members of the student section and even non-sports groups like the theater cast. Those kinds of connections – especially giving a voice to the variety of teams/groups and students from all four grades -– help make a school of 1,600 students feel more close-knit.
7. Down to a Science
Setting this all up takes about 10 minutes of class time each day – senators pick a theme, plan to “PR” it, talk about additional details, and then everyone jumps into their roles (decorators, promoters, etc.). The system is set up well to connect with constituents – again, with leaders from every grade, students know which senators to go to with questions. And they also know to get there early – Holmes said friends show up at 5 p.m. for 7 p.m. games to make sure they get close to the front.
8. House of Cards
No, not the Netflix drama. This House of Cards describes the Creatures’ favorite theme of 2021-22 so far, a first-time “Vegas” night for football Homecoming that saw a massive and fashionable turnout as students rolled in "dripped out" elegantly in gowns, suits and other formal wear. As referred to above, that theme was thought up by a sophomore – and providing ideas is an open-ended process. A list hangs in the Senate classroom that’s open for anyone’s contributions – and as of the weekend stretched about 50 ideas long.
9. Everywhere They Go, People Want to Know
Senior Zack Featherstone is the governor, and he’s been asked by multiple other schools’ student leaders how West gets such a turnout. “The first time I got asked that question, I had no idea how to answer,” Featherstone said. “But I think it evolved into when we (as leaders) emit the energy of going to these games, having fun and just being very crazy and having a good time, it spreads to other people and they eventually want to go.”
10. The Right Way
As inviting as the Creatures are, they aren’t tolerant of fans who don’t want to follow decorum. Again, the large number of leaders spread among all four grades is key when it comes to keeping everyone on the right page. “We do not let anything disrespectful happen in our section because it completely ruins everyone’s fun,” Boivin said. “It doesn’t matter what team you’re on.”
The Battle of the Fans X finalists tour is complete. Public voting on the MHSAA’s social media channels starts Tuesday – come back to Second Half for details – and the champion will be announced Feb. 18.
PHOTOS (Top) Traverse City West's "Bleacher Creatures" enjoy one of many rowdy moments during Tuesday's boys basketball game against Ludington. (Middle) The Creatures provided a blast of pink and red for their Valentine's Day theme night. (Photos by Alan Newton/Newton Photography; click for more from this BOTF visit.)
'I Wouldn't Have Done it Any Other Way'
June 27, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Gray Raymond would like to believe every high school golfer would’ve made the same call as he did on the final hole of his Regional this spring. And he hopes those who wouldn’t might hear about his story and reconsider next time they have the opportunity.
Three weeks after calling out an otherwise-unseen stroke on himself – which eventually may have kept him from an opportunity to advance to the MHSAA Finals – the Maple City Glen Lake now-junior can’t imagine making any other decision.
His story received some publicity close to home, but in case you hadn’t heard: Raymond finished his sophomore season by shooting a team-best 85 to lead Glen Lake to a fifth-place Division 4 Regional finish May 29 at Treetops’ Tradition in Gaylord. On the final hole, after his playing partners had finished up, Raymond approached his ball for a 5-inch tap in – and accidentally nudged the ball, by rule a stroke.
No one else saw it. No one else would’ve ever found out. But Raymond would’ve known – and he immediately called out the unintended hit so it could be recorded on his card.
Strokes are lost and gained throughout a golf round, so it shouldn’t be said that one made the difference. But when results for the day were posted, Raymond found out he potentially missed qualifying for the Finals by one shot. Taking a shot off his score would've put him in a tie for the third and final individual qualifier spot and set up a playoff with Mackinaw City's Kal O'Brien. Instead, O'Brien claimed that last Finals berth unopposed.
“I wouldn’t have done it any other way. That’s not the way I was taught, and definitely not the way I was raised,” Raymond said Wednesday as he loaded up a bucket of balls at the driving range. “I’d rather lose than be a cheater.
“At the time, I was just upset that I lost, pretty much. I didn’t think anyone really would care how it happened. I didn’t think anything of it until I got to school on Monday and my teachers were congratulating me and stuff like that.”
Raymond’s sportsmanship made a longer-lasting impression than probably most of the rounds played across the Lower Peninsula at Finals the following weekend. The story was picked up by the local Leelanau Enterprise for a story June 5, and last week Raymond was honored by Glen Lake’s board of education with the “Anchor Up!” Award,” which he said is given to adults for their contributions to the school district. He thinks he was the first student to receive it.
Raymond also was the subject of a now well-traveled email to members of the Northwest Conference from Suttons Bay’s four-time Division 4 champion coach Todd Hursey, who wrote in part, “My heart goes out to him, but my heart is also warmed by his integrity. These moments should be celebrated as much as the golfing accomplishments.”
Raymond learned the game in large part from his father Ron, who played in high school and college and who “made it clear at a young age, no matter what happens out there, rules come first. I definitely learned from classroom to green to tee,” Gray Raymond said.
The golf community can become close-knit, especially among the top players at the high school age levels, and Raymond said he’s received texts from quite a few competitors from other schools telling him “that was a really bold move” and offering plenty of support – including reminding him of the big picture, and how missing these Finals will end up just a detail in what should be two more great years of high school golf.
And Wednesday included, Raymond already is getting ready. He’s definitely going to adjust his approach next time. At this Regional, he was playing with that day’s eventual winner Will Newbold, and knowing he was a number of strokes back of the Frankfort ace figured he didn’t have a chance to qualify and let that sink his mental game – when in reality he was right in the running. Raymond would’ve played at least one hole a little differently to give himself a better shot.
And absolutely, it will be that much more rewarding when Raymond, perhaps inevitably, does qualify for the Finals over the next two seasons.
“I wouldn’t have been able to call myself a golfer, honestly, if I’d walked out to that first tee box at states, Raymond said. “People are saying not many high school kids would do that, to immediately just call (a stroke) on yourself. But it never crossed my mind not to.
“I would like to say they would (call it), but honestly I don’t know. I would hope so. I hope everyone has the mindset of well, I messed up. There’s always a consequence of something, positive or negative, and if I walked away there’s no consequence – so what’s the lesson learned there?”
PHOTOS courtesy of Maple City Glen Lake’s athletic department.