![](/sites/default/files/imported/Photos/8_DailyDishSig2H.jpg)
SAC Sound-off: Cheers to Remember
January 31, 2012
The Izzone. Cameron Crazies. Maize Rage. All of these student section names are synonymous with energy and enthusiasm. Every school, no matter how big or small, has fans just like these who want to support their schools’ student athletes.
For the MHSAA Student Advisory Council's “Battle of the Fans,” we set out to find high school student sections that not only supported their schools, but did so in a creative manner. Fifteen council members and I judged the submitted videos on organization, leadership, creativity and noise.
As I watched, some cheers really stuck out. Saginaw Valley Lutheran High had a cheer that praised Jesus not only for its team, but also the opponent. Rockford took the “I Believe” cheer to another level, using roughly 50 bottles of baby powder to create a minute-long haze over the field while screaming "I believe that we will win!"
Not only has this competition been a huge success so far with nearly 20 entries, but it really hit home for me.
As a senior at Grand Blanc High School, I have waited four years to stand in the front row and lead our student section – with two of my best friends – for football and basketball games. For us, Friday nights at “The Frank,” our home football stadium, are some of the most fun times of the year.
As a student section, we valiantly attempted to create a fun atmosphere and support our fellow students. We did things like costume night over Halloween weekend to get our section going. Although things like this were way past fun, we were at these games to support our classmates and friends.
Throughout my senior year, the times I have had in the student section have created a bond with my fellow students unlike anything I have done before. These moments will last me a lifetime, and the camaraderie has helped me form friendships that will last forever.
After I was done judging all of the videos, it was so difficult for me to pick just five. I knew every single person, in every student section, was having a great time and creating wonderful memories. For that reason, I encourage every student to go out and cheer on your classmates. You will have more fun than you could ever imagine. As one of my favorite quotes exclaims, "It isn't how many breaths you take, but how many moments take your breath away."
It could be the raucous atmosphere created after a triple-overtime playoff win, or a bond forged in the tension of a nail-biter against a cross-town rival. These moments and friendships in a student cheering section will be everlasting.
Bailey Truesdell, Grand Blanc senior
- Sport: Golf
- Non-sports activities: National Honor Society, DECA leadership program, Tutoring
- Favorite class: Student Store
- Must-see TV: "Entourage"
- One shining moment: My best sports moment was winning my first-ever high school golf tournament as a freshman.
- What’s next: After high school, I will be attending Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, to play golf and study business finance.
- My favorite part of game day is: … the thoughts that run through my mind all day prior to when I take to the course, mostly speculating as to how I will do, and visualizing my plan to succeed.
PHOTO courtesy of Bailey Truesdell (middle, in flannel shirt, with Grand Blanc's cheering section during a football game this fall).
![](/sites/default/files/imported/Photos/120122_Frankenmuthmain.jpg)
Battle of the Fans: Frankenmuth Dance Party
January 21, 2012
FRANKENMUTH -- The hometown Eagles hosted Freeland in a boys basketball game Saturday night.
And a 250-student chicken dance broke out.
Sure, Frankenmuth calls itself “Michigan’s Little Bavaria.” And things were a little ramped up for the student section's "German Night" -- which, by the way, was scheduled long before this game was announced as the first stop on the MHSAA's "Battle of the Fans" tour.
But the rest of the dancing and singing that made up most of the game’s two hours? That’s just the usual for this “Battle of the Fans” finalist. The Eagles student section turns every boys and girls basketball game into a dance party. And everyone in the gym, regardless of allegiance, is invited.
“That is what we are best at. That is what we are known for,” Frankenmuth senior Brennan Webb said. “Since we do it for every single game, all of these other student sections expect that. And when you come to our house, that’s what you’ve got to expect.”
MHSAA staff and its 16-member Student Advisory Council members also will visit "Battle of the Fans" finalists Reese, Grand Rapids Christian, Rockford and Petoskey over the next month and shoot videos that will be part of an online vote on the MHSAA's Facebook page. The winner will be announced Feb. 24, and clips from all five videos will be shown during the Girls and Boys Basketball Finals in March at the Breslin Center.
Eagles leaders met before this season and planned out themes for all 20 regular season games plus every one through a potential MHSAA Finals run. Super Hero night was pretty cool. So was Christmas night. And of course, German night was a hit.
But mostly, it comes back to singing and dancing. Usually, the students bring the music in the form of a boom box. This time, they had a DJ complete with lights flashing over that section of stands.
Webb carries a blue notecard with cheers listed on the front and back -- in case he needs a quick reference during the game. Saturday’s sing-along included some hip-hop, a Bob Seger tune and a Christmas carol. They have chants for specific players on their team, a German chant for after successful free throws, and a breakdown for timeouts “to keep the energy up.”
“The past few years we had pretty funny energetic people,” senior Jacob Fahrenbruch said. “So it kinda took over, and we made every single person come to every single basketball game.”
Someone comes to all of them -- even if the section numbered just five for a game an hour’s drive away and the night before exams earlier this month.
Officials and opposing coaches both have paid compliments to the section for the atmosphere it creates. Students chant “Come on over” to those from opposing cheering sections -- and have had some takers. Eagles cheerers played a half-serious game of red rover with Marysville students during their teams’ volleyball Quarterfinal this fall. Just like the players, the schools’ cheering sections also did a postgame handshake. “We like to make friends,” senior Zack Robinson laughed.
An informal student section has existed for a few years. Themes were set mostly by word of mouth. A group of seniors usually led, but nothing too organized.
This winter, the Eagles got serious.
Seniors Webb, Robinson, Nick Veitengruber, Evan Escott, Jeff Hillman and Fahrenbruch make up a big part of the leadership assembly. They created a Facebook page for announcements. They also take advantage of a 15-minute weekly in-school televised news broadcast to teach cheers to their classmates.
Consider: Roughly 6,500 people live in Frankenmuth and the surrounding township. So during Saturday's halftime, when the Eagles’ student section emptied onto the floor and started chicken dancing, those fans accounted for roughly half of the student body -- and nearly four percent of the school district's population.
Frankenmuth's cheerers have caught some occasional grief from opposing fans when they go on the road. But their enthusiasm, positivity and open invite to join in has led students from other schools to say they wish they could be a part. And, of course, a little making fun of one's self goes a long way.
After a big Freeland shot Saturday, Eagles cheeres chanted, "In our faces!" And after Frankenmuth standout Kent Redford air-balled a shot, his classmates directed the usual "Air ball" chant at him -- all in good fun.
“It usually takes a while, but then we break them in,” Webb said. “That’s how we usually make friends. We make fun of ourselves. (They think) these guys are idiots, but they’re pretty funny. We’ll hang out with them.”