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SAC Sound-off: We Won Our Battle
February 28, 2012
Muskegon Catholic Central is known for good sport teams, especially during football season. But it doesn’t always have a good reputation when it comes to the fans supporting them.
As a small school, MCC doesn’t attract many to its sporting events. In the past, my school’s student section was not something we could be proud of – with only three to four rows of students at home games, we hardly could be considered a student section at all.
The few people who did show up cheered only once in a while. Some didn’t stand up and cheer once during an entire game. A few times, we had a decent crowd – but the cheers were unsportsmanlike, and our school administrators weren’t too happy.
Those past student sections gave me little hope for this, my senior year. But "Battle of the Fans" renewed it.
As a member of the MHSAA’s Student Advisory Council, I had a role in designing the competition. I tried to rally my school to take part. I figured that by doing so, it might convince more people to come and participate in the MCC student section.
It worked.
At the first game this basketball season, an entire section of the bleachers were filled with eager students ready to cheer on the Crusaders boys varsity team. The gym vibrated with cheers. Students no longer came just to socialize; they were there to cheer on their classmates.
That night was the match that started the fire. With the Battle of the Fans competition in mind, the student section finally got organized. We created a Facebook group to remind everyone when we had games and fill them in on the themes, new cheers, and posters being made. A group of senior and junior boys emerged as the section’s leaders. We became the Cioe Crazies, named after our gym.
Our leaders tried to make a video to submit to the Battle of the Fans. We missed the deadline – but that didn’t stop the Cioe Crazies.
Now, our student section is at every game, ready to be loud and enthusiastic. We no longer are known as the rude and obnoxious group of students from MCC – we are organized and creative, while also keeping our cheers positive. We have attracted many new faces to our student section; some famous (check out the big head posters), others our favorite faculty members. The Cioe Crazies’ enthusiasm has spread through the entire gym, and parents are even joining in on the cheers.
Our student section has changed drastically this year and will not go back to its old ways. The Crazies may have missed out on the Battle of the Fans this time. But the contest already has changed the face of Muskegon Catholic Central’s student section forever.
Alissa Jones, Muskegon Catholic senior
- Sports: Swimming, basketball and track and field
- Non-sports activities: YMCA volunteering, middle school girls anti-bullying group, National Honors Society
- Favorite class: World Literature
- Must-see TV: "How I Met Your Mother"
- One shining moment: This year, when I personally finished in first place in all my swimming events at the conference meet, and my team received second place for the first time in our school's history. I will always remember that day.
- What's next: I plan on attending a four-year college, but I am still currently in the decision process. I plan to continue my swimming career in college. I loved working with younger children this summer while I volunteered at the YMCA, so maybe (I'll major in) something along those lines.
- My favorite part of game day is: ... when the game is finished and I know I gave it everything I had for that game.
PHOTO courtesy of Alissa Jones.
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2020 Class Honored Together, from Afar
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 15, 2020
Ishpeming Westwood’s girls basketball team was two hours into a three-hour trip to its Division 3 Regional Final on March 12 when the Patriots were told to turn the bus around and come home.
In an instant, the 2019-20 school year – and with it all MHSAA sports across the state – had come to a halt. And two months later, the high school world and its sports community continue to wait for bits of normalcy to return.
On Wednesday, we were able to enjoy a little bit of normal that’s been part of the annual MHSAA calendar for three decades. A Zoom call brought together 31 families from all over the state along with MHSAA staff and Farm Bureau Insurance CEO Don Simon to celebrate this year’s MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award winners.
Living rooms, kitchens and home offices replaced Breslin Center as settings for this “virtual” ceremony. And yet, this ceremony may be remembered more than any other because of its necessity – due to the COVID-19 pandemic – and because of how it brought so many together, remotely, while the coronavirus has forced all of us to remain apart.
Below is the ceremony, in full, including words from Simon, MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl and Assistant Director Andy Frushour and, for the first time, a student speaker from the class – Ishpeming Westwood senior Madelyn Koski, who was part of that basketball team destined for Sault Ste. Marie. A brief Q&A with Koski follows.
Koski was an all-stater on the court who would’ve finished her high school career with four varsity letters each for hoops, tennis and softball. She will continue at Ferris State University, where she’ll pursue a degree in pharmacy and continue her basketball career.
Second Half: How did you decide what you wanted to say? Was there a message you wanted to get across?
It was easy to write the sad part, because I know what happened – I was there. But it was hard for me to make a positive spin at the end because I don’t think anyone’s over it yet. I was glad to be able to turn it into something that was bigger than sports … more about our whole lives and less about our time in high school.
Second Half: It’s been two months. How have you been navigating the disappointment, the sadness? And is there advice you’d give to other people your age trying to do it?
As time went on, it got a little bit better. The day after was pretty sad; that’s all I could think about. Now there’s so many other things to do – the weather’s nicer, we can go outside. And I’m playing college basketball – not everyone has that chance – but at least I have that to practice for, look forward to.
I guess, it’s just … time heals.
Second Half: Even though you can’t be with them and hang out with them, I’m sure you’re talking a lot of your friends and teammates. What kind of conversations are you having? Is it looking ahead? Is it still thinking about, “We’d be playing softball right now?"
I think we kinda tried to leave the basketball stuff in the past because it was too sad to talk about. We made sure we do talk, obviously not in person, but on social media or FaceTime, we just talk about our memories and everything. That helped. It didn’t close the chapter, but it was nice to talk to them when we were all alone. And now we just don’t talk about that anymore. Nobody really wants to talk about it. We see memories popping up on Facebook and all these other things about, “Oh, we had a softball game last year at this time.” And it’s pretty sad. But no one else is playing. So it’s like we’re all in the same boat.
Second Half: You can turn on the news and you can see what every adult has to say about what’s going on right now. … You’re 17, you’re finishing your last year of high school, you’re going through something no one has gone through in more than 100 years. How do you see everything that’s happening in the world right now, as you look at it from a 17-year-old’s point of view and see seasons end and school end?
I know we can’t help what happened. But obviously I think it’s unfair that it happened to our class. It stinks for every grade, but (as seniors) we’re missing out on our best parts of high school right now and it’s pretty horrible. We’ve been waiting years for our senior proms and graduations, banquets and award ceremonies, like the MHSAA one. So that kinda stinks.
Ever since March 12, I’ve been staying optimistic. But I’m proved wrong every time because things just keep getting canceled and canceled. … (But) I’m a pretty optimistic person, so I still have some left.
Second Half: What happens next? What does your summer look like? What happens for people who are in your shoes?
I’ll keep working out, and one of the girls on my high school basketball team is going to play at Michigan Tech so (eventually) we can work out together. … I think the biggest thing to do this summer, that I think I’ll do, is appreciate time with my family. I have gotten to spend a lot of time with them. And then maybe once summer rolls around and we’re allowed to be in bigger groups, I’ll be able to be with people other than my mom and dad, like my grandparents and cousins and my aunts and uncles. … (My sister Jillian and I) have been playing the same varsity sports for the last couple of years, and she’s been really successful. It’s been fun to win all these championships and stuff with her.
Second Half: What do you think you’re going to remember from this in five years, 10 years, when people ask you what your experience was like?
I’m probably going to say it’s a pretty bad experience. I guess it was an eye-opener that life can change at any moment. That’s kind’ve it. It didn’t change in a good way.
PHOTO: Westwood's Madelyn Koski sets up a play as Negaunee's Breanne Giotto defends her during their Jan. 24 game. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)