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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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Bedford's Gandee Honored for 'Spirit'
March 13, 2017
By John Gillis
Special from NFHS
Hunter Gandee, a student-athlete at Temperance Bedford High School, has been selected as the 2017 Section 4 recipient of the “National High School Spirit of Sport Award” by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
The National High School Spirit of Sport Award was created by the NFHS to recognize those individuals who exemplify the ideals of the spirit of sport that represent the core mission of education-based athletics.
The mark of a “good big brother” is often to what lengths he might go to assist his younger siblings.
That sense of familial assistance has perhaps never been taken to the extremes that Hunter Gandee has repeatedly done for his younger brother Braden.
A standout student, Hunter is a junior with a 3.92 grade-point average and a member of the National Honor Society.
On the sports side, Hunter is in his third season on the varsity wrestling team, and participates in Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling during the offseason. He's also a member of the MHSAA Student Advisory Council.
While those accomplishments are unquestionably outstanding, they might pale in comparison to what he has done for Braden.
Born with cerebral palsy, Braden has limited use of his legs. Nonetheless, Hunter has taken it upon himself to help Braden know what it feels like to walk long distances – and he’s done it three times. Organized for the purpose of raising awareness of cerebral palsy, Hunter literally carries Braden on his back for long walks known as “CP Swaggers.”
In 2014, Hunter carried Braden 40 miles from the Bedford Junior High School wrestling room to the University of Michigan’s Bahna Wrestling Center. The following year, they upped the trek’s mileage to 57 miles.
However, that couldn’t foreshadow what was to follow in April 2016 when Hunter carried Braden on his back an amazing 111 miles – some 14 miles more than the first two walks combined.
About the Award: The NFHS divides the nation into eight geographical sections. The states in Section 4 are Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.
Nominations for this award were generated through NFHS member state associations and reviewed by the NFHS Spirit of Sport Award Selection Committee composed of state association staff members.
While the national winner will be recognized June 29 at the NFHS Summer Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, the section winners will be recognized within their respective states and will receive awards before the end of the current school year.
PHOTO: Hunter Gandee, second from right, carries his brother Braden as part of their effort to bring awareness to cerebral palsy. (Photo courtesy of The Cerebral Palsy Swagger.)