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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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It's Time: Bring on Battle of the Fans V
December 15, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
From the Indiana and Ohio borders to the Lake Superior shore, the buzz over this season's Battle of the Fans is reaching across Michigan like never before.
And we can't wait to showcase how Michigan's best are cheering on their classmates this winter.
The MHSAA and its Student Advisory Council will host its fifth “Battle of the Fans” contest this winter to again award the top high school student cheering section in Michigan and promote the opportunity for a fun, positive cheering experience for fans supporting their teams.
Battle of the Fans was started during the 2011-12 school year to promote the opportunity for a fun, positive cheering experience for fans supporting their teams. Dowagiac was named last year’s champion and presented with a banner during the MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center. Sections from Beaverton, Buchanan, St. Johns and Yale also were finalists and recognized during the Breslin ceremony.
Schools are invited to submit a short video, via YouTube, of their cheering sections in action. Video submissions should be between 90 seconds and three minutes long and explain how that section meets the following contest criteria: positive sportsmanship, student body participation, school spirit, originality of cheers, organization of the group, student section leadership and fun.
The deadline for student-submitted video applications is noon Jan. 9. Five finalists including at least one Class C or D school then will be chosen and visited on a home game night by MHSAA staff and Advisory Council representatives. The MHSAA will produce a video of that finalist after each visit, with the champion being selected by the Student Advisory Council based in part on activity on the MHSAA’s social media sites.
This year’s winner will be announced Feb. 19 and recognized March 25 at the Breslin Center.
Make sure to mark all social media postings regarding Battle of the Fans V with the hashtag #BOTF – and keep an eye out for more information on the MHSAA's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sites. Click the links below to see the stories and videos from visits to our first four champions:
Frankenmuth (2012) - Buchanan (2013) - Beaverton (2014) - Dowagiac (2015)
Rules, directions for submitting videos, plus links to coverage of finalists from the first four years of the contest can be found on the MHSAA Website. This year’s finalist videos, plus the announcement of the 2015-16 winner, will be published on the MHSAA Second Half.
The Student Advisory Council is made up of eight seniors and eight juniors, who each serve two-year terms. The Council acts as the voice of Michigan's student-athletes; it serves as a student sounding board for the MHSAA's Representative Council, assists in planning Sportsmanship Summits, Captains Clinics and other student leadership events; participates in a yearly focus group about the state of high school sports for Michigan State University's Institute for the Study of Youth Sports and assists with medal ceremonies at MHSAA championship events.
See below for video featuring last year's finalists introducing this season's BOTF.
PHOTO: Representatives from Dowagiac's "Attack" receive the Battle of the Fans championship banner at the Breslin Center during the 2015 Boys Basketball Semifinals.