MadisonShaffar

All hail to Marian’s Cru-sa-ders, we stand united over a-all!

Chanting with the cheerleaders. Dressing up in themes. Roaring for the home team. All things that make Marian’s student section special.

It is pretty easy for students from other schools to assume that an all-girls student section would be lame, but Marian girls prove that assumption wrong time and time again.

Every classic teenage movie contains some depiction of a football or basketball game, complete with a group of crazy boys screaming like their lives depend on the outcome of this random Friday night game that they aren’t even playing in. Although Marian does not have those kinds of boys in the stands, they do have students who want to support each other.

“You don’t get it unless you go here” is an accurate statement when it comes to Marian. From  traditions like Field Day to the setting of a school with no boys, some people just do not understand where the Marian spirit comes from. How do a bunch of girls with different interests and hobbies rally together to create a rowdy student section? We just do.

Each and every tradition is what makes a Marian student section unique from those of other schools.

The tradition that is the biggest boost to a home game student section is a BOSS point event. The acronym BOSS stands for “building our school spirit,” and that is exactly what it does. When a home game is announced as a BOSS point game, that means the Student Board will take attendance of every student who comes to cheer at the game. This allows them to count how many students from each grade attend an event, and thus award points to the class with the most attendance. 

BOSS points carry not only bragging rights but also go directly towards each grade’s Field Day color choice. Before Color Block, each class’s amount of BOSS points and discipline points are counted. The grade with the most BOSS points and least discipline points gets to choose their second color first. This also determines the order in which the other three classes choose their second color. Giving students an incentive to show up at games proves to be the best way to increase the number of fans at sporting events.

Junior Mackenzie Reidy is one of the 11 elected members of the Student Board in the school. Reidy agreed that BOSS point events “give girls an incentive to go out and support their classmates, [which] creates a really good environment for our athletes.”

Another big tradition includes dressing up in a theme. Something about giving students a reason to wear blue from head to toe or dress up like a senior citizen really gets them excited. By dressing in theme, every student, no matter her extracurricular interests or athleticism, is able to be a part of the bigger community in the stands.

Without the cheerleaders and the mascot to lead, the student section at Marian would not function with as much enthusiasm as it does. Every year, a Marian “mascot” is selected by the prior mascot to lead the student section. This school year’s mascot is senior Ruthie Barrett. Instead of wearing a giant animal costume and running across the gym, the mascot’s job is to choose the themes for every home game and energize the crowd by leading cheers. Without the mascot, the student section would just be a group of quiet girls. “Being the mascot allows me to give back to the school community and add joy to someone’s experience,” Barrett said.

The past mascot of every year also names a junior mascot who will start preparing to take on the mascot role for her next year. The junior mascot this year is Ellie Brabec. “The majority of my responsibilities involve showing my school spirit by getting my class involved in school events,” Brabec said. Both Barrett’s and Brabec’s leadership helps the student body to be aware of upcoming events and get excited to be a part of the group.

A semi-new edition to the gym during game time is the Pep Band. Marian has not had a pep band in years, but as of a few basketball games during the 2022-2023 school year, music teacher, Mrs. Stephanie Dickes, made it a goal for students in band class to get involved even further by playing instruments in the stands again. 

The new sound of instruments in the gym brings a whole new and exciting feel to each game.

Senior Hannah Butler is a member of the pep band and loves bringing more energy to the stands. The feeling of the band is “so different compared to having music played over a speaker. It is so lively when students are singing along to the songs,” Butler said.

Most importantly, a student section wouldn’t be necessary if there weren’t student athletes to cheer on. The encouragement each person in the crowd gives to the players is so valuable. 

Sophomore Kamryn Wray played on the varsity soccer team last year during the state tournament. “Having all the nerves playing state for the first time as a freshman, the student section really hyped me up and got me ready to play,” Wray said. She loves hearing all the cheers and chants from her place on the field.

Wray finds the all-girls student section to be something very special. “In the student sections at Marian, you can feel the sisterhood coming from all the cheers. Everyone just wants everyone to do good,” she said.

Just because Marian does not have boys to fill the student sections, doesn’t mean that the girls don’t step up. Every little incentive and tradition comes together to produce one of the most fun-filled crowds in high school sports. Marian girls continually show up and exercise their core values of community and empowerment.

Combined with enthusiasm and intensity, those core values create not only a loud student section, but a way for every Marian girl to directly support her sisters on their way to victory.