As the air starts to turn crisper, and the days shorter, not all hope of fun and games should be lost. Fall is on its way, and along with it, football season! This year is especially exciting, because it marks the first time since the fall of 2019 that the whole Elkhorn South student body can attend high school football games at once. Even if tackling and screaming until your ears hurt isn’t your thing, school spirit should be. 

With the lack of students in the stands last year, cheers and school spirit started to be pushed towards the back of many students’ minds. This year, however, it’s time to unleash the school spirit that has been locked up, and encourage fellow students to do so as well. This Friday (8/27) is the first time that the freshman and sophomore classes will be in the stands cheering on Elkhorn South’s football team. With this, comes a few responsibilities and tips from upperclassmen. 

My first piece of advice is to dress to represent! It may seem tacky, but wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sandals to the game is actually the cool thing to do. Yep, you heard me right, dress like you’re on a beach, not surrounded by cornfields. Weird, right? Dressing in accordance with the themes is the #1 way you can show school spirit. Even if all you do is stand in the bleaches and don’t yell a single thing, make sure your outfit is on point!
Secondly, pay attention to the game. The athletes on the football team work hard everyday to put on a show at the field each Friday, so act like you care (even if you’ve never watched a football game in your life). Paying attention to who scored a touchdown, or kicked a field-goal will not only make you seem sportier at lunch, but it will help you know when to yell certain cheers, which brings me to my next point…

Cheer, cheer, and cheer even more! It may seem weird or uncomfortable at first, but trust me, we have all been there. The more people that yell and cheer, the better. If you need an incentive, think of the upperclassmen. Pro tip: you don’t want to make them mad. Take it from me, a senior, the #1 way to get on an upperclassman’s bad side, is to stay silent during football games. Arguably one of the most important chants is the Battle Cry… I’ll do you a favor and post it at the end of this article. 🙂

So freshmen and sophomores, now that you’re ready for your first high school football game, we expect you to show up, be loud, and be proud…and as always, Roll Storm!

BATTLE CRY: 

(freshmen go first, then sophomores, then juniors, and lastly are seniors) Cheerleaders will start this chant saying, “freshman freshman don’t be shy, stand and yell your battle cry.” Then freshmen stand up and SCREAM “V-I-C-T-O-R-Y THAT’S OUR FRESHMAN BATTLE CRY.” Once freshmen are done, sophomores stand up and SCREAM the same thing, but replace freshman with sophomore. Then it just keeps going on with the next grade.

GAME THEMES: 

8/27: Beach-out

9/2: Black-out

9/10: Gold-out

9/16: Jersey

9/24: Neon Construction (HOCO Game)

10/1: USA

10/7: Cowboy

10/15: White-out

10/22: Costume