Loud shouting and cheering fill the gym when the boys’ varsity basketball team makes a basket. It does not matter if it’s a 2-pointer or a 3-pointer; the crowd will go wild.
“I feel like most of the time the student section is awesome,” vice principal Mr. John Heckenlively said. “Some of the times they try to do some things that aren’t so sportsman-like, but most times they are awesome!”
Hollywood portrays high school sporting events as popular events that every student attends. Although the student section fills up quite a few rows of bleachers, many students do not attend games. Students won’t be able to show up to the games because they won’t have a ride there or they just don’t want to go. The benefits of more students going to help cheer on our Dragons would be to encourage the players on our team and show them good sportsmanship.
“I think that more people should come to games because it is a good way to be involved with the school and to cheer on the athletes,” junior cheerleader Camryn Podany said.
Senior Mason Babin and his friends created the ESPN broadcast desk and set it up in the student section for the basketball game of Gretna vs Westside.
“We wanted a unique theme and we knew it would be perfect to do it against Westside because of the whole championship thing and we knew it would be a good game,” Babin said.
Sophomore Samantha Otten believes that encouraging our players and being a good sport while having fun is better for the players. Showing good sportsmanship doesn’t mean you will not be allowed to cheer or have fun, students will just have to respect everyone else who is there as well.
“At times, we try to make sure they aren’t targeting other teams and try to get them not to go against the officials and other teams,” Mr. Heckenlively said.