The student section at a Girls Varsity Basketball game on January 10th, 2018. The number of fans attending sporting events at Oyster River High School has been dropping over the past couple years, according to multiple sources. The Student Athlete Leadership Team hopes to turn this around by implementing incentives for students to attend games. They are working to bring back Superfans, boost the number of fans, and overall, promote school spirit.
The Student Athlete Leadership Team (SALT) discusses how they plan to encourage students to attend sporting events at Oyster River High School. “It’s about getting an entire group together and working together as one to encourage a team,” said Nikki Casimiro, the SALT advisor at Oyster River High School.
Photo By Kristen Carpenter
“Attendance at this year’s games was by far the least we’ve seen in the recent past,” explained Steve Petite, the coach of the Girls Varsity Soccer team. “Three years ago the crowds for our games were massive. Last year there was a slight decline and we had the smallest crowds this past season.” This picture was taken at the Girls Soccer State Finals in 2016.
Photo by Kristen Carpenter
Superfans at a home soccer game in 2015. Former Oyster River High School student and Superfan, Kevin Kerrigan (‘15), explained, “the fans were usually led by the juniors and seniors who started the chants, chirped the players, and supported team. My senior year we took on the Superfans role and tried to make every sports game a fun experience.” Colin Tucker (‘18,) a player on the Boys Varsity Soccer team from 2014-2017, said, “it’s a good a feeling that you’re being supported while you’re playing.” He described the fans this year as not as loud as in the past, most likely due to the fact that there were “considerably less.”
Members of S.A.L.T., Joe Morrell (‘19) and Maddie Alphonse (‘19,) sell Superfan shirts at a Girl’s Basketball game. “If you look alike in the audience it can help with the energy,” explained Casimiro. The Student Athlete Leadership Team hopes to bring back the Superfans by offering incentives to go to games. They created a point system; by attending games, students can earn points and eventually win prizes. The ultimate prize? A giftcard to Buffalo Wild Wings, a popular restaurant for students to attend before or after a sporting event.
Photo by Arleen Alphonse
Fans at a soccer game in 2017. Tyler Mckenna (‘18,) a current Superfan at ORHS, believes that “the passion and enthusiasm are still there, but the numbers have certainly gone down.” He adds that, “it’s important though to show the freshmen and younger students what our school spirit is like, and hopefully they carry on the tradition.”