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espite 30 degree weather on a Friday night, the Stevenson football stadium is more alive than ever. While the team battles on the field, the bleachers are e ually filled with e citement and passion. The student section is packed full of Stevenson students donning thematic outfits and accessories. With their faces brightly painted, the fans echo each other’s cheers in an effort to will the Patriots to victory. Stevenson’s athletic events are widely attended by students. Fans, athletes and coaches alike believe the student section’s pep and spirit contributes to the ability to succeed while on the field. arsity baseball player Drew Ruchim ’20 feels that Patriot faithfuls’ spirit definitely helps gameplay. “I think our student section is one of the best in the area, if not the best,” Ruchim said. “We have a lot of guys who have a good connection with the team.” With a full sized stadium, free T-shirts and recurring sport shoutouts on Stevenson’s social media pages, Stevenson prioritizes having a completely full student section at many athletic events. Many of stu-
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February 2020 - Sports
Student athletes, fans and coaches reflect on school dent athletes agree that it can make all the difference during a tight game. Even coaches agree that overwhelming spirit from the student section can have an effect on the game. One such believer is head football coach Brent Becker. “There is no question that all of these groups play an incredible role in the atmosphere of our home games,” Becker said. “There is nothing like walking out to our stadium on a Friday night with our home crowd. It gives me chills just thinking about it.” Despite the sizable turnout at boys’ basketball and football games, not all student sections have similar audience turnouts. Weather, media attention and duration of sporting events all factor into the attendance for a game. “I do [feel like some sports have a more popular student section], rightfully so,” Ruchim said. “Basketball games are indoor and short. On the other hand, baseball games are more fre uent and they’re a lot longer.” School spirit goes a lot further than just the student section. Whether through organizing events
or wearing the Pat Riot costume, some students take it upon themselves to create new means of promoting spirit. Mark Lozovnoy ’20 is a member of Pep Club and an e ample of school spirit. Lozovnoy finds Pep Club to be an important resource to e press the spirit of Stevenson’s students and ultimately improve athletes’ performances. “The purpose of Pep Club is to encourage school spirit through bringing out the mascot [Pat Riot],” Lozovnoy said. “Our job is to communicate nonverbally with the student body and have them participate greatly in school spirit events alongside [Pat Riot].” any athletes feel that the efforts of Pep Club and the student section are helpful, especially during championship matches. here is often a special emphasis on student turnout for playoff games, when many see the power of the fans as a possible difference between victory and defeat. “Last year, during the sectional championship for basketball, they played at Waukegan,” Ruchim said. “We had 100 students there, and they won and we felt like we con-
