The fact that two years ago, the student section at Harrisonburg High School consisted of empty stands after halftime, but is now filled with one of the better student sections of the valley district seems to baffle me. Two years ago, the football team was trying to work itself out of a deep hole. A hole that was filled with eight losses and two measly wins against other two and eight teams. The football team is the heart and drive of many schools. Win or lose, high school teams are celebrated throughout the beautiful United States. With a better performing football team, the stands have been filled more and more each week and show what some people are really made of.

In the time of struggle, the cheers heard in the stadium were heard coming mostly from the band and the families of athletes. Not much of a student section was there to show support for the football team. A team that is appreciated feels good, and when you feel good, you play good. Towards the beginning of the season a small crowd formed but was almost always driven away before the end of the game.

Last year, the team experienced prosperity and so did the student section. Headed by new leadership, a large crowd began to start showing up to the game. Overall school spirit seemingly increased and boosted the team’s performance.

The influx of fans leads me to wonder about the cause. Is it the rapid increase of freshman? They are one of the biggest classes to enter the school. Maybe it has only seemed better because since the current seniors entered the high school (supposedly one of the worst to go through the school system) school spirit has seemed to grow. Two years ago, leadership behind the Red Sea was basically non existent as were their appearances. Every night was disappearance night.

With a better season currently in the making, school spirit will hopefully get better too.