by Katie Hornbeck

“We’ve got spirit, yes we do! We’ve got spirit how ‘bout you?!” a sea of St. Teresa’s students belt at the top of their lungs. Notre Dame de Sion students storm back, “We’ve got spirit, yes we do! We’ve got spirit how ‘bout you?!”

As students, we look forward to these Sion games all year, and go all out to dress in theme. Students, teachers, administration, parents, grandparents, siblings and alumnae attend these games for the beloved rivalry.

However, there are usually only three games each year when this true camaraderie and spirit lives in the entire school and community: one volleyball game, one basketball game, and one soccer game. Over my four years here, I have seen our school spirit increase dramatically at the STA vs Sion games; our section overflows into the parent’s section and the gym roars with emotion. But, although there has been an increase in spirit at Sion games, our school’s overall spirit has decreased over the years.

I recall the fall of my freshman year going to a couple of volleyball games, a cross country meet and the dance team performance at Rockhurst High School. There were tons of fans at all of these events. At the dance team performance, there were probably 50 to 75 STA students present. I also went to a cross country meet in Richmond, which was about an hour away, and there were at least 15 other students there. I also played on the tennis team the fall of my freshman year and I recall having an average of about five student supporters per match.

However, this fall, three years later, and a student body increase of 27 girls, there has not nearly been as much support. I went to a volleyball game played at home, and I was the only student there besides two girls who had sisters on the team and one girl who was taking pictures for her class. I also went to the softball senior night and I was one of about five or six girls there who was not on the team. I went to tennis Districts and I was congratulated on being the second student fan all year. The other fan, I was told, was one girl’s sister. The lack of support for our fellow classmates is discouraging.

I am not sure if when I was a freshman it just seemed like there were a lot of supporters because I was so new, or if there actually were a lot of people at these events. Either way, with a student body of 605, we should have more than two student fans throughout an entire tennis season. Not every event needs to be like the STA vs. Sion volleyball game that we had earlier this year, because it is impossible to have over 100 girls at every event, but we should have at least ten people at a few of the games for each sport. I am not sure if people are not going to the events simply because they are not informed when the games are, or if they just do not want to.

I am not saying that everyone needs to go to everything, because honestly, I have never been to a golf tournament. I am saying that if we all made more of an effort to support our classmates outside of school, our spirit would be more representative of our values and who we are.