The morning of, you pick out your outfit based upon the football game theme for that night. When school ends, you go home and hangout with your friends before showing up at a game to cheer your teams on. For some, that isn’t all they do. I welcome you to the inside scoop of game day for cheerleaders, dancers, band members, color guard performers, and supporting students. 

Drum major Payton Grotewiel mentioned that while the band doesn’t practice the night before a game, they do the morning of. 

“That night we get to school at 5, we suit up in our uniforms, we warm up with pep tunes and long tunes, we run the show, come out here, and then get in the stands,” she said. Grotewiel also mentioned that the band just goes with the flow.

“We all suit up together and everybody has the same uniform,” she stated. “It really helps to bring the band together.”

Zoey Hoselton, a varsity dance team member, spoke about her own team’s preparations. She stated that, “We have someone send out a list of everything we need to wear, and my coach is very particular about everybody looking the exact same.”

“Sometimes we have one person do everybody’s hair, or have one person do it, then we all copy it, and then we follow makeup videos,” Hoselton added. 

Hoselton also added, “We go through all of our sidelines, and band dances, and then we run through the halftime,” when asked about pre-game practicing. 

In addition to the physical preparation, band members have to get focused too.

“It’s a lot of mental preparation, you’ve got to make sure that you know what you need to do,” stated senior color guard member Natalie Hoffman. “I know they’re worth it, I know they can do it, and I know if they had that potential, they would access it.”

The environment is always lively, especially supported by Hoffman. “We have team pep talks and we circle up and we do our chants, and it’s like we got this.”

While student’s on the bleachers don’t perform at games, they send their support into other places, like loudly cheering the teams on. Many like to follow the game theme and show their support through outrageous outfits. 

When questioned about preparing the night before a football game, StuCo member Annabelle Hargrove expressed that she always picks out her outfit and makes sure she is all decked out for the game’s theme. 

She even mentioned, “I set my alarm so I actually get up on time because we have to get up and come early, and cheer for everybody when they come in.” 

While not everyone who attends a football game is on the field playing, supporters still have their own ways to show their encouragement.