The roar of the crowd, the collective boosted spirits from Friday nights, and the pulse of school spirit all come together in high school football student sections. This year, Seniors Dominic Rallo, Sam Rallo, Pellegrino Pescatore, and others collectively organized a student section meant to motivate players and stir the pot. The question is, has the 2024 South student section lived up to everyone’s expectations?

I can say for myself that it did not nearly live up to my expectations, and Junior Sereen Abdel-Moneim thinks the same. “The energy could be way higher, which would make [the games] so much more fun,” Abdel-Moniem noted; “Seniors in the student section haven’t been starting any chants, instead they are more focused on doing activities like the hot dog contest which is only in the front and doesn’t include the other grades.” Ouch, take that seniors! Maybe instead of spending so much time covering your body in face paint or on activities like the hot dog contest, think about some new chants to actually get everyone hyped. Now, although this student section did not live up to everyone’s expectations, Abdel-Moniem believes that they did “pretty decent on Hornet Mafia videos and getting people to come.” I mean, after all, the stands are pretty filled for the first 30 minutes of the game.

Now that we know how your average student feels about this year’s section, let’s take a look at the people who are actually affected by it: the football players. Varsity football player, Junior Danny Hashim stated that “when you’re on the field and have guys on you left and right, you really cannot hear the student section at all.” Wow, are our chants really that lame that some people a couple yards away can’t even hear them? Hashim’s biggest issue with this year’s student section is that “everyone leaves around halftime. We could use the support – especially at the end of a close game.” Now, although I am sure the Rallo brothers and Pescatore tried their best to run the whole school student section, they really owe it to the football players to make it hype, as it is their job. Hashim said that “the season as a whole was good. The boys and I worked hard to do what we accomplished.”

As much as it hurts to admit it after such a long and hard season, unfortunately, this year’s student section was a let-down. At the end of the day, what’s done is done, but I really hope next year’s student section leaders learn from this year’s leaders’ mistakes and remember what they do will affect everyone who attends and plays at the games.