Athletics are a major part of Haverford’s community, and nothing is more representative of that than raw student engagement. Nearly every week, sporting events draw dozens, sometimes hundreds of students cheering on their peers.
But at what point does cheering go too far?
For many students, athletic school spirit is an important part of the school’s social environment.
“The atmosphere is amazing. Especially being my last year, the atmosphere is electric,” Sixth Former Brayden Holland said.
“The main bloodstream of school patriotism surrounds what riles up the student body,” Sixth Former Alex Scharpf said.
However, student sections have not always been such a major part of the school’s athletic culture. Head of Upper School Mr. Mark Fifer said, “Around 2004, in the early days of my time at Haverford, and for the first ten to fifteen years, we certainly had EA Day. There certainly was school spirit. But there weren’t as many opportunities to showcase that spirit in a collective way… I can’t remember there being that large of a student section that created the dynamics that we’re talking about now with large crowds and maybe some behavior that moves beyond those boundaries.”
Student fan sections have become a more visible part of the school’s athletic culture, especially compared with that of other schools.
Sixth Former Daniel Khan said, “I’ve been to a bunch of schools, and Haverford by far has the strongest school spirit. But it comes with the caveat that sometimes we may or may not go a little too far.”
Khan notes the expectations surrounding school spirit have become more demanding in recent years.
“Beforehand, the upperclassmen would say ‘attend, show up, be there for your boys’ and whatnot, in a positive spirit,” he said. “Nowadays you have people saying ‘attendance will be taken. Freshmen, you’d better be there, we’ll be taking attendance,’ and stuff like that. It’s been getting a lot more cultish.”
“It’s all about lifting up our team, supporting our team, affirming our team.
Upper School Head Mr. Mark Fifer
As student sections become more organized, the boundary between appropriate and offensive becomes hard to discern among administrators and students alike.
Mr. Fifer said, “It’s all about lifting up our team, supporting our team, affirming our team. That is really what I think is most meaningful to those who are performing… When it becomes about the other team and bad-mouthing the other team or disrespecting the opponent is when it becomes unproductive.”
Although some in-school experiences may foster feelings of self-superiority and disrespect for opposing teams, students recognize which behaviors are acceptable and which are not.
Scharpf said, “In lower school [during the EA Day pep rallies] we had Coach Martin in average football gear and another coach in EA gear, dressed like a nerd. Oppose that to calling the opposing team too poor to go to Haverford or whatnot. There’s a certain level of decorum.”
Respect is essential to maintaining a positive atmosphere at sporting events. Trouble comes when students try to push the overall atmosphere outside the confines of high school sports. Dean of Students Mr. Luqman Kolade notes how aspects of the college athletic atmosphere permeate Haverford and its students’ views on games.
“I think the kids want it to be a college atmosphere,” Mr. Kolade said. “People are like tailgating at some of these games, which is weird to me because it’s high school sports. This isn’t professional sports or college sports.”
This mindset, when amplified by the perceived anonymity of the crowd, often leads to inappropriate statements toward both other teams as well as our own team, crudely echoing poor sportsmanship of big-league sports.
Mr. Kolade said, “I was having a conversation with one of the players on the football team. I said, ‘Apparently kids were chirping you,’ and he was like, ‘Oh, I guess I suck then, apparently.’ He said, ‘That’s ridiculous. No one would ever say that to me, though.’ The kids, our kids, who were chirping one of our football players would never go up to him and say that… I think that’s absolutely nuts. That’s the safety of the crowd.”
The “safety of the crowd” plays a large role in how rapidly sporting behavior grows, and that safety becomes even more common in online spaces. The online home of the student fan section is where much of the encouragement around sports takes place; opinions amongst students are mixed.
An anonymous student said, “I think the [student fan section group chat] is great. It’s amazing that you have such a big organization and a lot of people who are devoted to keeping it anonymous. It’s just a place where you can just shoot the bull; it’s like locker-room talk.”
Other students expressed discomfort with the content shared in the group chat.
“I left the [student fan section group chat] [in a previous] year,” an anonymous student said. “It’s not for me. Do I still participate in the games in the section? Yes, but I don’t [participate] in that group… I would say things have gone a little far when being in the [student fan section group chat].”
Another anonymous student said, “The high command of the group chat needs to know what to understand, [that] you’re leading the next generation of Fords, [so] act appropriately, act accordingly.”
Mr. Kolade feels that the aspect of anonymity present among both online spaces and within student sections negatively affects the atmosphere.
He said, “I’m against the face coverings because if you cover your face, it gets very Lord of the Flies and people start doing things they wouldn’t normally do… There’s no reason to be covered. I think sometimes it’s kids pretending to be ‘tough,’ for lack of a better word, or some sort of image or persona they’re trying to portray.”
Maintaining a positive atmosphere at games ultimately depends on students respecting players and opponents. School spirit can properly exist, but it depends on how well it is executed.
Scharpf said, “I think ragging other groups out of patriotic fervor is kind of an inherent part of patriotism in general. It just has a limit on what is expected and what is indecent.”
It is up to students’ discretion not to cross the boundaries of disrespect. After all, attending games is not part of the required curriculum. We should be grateful for our opportunity to participate and treat the players and the game with respect.
“No one is entitled to be at the games. It is a privilege,” Mr. Kolade said. “You get to be at the game; you don’t have to be at the game. So if you can’t act within the boundaries of what Haverford says… then you don’t get to be there.”