At the end of the Turco bleachers on October 25 when Walpole took on Natick in one of the best football games in recent memory, spectators and players witnessed something new: roughly 250 students, mostly juniors and seniors, sporting Rebel apparel standing and cheering together as an organized group. Occasionally, during touchdowns and huge plays, wispy clouds of flour erupted above the heads of the crowd (simulating the snow spectators throw in the air during a celebratory moment of a wintry Patriots game). This White-Out is one of the cheering strategies of the student pseudo-club called The Brigade.
“We need more student support at sporting events,” said St. Martin at the official Brigade meeting on Thursday, October 17. “There are a lot of people at this school who want to show school spirit but are too hesitant. We think this organized fan section will help those kids break out of their shell.”
At both high schools and colleges across the country, you can often find active cheering sections at school sporting events. Students pack the stands, cheering for their team and antagonizing the opposing team. At Walpole High School, sports games often do get some student fans; however, most students do not really pay attention to the game or cheer as much as other schools do. At football games, for instance, students usually mill about the softball field, rather than sitting in the stands, cheering for the Rebels. At other sporting events — such as Golf, Swimming, Gymnastics, Tennis — crowds usually consist of only parents. But St. Martin hopes to change this lack of student support by introducing The Brigade, a student fan section, to WHS.
St. Martin and faculty counterpart Vice Principal William Hahn are mimicking their course of action at Catholic Memorial, where they worked previously. Before they created the fan section, CM had the same problem as WHS: they lacked school spirit did not get much attendance at sporting events. Now, the CM students’ rave havoc when any opposing team from the Catholic Conference takes a step on their campus.
Last year, the Boys Basketball team lost to Hingham in the playoffs even though they had a huge lead for most of the game. One factor that helped the Hingham team rally to victory was undoubtedly their fan section. The Hingham students were loud and cheered throughout the game, bringing momentum to the team on the court as they rallied for a comeback.
“It was really evident how much a fan section can turn the momentum of a game,” Mr. St. Martin said.
With 4:36 left in the game, the Rebels were up 62-46; however, Hingham managed to score 17 points to win the game, largely encouraged by their fans. Hingham students dressed in a white-out, and at half time, they made a Harlem Shake video. Their enthusiasm clearly affected the players and motivated their team to victory.
“We believe WHS can be just as loud and supportive as Hingham was,” said St. Martin. “Students will take initiative and spread it. They can go to game, cheer, and at the same time have fun with their friends.”
Senior Peter Hoegler, one of the driving forces behind The Brigade said, “We had a great turnout at the Natick football game and hopefully it will only grow from here.”
And grow it has. As of November 24, @WalpoleBrigade — a twitter account created by Mr. St. Martin — already has 635 followers. The account received about 200 of these followers after Mr. St. Martin’s presentation at the Pep Rally.
Throughout the fall tournament season, the Brigade would show up in spurts because most of the games were on the road, typically for away from Walpole High. But at Boys Soccer’s State Championship game at the Manning Bowl in Lynn, the Brigade packed roughly 200 students (80 of which came on the two fan buses) in their section–an incredible count for a game that was an hour away.
It seems as though the Brigade is the next big thing at Walpole High. And especially if our winter sports teams meet their expectations, we could see the Brigade as the next big fan section in the state.
