In 2013, Boys Basketball Coach David St. Martin started an inclusive fan section, dubbed the Brigade, to encourage students to support Walpole athletics. However, in 2015-2016, attendance and enthusiasm for the Brigade was at an all time low. The Brigade’s lack of involvement in the past few years is epitomized by its Twitter page’s massive vacancy of any posts from June 10, 2015 to June 9, 2016.

  Nathaniel Kelley, new Senior Class President, has begun a movement to return a sense of pride and support for the school’s sports teams, by organizing a rebirth of the once dedicated student fan section.

“As an athlete, [the Brigade] means the world to me,” said Kelley, “Nothing is better than hearing people scream your team name and having pride in your town.”

The Brigade has worked to prepare for this upcoming year of sports: reintroducing a consistent twitter presence, coordinating tailgates before games, and purchasing a large number of Brigade t-shirts. Ultimately, they will attempt to rekindle the school spirit that St. Martin set out to create 3 years ago. Kelley’s hopes for the Brigade this year are high.

“I think we really have the people for it this year,” he said, “[the Brigade] has unreal potential.”