Fall is coming to an end and winter is just beginning. With a large amount of the student body participating in sports and a wide range of sports for each season, it is hard not to go and support friends or teammates. Traditionally, student sections depend on whether the team has been successful, if there happens to be a good match, or if it is a section/state game. Nonetheless, there are many different ways the BSM teams attract more students and fans.
This past fall season, the BSM girls soccer team did something different to publicize the games and attract a larger student section at their games. In past years, the girls soccer team spread the word to friends, but to get a more diversified fan base, they changed it up a bit this year. “We advertised it with Student Council and over the announcements,” junior soccer captain Aida Parker said.
Last year, some students believed there was either more or less Student Council activity involved with sports. This year was different because of the BSM Spirit Squad, which was established last year (however, it only included seniors and now has 10th and 11th graders as well). They used social media to post all the sports game days, along with details to inform students. “We’ve been trying hard to make promo and do announcements for all the sports, not just volleyball, to hopefully get some more awareness about big games that are coming up.” Student Council member and senior volleyball captain Ellie Porisch said.
Along with announcements and spreading school spirit, BSM boys basketball really utilizes their resources and tries to diversify their schedule by playing schools outside of the usual conference teams—adding Edina, Hopkins, and Faribault, so that the BSM community will come to support them. Students love watching a competitive game, while also seeing the amazing plays that happen. “We just played really well, and most of our games were against really good teams. So a lot of people wanted to see those matchups… We got to focus on social media too. Last year we had a good person managing,” senior Patrick McDonald said.
While many sports teams use similar methods to captivate students to attend their games, there are other, more unique techniques they use as well. The hockey team and other teams appreciate when they have students attending their games, so showing that same behavior to other teams creates a connection between seasons. “[We] try to spread the school spirit. So whether that was us going to some soccer or football games, to try to make the football and soccer players return that favor when hockey season comes around,” senior hockey captain Keegan Davis said.
Another unconventional method is having events before games. Some teams have tailgates, which are led by the Spirit Squad and Student Council, where they give out free food to the first 100 students who attend. “Some things that we’ve done are ordering pizza for the games for the fans that come near the end of the set,” Porisch said.