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And the 2013 BOTF winner is ...

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

February 22, 2013

Josh Money had gone to just about every Buchanan boys basketball game during his first three years of high school, usually one in a semi-full section of stands.

But as the senior “Trophy Buck” stood in front of his school’s newly-created “Herd” for its first theme night on Dec. 7, he hardly could believe his eyes.

He, his classmates and athletic director Fred Smith had hatched the idea of creating the section only a few months before. But as Money looked up to see – and hear – dozens of students dressed up for “Christmas on the Court” and waving “Buck Power” spirit towels, he began to believe winning this year’s MHSAA Battle of the Fans II was possible.

Late next month, they'll hang an MHSAA championship banner announcing the Herd as this year's BOTF champion and the best student cheering section in Michigan. 

“Words can’t really explain it. It just feels good that we are the best. There’s no guessing. We are the best," Money said. "I’m proud of our school, proud of our community. How much support we had throughout has just been amazing. I never knew it was going to come out to be this big.”

The most wide-spread slogan of many put out by this year’s MHSAA Battle of the Fans II champion starts with the friendliest of greetings – “Welcome.”

But to see the entire Buchanan community – from elementary schools students to high school leaders to grandmas and grandpas locking arms and standing together – in our eyes, there was no more meaningful sign of the community-building power of the Herd.

Buchanan was chosen based on a vote by the MHSAA’s 16-member Student Advisory Council influenced by public vote on the MHSAA’s Facebook page. A total of 8,024 fans voted in the MHSAA Facebook poll, with those results then equated against a school’s enrollment.

Buchanan far and away received the most Facebook votes – 4,522, or 63 more than the size of the town’s population. Zeeland East received 2,056 votes. The Student Advisory Council based its vote on the following criteria: positive sportsmanship, student body participation, school spirit, originality of cheers, organization of the group, section leadership and overall fun.

Other numbers to consider from this season's contest: The 26 application videos have been watched more than 24,000 times, and the MHSAA-produced videos from our tour stops have 10,033 views. The stories on the five finalists plus Tuesday’s explanation of how to vote had been viewed 17,206 times as of 8:30 this morning.

As this contest comes to a close, we remember fondly each of our Battle of the Fans visits this winter. Any of the five schools would've been a worthy champion.

Here’s some of what we enjoyed most about each finalist:

Tradition Doesn’t Graduate Award: Frankenmuth

What we saw: More of what made Frankenmuth our inaugural BOTF champion in 2012. A large crowd reaching to the top of the bleachers, completely engaged in the game throughout, and having a blast from opening tip to final buzzer. And when it comes to halftime, no one is more creative – the “Silent Night” sing-along at center court was a solid follow-up to the 2012 halftime chicken dance.

Why we’re fans: Watching Frankenmuth from the outside makes the casual observer want to jump in and take part. The Eagles simply have a blast, regardless of who is standing at the front directing traffic. Nearly all of the section’s leaders graduated last spring, but roles (and in a few cases, costumes) were handed down, and a few key juniors already are involved – meaning we could see Frankenmuth among the finalists again in 2014.

All in the Family Award: Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard

What we saw: A true community where one might not expect to see it – a school which draws students from not just Ann Arbor but a handful of neighboring towns as well, yet gets constant support for multiple sports no matter what day of the week. This section has plenty of history, and some recent tragedies sadly showed again the strength of Gabriel Richard’s bonds.

Why we’re fans: A fun clip we didn't use in the video showed piles of props scattered next to the stands – the necessities of putting on an ultra-creative “Beach Night.” Our favorite was the human wave, which was then surfed by one of the section leaders. We were impressed by the big plans being made for the “Masquerade for Mott” fundraiser for the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, and just the overall connection throughout the section and with its basketball team on the floor, and cheerleaders and dance team on the sidelines.

One Voice, All Day Award: Zeeland East

What we saw: Members of “The Coop” don’t leave their responsibilities as student section members at the door. Living their brand of “rowdy” is a fulltime deal. Zeeland East was our largest school among this year’s finalists, but also has the most developed Facebook presence and a strong Twitter following to spread the word and keep the ideas flowing 24/7. And “High 5 Hallway” – a game day occurrence during which hundreds of Zeeland East students meet in one hallway during a break, form lines and high five each other – was our favorite new idea of this year’s tour.

Why we’re fans: From “High 5 Hallway” to the way senior leaders plant themselves with the underclassmen at the top of the section, the sense of unity was unmistakable despite the large size of the school and its section. Leaders have a constant dialogue with their athletic director – something we've found is a must for top sections – and it’s easy to get worn out just watching this non-stop Coop party.

Make a Difference Award: Vandercook Lake

What we saw: The lessons taught by Vandercook Lake’s group of 13 senior leaders are twofold: Make the most of your four years cheering on your classmates, and it’s possible to accomplish any number of goals by being driven and organized. The Jayhawks got this section going this fall in part to acquire a new mascot costume; they ended up with that costume, school flags, spirit towels and a legacy ready-made for the next group to pick up and continue building.

Why we’re fans: We have a lot of respect for a large group of students pulling together with so many possible viewpoints and abilities and turning out something this positive. Vandercook Lake also was our smallest finalist this year – but showed us a section much larger than its relative size and comparable in creativity and spirit with schools much larger. These students had an idea and made it happen.

Battle of the Fans champion: Buchanan

What we saw: All five of our finalists have created something of value in their respective schools and their communities as a whole. But nowhere is that presence felt quite like in Buchanan.

“The Herd” was little more than a group of milling “deer” a few months ago. Today, it’s a community staple, a point of camaraderie welcoming to all students not only at the high school but all the way down to the kindergarten classes. The section is invited weekly to community events, and the comments posted on our Facebook page and Second Half stories came from parents and grandparents, recent alums and those who graduated and left town long ago.

There’s a lot of pride in Buchanan, and Buchanan takes pride in the Herd.

Why we’re fans: Buchanan does this the right way. The “Woods” are lively, but positive. The Herd is creative and a little silly, but connected to the game and supportive of the team.

And someone give these students their honorary marketing degrees right now; by branding phrases like “Herd Dat!” with younger students, they've ensured this section will live on for years to come.

“Walking through the school, or in front of the stands, all the little kids are all about it,” Money said. “(They’ll say,) ‘Josh Money, you should do this. You should do that.’ I’m getting messages all day, every day from little kids telling me what we should do.

 

“To have something that great keep going for years, it’s going to be pretty cool to see.” 

Now our finalists will take their acts to a bigger stage – clips from all five MHSAA tour stops will be shown on the main scoreboard during the Girls and Boys Basketball Finals in March at the Breslin Center.

All five sections are ambassadors of the best of student cheering sections in our state. We’re glad to congratulate them for setting awesome examples of the fun that can be had while keeping to good sportsmanship and a positive vibe. 

And we’ll be proud to award Buchanan its championship banner – Herd Dat, loud and clear.

Click to check out our the stories and videos behind the finalists. Also, click to see student-produced videos from 26 sections who entered the contest. (Photo courtesy of Caryn DeFreez, DeFreez Photography.)

5 Ways Charlotte’s Flight Club Soars

January 31, 2017

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

CHARLOTTE – “One night to become State Champions.”

On social media and written at the bottom of its itinerary for the night, Charlotte’s Flight Club made perfectly clear what Saturday’s Battle of the Fans visit meant to a student section that while only a few years old has quickly become one of Michigan’s most accomplished – and is striving to become known as the state’s best. 

Students filled stands covering one end of the court at Charlotte’s “Dome” as we enjoyed the third of our five-visit tour on a night saluting local law enforcement.

The breakdown: In two years, Charlotte’s student section has come from nonexistent to become a two-time BOTF finalist. As we learned during our 2016 trip, it was hatched during a series of January 2015 snow days, when student leaders took advantage of the break by meeting and forming a Flight Club to give more support at first to the school’s basketball teams and then to all Orioles athletes. The section gained steam over the course of last school year and especially last winter during a strong start for the boys basketball team, and despite graduating nearly all of its leaders last spring returned in force this fall to become a regular part of student life at the school.

We visited for Saturday’s boys basketball game against DeWitt and met with seniors Jess Ramos, Grant Seavolt, Cassie Cotter, Connor Rosekrans and Ari Beutler. See our video below, followed by five reasons the Flight Club continues to take off.

1. They have been building – literally.

The Flight Club claims to have more props than any student section in the state, and it’s a strong argument. They sadly waved goodbye to the S.S. Flightanic – a rolling boat they featured last season – after it ran aground in storage. But section leaders came back in August with their tools and paint cans ready. They built a giant “bird cage” out of PVC pipe to house Charlotte’s football teams at their field entrance before they busted out before games this fall. They created a second giant tifo (a.k.a. giant banner seen in photo below) that makes trips to most big games. And we enjoyed watching again as a member of the Club popped from the homemade oversized jack-in-the-box rolled out after the third quarter. A fan slip-n-slide set up for an early football game didn’t really take off, but most of the rest have been big winners – including the face-paint station in one corner of the gym where anyone can get made up to further show support.

2. They got organized.

As noted above, the Flight Club is barely two years old but quickly has grown into a force – and especially this school year as it’s become more organized. They received a new “nest” (our word, not theirs), a classroom where they store their many gizmos and gear and plan their work. White boards on one wall were loaded with lists and maps of the gym showing which sections of fans would sit where Saturday, while newspaper clips detailing their successes filled a bulletin board on another wall and a mural created by section co-creator and 2016 graduate Lindsey Carlson hung next to a letter sweater formerly worn by the dad of faculty section adviser Tyler Bartolacci, a 2007 grad. Section leaders now attend meetings every Monday and others as needs arise, created an itinerary for Saturday that was sent around on social media before the game, and members of the section proudly wore around their necks “boarding passes” – not that they needed identifying, but a neat show of solidarity nonetheless. And leaders are still giving “Flight Club” lessons – videos over Twitter to show some of the cheers they’ll use at future events.

3. The pilots guide them home.

Last year, section leaders patrolled in front of the section – “flight attendants” showing the way. Taking the reins during games this year are “pilots,” one on each side of the baseline, standing on risers, megaphones in hand to provide the direction for all to hear and see. On Saturday, new leaders stepped up every quarter to guide the section and unify it for some awesome chants including a drum clap during the first half that will be a highlight of this year’s BOTF tour.

4. They’re making ‘highlights’ along the way.

Most schools with student sections can count on seeing them at football and basketball games. Starting in the fall, the Flight Club selected “highlight games” in every sport to also cheer – and not just for the more popular spectator sports like volleyball or soccer. The Club has cheered at girls and boys swimming & diving meets and at a hockey game this winter despite having only one Charlotte student on a co-op team with Lansing Catholic, Mason and Lansing Christian players. The first highlight game was a girls golf match during the fall, where 10 members of the Club cheered from the clubhouse as their classmates played the ninth fairway. And they packed local Char Lanes for a Neon Out and lots of “Strike, Strike, Strike” for a bowling match. “A lot of kids on the bowling team were really excited to see us there,” Rosekrans said. “They were talking about it the whole next week: ‘Thanks for coming. That was awesome.’”

5. They’ve got P.R.I.D.E.

Purpose. Respect. Integrity. Dedication. Excellence. PRIDE is a school motto, and a large board near the gym doors explains how students should be guided by those qualities in the classrooms and hallways. But Club members also have a lot of pride (the non-acronym meaning) in their school, and have risen as a giant in fan support at a time when Charlotte’s most recognizable sports teams aren’t having a ton of success. Driving their athletes to do their best only makes the Flight Club cheer louder. Students filled multiple spectator buses for football games, load the stands for basketball games, have worked closely with the middle school’s “Junior Flight Club” that also got organized this year, and had no doubts about making another run at Battle of the Fans after making an impressive debut but coming up short of the title in 2016. “Everyone has a ton of fun at the games,” Rosekrans said. “I think they naturally thought, let’s do it again next year.”

In their words

Setting themselves apart: “We kept seeing what we could do to make us champions,” Ramos said. “We wanted to know what would set us apart, and we spent a lot of time thinking about that and trying to see what we did last year compared to this year that we wanted to do differently.”

Memories made: “I made a lot of great memories just through the Flight Club, especially this year with football,” Seavolt said. “It’ been a lot to remember.”

Just say the word: “Get the community involved. People want to come to the games. They just don’t know about it all the time,” Rosekrans said. “Social media. Tell people. Literally, that’s all it is. The power of talking to someone is very underestimated.”

Next stop on BOTF: We'll visit Petoskey for Wednesday’s boys basketball game against Sault Ste. Marie and Frankenmuth for Friday’s boys basketball game against Millington. Click for coverage of our visits to Boyne City on Jan. 13 and Traverse City West on Jan. 20.

The Battle of the Fans is sponsored in part by the United Dairy Industry of Michigan.

PHOTOS: (Top) Charlotte's "Flight Club" chants during a drum clap Saturday. (Middle) Flight Club members hold up two giant tifos during the Battle of the Fans visit. (Photos by Teresa Johns.)