#BOTF V: Make Way for a New Champion
January 11, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The second-largest and arguably strongest pool of applicants in Battle of the Fans history made it especially hard for members of the MHSAA Student Advisory Council to pick only five finalists for this year’s competition.
The result? A mix of past contenders and rising candidates that together guarantee there will be a first-time winner for the fifth time in the contest’s five-year history.
Yale, a finalist in 2015, again is in the running and joined by Charlotte, Munising, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian and 2014 finalist Traverse City West. This year’s pool of 22 applicants was the second-largest in Battle of the Fans history and largest since 2013.
Battle of the Fans V, organized by MHSAA staff and its 16-member Student Advisory Council, will reward the cheering section that best creates the positive and festive atmosphere made possible when students show enthusiasm, togetherness and sportsmanship while rooting for their team. MHSAA staff and Student Advisory Council members will visit all five finalists for home boys basketball games during the second half of this regular season, with coverage and video from those visits and the announcement of the winner all to be published on Second Half.
Schools were invited in December to submit short videos, via YouTube, of their cheering sections in action. The winner will be announced Feb. 19, and video of all five sections will be played on the Breslin Center HD scoreboard during the Finals in March. The champion and finalists also will be recognized during the Boys Semifinals on March 25.
This year’s finalists include at least one school from each MHSAA Class – A, B, C and D – and 16 of 22 finalists received at least one top-five vote from a member of the Student Advisory Council.
“This was not only one of the largest, but top-to-bottom it's one of the strongest fields of applicants we’ve had during the five years of Battle of the Fans,” said Andy Frushour, MHSAA director of brand management and advisor to the Student Advisory Council. “It shows this program is growing. Schools know about it and look forward to taking part. And most importantly, the message is continuing to spread that students can have a blast rooting on their classmates in a positive way.”
Video submissions included explanations on how each section met the following contest criteria: positive sportsmanship, student body participation, school spirit, originality of cheers, organization of the group, student section leadership and overall fun.
Click the links below to see the videos submitted by the finalists:
Charlotte - Munising - Muskegon Western Michigan Christian - Traverse City West - Yale
The winner will be selected by another Advisory Council vote based in part on activity on the MHSAA’s social media sites. All social media postings regarding Battle of the Fans V should include the hashtag #BOTF. The MHSAA will post throughout the finalists tour on its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sites and Snapchat feed.
Finalists will be visited for the following home basketball games:
Jan. 15: Armada at Yale
Jan. 23: Spring Lake at Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
Feb. 4: Traverse City Central at Traverse City West
Feb. 5: Eben Junction Superior Central at Munising
Feb. 12: Parma Western at Charlotte
Big Rapids, Detroit U-D Jesuit, Dowagiac, Tawas and Wayland, listed here in alphabetical order, rounded out the top 10 in the vote to select the finalists. Dowagiac was last year's champion, following Frankenmuth in 2012, Buchanan in 2013 and Beaverton in 2014.
This year’s applicants brought the total number of schools that have entered the contest at least once to 75, with Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard – a finalist in 2013 – the only school to apply all five years. Traverse City West has applied three times, Munising and Yale twice, and Charlotte and Western Michigan Christian were first-time entrants this year. There were 15 first-time applicants total, also including Big Rapids, Detroit U-D Jesuit, Fulton-Middleton, Holland, Imlay City, Manton, Norway, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Tawas, Utica Ford, Walled Lake Western, Wayland and Wyoming Godwin Heights. Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary applied for the second time.
Click to view all applications on YouTube.
The contest is sponsored in part by the United Dairy Industry of Michigan, which promotes Michigan's locally-produced dairy products and nutrition education.
Rules plus links to last year’s coverage of the contest can be found on the BOTF page of the MHSAA site.
The Student Advisory Council is made up of eight seniors and eight juniors who each serve two-year terms. The Council acts as the voice of Michigan's student-athletes; it serves as a student sounding board for the MHSAA's Representative Council, assists in planning Sportsmanship Summits, Captains Clinics and other student leadership events; participates in a yearly focus group about the state of high schools sports for Michigan State University's Institute for the Study of Youth Sports and assists with medal ceremonies at MHSAA championship events.
PHOTOS: MHSAA Battle of the Fans finalists cheer on their teams, clockwise from top left: Buchanan, Dowagiac, Yale, St. Johns and Beaverton.
Battle of the Fans: Halftime is G.R. Christian's Time
January 29, 2012
GRAND RAPIDS – For many high school hoops fans, halftime is a break – perhaps an opportunity to grab a pop or some popcorn, catch up with old friends, or at least take a seat and catch a breath.
But for the Grand Rapids Christian student cheering section, it’s no time for rest. Those 10 minutes might be when Eagle Nation does its best work.
For this “Battle of the Fans” finalist and its six senior leaders, halftime is their time. Some schools play music between halves, or run contests on the floor. At Grand Rapids Christian, everyone knows that after two quarters of supporting the play on the court, the halftime action is in the stands.
It’s cheer after cheer after cheer, with only a few 20-second breaks along the way.
“People get into it, and it’s over in a flash,” senior Jesse Ludema said.
“We frown on down time,” senior Evan Metcalf added. “You can have down time when you get home.”
Grand Rapids Christian is one of five finalists for the MHSAA Student Advisory Council’s “Battle of the Fans” competition. MHSAA staff visited both the Eagles and Reese on Friday after starting the tour Jan. 21 at Frankenmuth. Trips will be made to both Rockford and Petoskey over the next three weeks, with videos posted of all five finalists on the MHSAA Facebook page. After an online vote and SAC discussion, the winner will be announced on Feb. 24. Clips from all five MHSAA-produced videos will be shown during the Girls and Boys Basketball Finals in March at the Breslin Center.
Eagle Nation prides itself on bringing the same enthusiasm to every game. But it was tough to ignore the extra juice Friday, with Grand Rapids Christian facing rival East Grand Rapids. The schools are just 2.5 miles apart, and their two football games this fall received hype statewide.
Eagle Nation’s senior leaders contributed in those grudge matches as well – but from their spots in the stands. “Our school is better served with us in the stands than on the field,” senior Joe Schierbeek laughed.
Ludema sarcastically agreed: “They don’t need my ‘huge’ muscles; they need our loud voices.”
So what happened when Grand Rapids Christian’s second-quarter buzzer sounded?
Students go bananas in a cheer led by costumed senior leader Cody Powers. Each Eagles class – seniors through freshmen – takes its turn doing a collective hip shake, a favorite in the Eagle’s Nest. A boxer throws left and right uppercuts before landing a knockout blow that falls the entire section backward. And on this night, Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo was in attendance and got some love from Eagle Nation – although it is only unconfirmed speculation that Izzo was there to check in on the “Battle of the Fans” craze.
Eagle Nation plans a theme for every home game, and Friday was all about neon. More than 400 students packed the sections behind the north basket, glowing in all hues of neon covering T-shirts, tank tops, pants, socks and head bands. Those six leaders each wore a hot pink tank top, with one letter painted on each spelling E-A-G-L-E-S. With help of the administration, the leaders even sold bright $1 bandannas to everyone in the student section to top off the neon look. Even the basketball team got into the act: Players surprised their classmates by wearing neon-green ankle tape and those same neon bandannas during warm-ups.
While Eagle Nation had been loud in the past, this level of organization debuted this school year. Before, the students were always told to just cheer louder, but without much of a plan. Now, there’s a Facebook group. Theme nights are mentioned with other school announcements. On Friday, leaders held a lunchtime pep assembly for student section members, and they had a similar training assembly with eighth graders earlier last week.
Leaders also take seriously the word “Christian” spelled out in the name on their team's uniforms. Being an example of their faith is a priority.
“People don’t see what happens in our school every day. And when they come to games, they see our student section, and they take that as an example of who we are as a school,” Powers said. “So we want to show them who are, and that’s why we value character.”
“That’s not to say we don’t get rowdy, though,” Schierbeek quickly interjected.
In the end, it’s all about having fun – a theme that played loudly in Frankenmuth as well. Metcalf watched the Frankenmuth video with a big smile. “Let’s visit them,” he said. "We can have a fan section dance party.”
But first the focus is on winning the “Battle of the Fans,” which to this student section is its “state finals.”
With his voice almost gone, Ludema gave some advice to the other finalists.
“Cheer loud,” he said. “And get some throat lozenges.”
View Grand Rapids Christian's application video, created by GRCHS senior Andrew Pruim.
PHOTOS by Grand Rapids Christian junior Janina Pollatz.Report by the MHSAA's Andy Frushour.