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Dowagiac Unites to Launch 'Attack'

February 16, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

DOWAGIAC – Nate Hiler was sitting silently in a mostly-silent social studies class when he erupted. Senior Trenton Lesniak burst out of another classroom and started yelling down both ends of the hall. Soon teachers were cheering as well as frenzy lifted Dowagiac High School.

It didn’t matter who was where when word came Jan. 12 that the “Attack” had been selected for this winter’s MHSAA Battle of the Fans. In minutes, celebration had taken over the afternoon.

And Friday, eyes began to tear up again when remembering that day – and how Dowagiac’s student cheering section has transformed over the course of its leaders’ high school careers.

From the creation of the “Chieftain Heart” spirit club four years ago to the addition of “Front Row Crew” section leaders before last winter, Dowagiac students with their faculty advisors built to an outcome they never could’ve predicted – and an aspiration they have far surpassed.

“Over the last 3-4 years, all of this has happened just from one thing. It’s become so awesome. I couldn’t have ever imagined that,” Dowagiac senior Sydney Brooks said. “That it would’ve gone that far, become so positive, or so influential. It’s a legacy…. I’m just really proud of Dowagiac.”

Dowagiac hosted the final stop Friday of this year’s MHSAA Battle of the Fans IV finalists tour. The MHSAA also visited Beaverton, Buchanan, St. Johns and Yale this winter in search of the top high school student cheering section in Michigan.

The public may vote for its favorite on the MHSAA’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sites beginning Tuesday, with the MHSAA Student Advisory Council taking results into consideration when selecting the champion after the vote concludes Thursday. This year’s BOTF winner will be announced Friday on Second Half.

Nearly 400 students wearing #Dowagiac United T-shirts filled a corner of Dowagiac’s bleachers for Friday’s girls and boys basketball games against rival Edwardsburg. “Operation Orange” wrapped around their quarter of the gym, around a corner and through the band that holds down one baseline, and into the parents and other adults sitting across the floor from the students.

The collective volume left ears ringing. “The Jack” has to be a daunting place to play.

Friday’s turnout didn’t seem realistic to seniors and juniors who stand at the front of Dowagiac’s student section, who started this fall with much smaller goals – and from a much different place.

When the seniors were freshman, they heard plenty of upperclassmen who were down on their school. To hear those seniors tell it, students complained of nothing to do and couldn’t wait to leave town as soon as they could.

Brooks, then only a freshman, took a major role in starting Chieftain Heart, with its goal to bring some spirit to the halls by decorating before games and giving attention to lesser-known teams.

About 15 students showed up for the first meeting, but the idea took off. There’s no formal membership – students can come and go and help as they please. But evidence of their work was all over the school in advance of Friday’s Homecoming and the BOTF visit.

Chieftain Heart laid the groundwork for propping up school morale – but rebuilding what barely passed as a student section would take more.

Students showed for games. But not necessarily to cheer.

Apathy is one thing. But add in inappropriate gestures to opposing fans, signaling out players on the other team with mean nicknames, Twitter wars with opponents every game … it paints an unfortunate picture.

The Front Row Crew was a solution cooked up last year by English teacher and advisor Dustin Cornelius based on ideas from student leaders. The 12 students – six girls and six boys – stand in the front row wearing special credentials and are charged with leading the section.

But Dowagiac wasn’t immediately united. The negative culture didn’t change – and juniors Brooks and Alyssa Casey didn’t feel like they had input despite being part of the Crew. The leadership didn’t convince younger students to get involved.

“Looking back on it, it’s sad it had to be that way,” Casey said. “Looking at that and seeing where we are now, the improvement, we never thought we could’ve done that in less than a year.”

The Front Row Crew was remade. Those who wished to be part of the group this fall filled out an application and included a teacher recommendation. Older students received more points in the selection process, but all grades were eligible to apply. The student body voted for their favorites, and teachers had a say as well.

A group of leaders also attended the MHSAA’s fall Sportsmanship Summit in Grand Rapids, where they were immersed in BOTF highlights past and stories of student sections that had turned their schools into somewhere students wanted to be.

Dowagiac’s leaders knew they had the potential to do the same – but seeing how others had led the change gave them more confidence. They started coming up with new cheers on the drive home – but still had to convince their classmates to follow.  

“Nobody had faith in us,” junior Di’maan McGill said. “Everybody was like, ‘This is Dowagiac. People don’t even know where Dowagiac is, let alone how to pronounce it.’” (By the way, it’s three syllables – Doe-wah-jack.)

The next step was a pep rally before the first boys basketball game this winter. The Crew explained sportsmanship, how they planned to show it, and played the BOTF video of last year’s champion, Beaverton, to give their classmates an idea of what they’d like to emulate.

This winter there have been bigger crowds at some Tuesday games than on Fridays last season. The Crew sold 500 shirts for Friday’s Orange Out – to a student body of a few more than 600.

They’ve continued with effective ideas. Students went into an Orange Out on Twitter last week to create more buzz for Friday’s visit. Upperclassmen have been paired with underclassmen to mentor them on being part of the section. And they have a plan for when opposing fans try to provoke a negative response – the Attack chants until it has drowned out the other side.

The district’s four elementary schools decided to have their own Battle of the Fans, and posted videos online to show their spirit. The city put together a video congratulating the Attack on its selection as a finalist.

Dowagiac’s heart had taken hold.

“There just needs to be kids that want it bad enough. We all want it,” Casey said. “Once you get a group, it can be just 3-4 kids and a teacher, just put something together. Once you do something, people will follow you. They don’t want to be the kids not cheering. They want to be a part of it.”

And other schools do too. This season, social media is instead a source of positive feedback – including from opponents.

Some favorite posts:

“When we went there you guys were hype. Props. You guys were classy too, not arrogant.”

“We appreciate that there were no chants directed at us like “sit down (school name)” or “scoreboard” when you guys were up.”

“Let’s get like Dowagiac and support the players!”

“I still don’t like you DHS. But. Good game and I appreciated the sportsmanship presented.”

“They all say they respect us now,” Dowagiac senior Mary Magin said. “And that’s something we’ve never had before.”

School is more fun. Fans feel connected to their teams. The hallways are a friendlier place. Even members of the Front Row Crew who weren’t friends a year ago stand together to lead a united effort.  

None of this was lost on senior Kenny Sanchez as he led the pep rally at the high school Friday afternoon. The magnitude of the moment weighed heavy on his emotions as well as he thanked his classmates for believing in the idea they’ve made a reality.

“In the beginning, they kind’ve think you’re crazy. If you’re trying to change something or be different, they just think you’re weird and don’t want to go with you – at first,” Brooks said. “Once you get more people to do it, they see it’s not crazy; it’s a really good thing.”

PHOTOS: (Top) Dowagiac students cheer during Friday's basketball games against Edwardsburg. (Middle) Leaders of the "Front Row Crew" get the "Attack" student section revved for tip-off. (Photos courtesy of Scott Rose.)

No Place Buchanan’s Herd Would Rather Be

February 17, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor 

BUCHANAN – Cailin Gunn was new at Buchanan entering eighth grade, and she was shy. What’s more, eighth graders in her district are housed in the same building as the high schoolers, which understandably could be intimidating.

She went to only one basketball game that season, in 2013-14. But the wall of Bucks cheering on their team easily caught her attention.

And then Jessica Lee, another eighth grader that year, and her friends invited Gunn to join the “Herd” – at that point the reigning Battle of the Fans II champion.

“She was scared, and we all took her in,” Lee said. “Because I know it is scary going to a new school. So the Herd was like, we’re open to everyone. Everybody come join.”

Also an eighth-grader at that time, Kevin Frost was tucked into a top corner of “The Woods” as section leaders whose names remain easy to recall helped Buchanan’s become an example to be followed statewide.

“We just got to see them in action. It was just amazing to watch,” said Frost, who with Lee and Gunn is among current Herd leaders. “I don’t know how to describe it. When we won on a buzzer beater at the ‘Mean Stinks’ game – just to be part of that; it’s come full circle. To be down leading everyone else, it’s indescribable.”

The tradition indeed lives on. The MHSAA’s visit to Buchanan for Friday’s boys basketball game against Berrien Springs was its fourth in seven years of Battle of the Fans and the last of three finalists tour stops for this year’s BOTF VII.

We met with section leaders Gunn, Lee, Frost, fellow seniors Madison Schau and Kenneth Stuckey and junior Garret Lollar to learn more about how they’ve both carried on and added to the Herd’s legacy.

As with our first two finalists tour reports on Petoskey’s Blue Crew and Boyne City’s Rambler Rowdies, below is our review of an evening hanging with the Bucks. Following again the format of a typical game night, we begin with the Herd’s suggestions for other student sections getting started and video from our visit and then tell more of the story behind a group that continues to rock the bleachers.

Buchanan’s Gameplan

Take some of these tips from Buchanan’s Herd:

• Be positive – in planning and performance. It all starts with the right attitude, Lollar said, and that starts with the process behind the scenes and carries over to the fun in the stands.

• Don’t be scared. That advice covers a number of scenarios. Don’t be scared to come to a student section meeting with older classmates or many you don’t know. Don’t be scared to share your opinion. And never be scared to dance with your section when the rest of the crowd is watching.

• Make it all about fun. The more fun you’re having, the more tightly-knit your section will become.

• Work together. The Herd has a large group of leaders, but they work to make all of their individual ideas mesh together. That allows them to collect a lot of great ones – and keep everyone in a large group engaged as well.

Pregame Prep

As an established section for most of this decade, the Herd generally enters a school year with a running start.

Tradition and expectations are set, thanks in part to a group of teachers who are passionate about facilitating whatever the Herd needs to be at its best. But students continue to show as well – it’s the usual this year to have 30 or more at the section’s regular meetings.

The Herd from its beginnings at the start of this decade has been about immersing itself in the community. That’s included a lot of things over the years, including being asked to attend events in town that have little to do with the school’s athletics. But it begins with becoming a fabric of the entire school district, which starts in part with section leaders holding “traveling pep rallies” to teach cheers to elementary and middle school students. (The video below was submitted as part of the BOTF "Challenge Round.")

At one traveling pep rally, Gunn and her fifth-grade sister led a cheer together. Another poignant moment unfolded when kids ran up to Lee later on because they recognized her from a pep rally and wanted to show her some of the cheers they’d learned.

“They saw me as a leader, and I like to be a leader,” Lee said. “And I think that’s another thing I like about the Herd: I see myself in them. I was you once, and now I’m … the people who led it before.”

For this year’s application video, the Herd rallied its classmates during the final days before holiday break to shoot a lip dub. Leaders went that route because they wanted to offer something that hadn’t been done as part of BOTF before – but also, the lip dub allowed them to show off more than just a basketball game night. The run through the school’s hallways included appearances by a number of sports teams, school clubs and social groups that all have some ownership in the section.

Herd leaders have an inside joke that while the section has always been good, it went through some “dark ages” before experiencing a “renaissance” this year. This BOTF candidacy is topping things off. 

“I feel like this has been our entire high school (career),” Schau said. “We’ve been part of the Herd since we got into the high school. … It’s something we’ve always done, all the way through. So our passion’s really strong this year.”

Game Time

“Tonight for sure, you’re going to see some bad dancing,” Stuckey said. “I’m one of them, but we’re going to let it all out.”

The Woods are alive from before tip-off until long after the final buzzer. There are plenty of traditions – the speaker system pipes in music during quarter breaks and halftimes for a full section dance party, and during play the cheers and chants are ones the Herd has made regulars over the years – and taught to all of those younger students coming up so they’re ready to step in as high schoolers.

Community indeed runs deep. On this night, Buchanan’s 1977-78 Class C champion boys basketball team was featured for a halftime reunion. As would make sense, the Herd wasn’t really involved – but then received a giant shout-out at the end of the ceremony from retired coach Mike Rouse.

A few other things that stuck out on this night: Halftime kicked off with a full section conga line around the gym. And as it’s done since 2012-13, the Herd finished the night after the game had ended singing a song from the stands with the team and many from the community filling the floor.

Also recognizable were faces in other sections of the gym of at least a few alums we’d seen in years past. That support is ongoing – the Herd has received quite a bit of social media action from past grads sharing their pride. They’ve also seen it from visiting fans and even an opposing player who said his school’s student section needed to step up to Buchanan’s level.

The Woods has been shaking things up quite a bit this winter. On the road at places like Niles Brandywine, where it joined that school’s “Pink Out.” Supporting other teams besides basketball, including wrestling and competitive cheer. Unifying with the boys basketball team on Tie-Dye Night, when Bucks players also hit the court dressed to match. Herd leaders are even planning to have a spring cheering section for the first time, supporting those often-forgotten teams as well.

Some Herd leaders weren’t psyched at first with Lollar’s suggestion of Clean Bandit’s “Rather Be” as the soundtrack for the lip dub – they were hoping for something currently popular. But the 2014 jam has grown into this year’s anthem. And Friday, it seemed like no one wanted to go home when the game was done.

“This is really important to us,” Gunn said, “and we really live that saying – there’s no place we’d rather be.”

Postgame Analysis

Please join us: “Instead of coming into high school and it being scary, terrifying, like (these are) bigger people than you, it’s an inviting thing,” Lollar said. “Because you get to have fun with a bunch of people you usually wouldn’t hang out with. In the student section, I stand next to freshmen I don’t talk to (otherwise) ever. But I’m friends with them because we have this.”

Leave a legacy: “I notice when we go on our traveling pep rallies, we see these kids at the elementary school – they’re not even higher than my knee,” Schau said. “And they know the cheers. I don’t know if I was that age and knew how to cheer, but they know the cheers by heart. That’s what makes me want to do it – because those kids know every single cheer. You just grow up. They know now. They know what to do.”

Shy no more: “All of the positivity and all of these people showed me there’s no reason to be scared,” Gunn said. “Something I learned and something other people should learn is you won’t be embarrassed (because) everyone else is doing it around you. It’s a lot of fun.”

We will remember this forever: “It’s something we get to remember (from) high school,” Stuckey said. “There are many kids who can’t be like, ‘We had a student section and we were able to lead it.’ And it’s nice we’re able to say that. The Herd is a family; we’re not just people who know each other, we’re not just a student section. We all care about each other, and it’s nice to have a family away from your real family.”

Next on BOTF: The Buchanan visit concluded this year’s BOTF finalists tour. Beginning Tuesday, fans all over the state may vote for the student section they think should win this year’s contest. Check out Second Half on Tuesday for instructions on how to vote on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The champion will be announced Feb. 23.

Click to see our reports on Petoskey’s Blue Crew and Boyne City’s Rambler Rowdies.

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

PHOTOS: (Top) Buchanan's "Herd" cheers during Friday's boys basketball game against Berrien Springs. (Middle) Classmates follow the beat as Kevin Frost plays drums during a break in the action. (Photos courtesy of Buchanan's yearbook staff.)