SAC Sounds Off on School Sports
By
Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
February 17, 2017
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
During a school year in which much of the focus is on, and coming from, student-athletes in Michigan and around the country, what better stage is there on which to showcase the MHSAA Student Advisory Council?
Following are thoughts and opinions from various SAC members as they relate to defining and defending educational athletics.
Jack Donnelly
Ottawa Lake Whiteford senior
Football, Baseball
Role as a SAC Member: “As an SAC member, I’ve learned a lot about being a good student and good role model for others. I try to bring back the points that I learn from our sessions to the team that I am on; to set a good example for others, especially the underclassmen. I figure if the underclassmen learn it now, it will only help them later.”
School Sports vs. Non-School: “I love the school spirit that things like the ‘Battle of the Fans’ emphasize. School sports should be about spirit and communities.”
Most Enjoyable Aspects: “The best part of high school sports, I feel, is being part of a team and the enjoyment that comes from being a close-knit group. There are lots of guys who I’ve been playing football with now since the third grade. That’s a bond that will last forever.”
Lindsay Duca
East Grand Rapids senior
Volleyball, Lacrosse
Role as a SAC Member: “Reminding and encouraging my teammates on the field/court as well as my fellow peers in the student section – a unique component of school sports – to cultivate an amicable surrounding for all of those engaging in the competition is a constant duty I perform to help my school emulate MHSAA values.”
School Sports vs. Non-School: “High school sports are played by student-athletes, and the academic component of that title always takes priority. This gives high school sports a healthier and more balanced environment as schoolwork and academic achievement are equally important, something that is entirely disregarded in club, rec, and even often college athletics. Playing for the fun of the game and appreciating each teammate as integral to the success of the team I think are also essential elements of high school sports that make it such a quality and genuine experience.”
Most Enjoyable Aspects: “I love the sense of community that school sports foster, one that can not only be seen around the high school but enveloping the entire town. Playing for the name written on your jersey, one that has been worn and passed down by past players who loved the game just like you, gives you a purpose, a more meaningful sense of belonging and identity than just a kid on a court. That is a pretty special opportunity.”
Cade Smeznik
Yale senior
Football, Basketball, Baseball
Most Enjoyable Aspects: “I enjoy the fans and intensity of the games. The fans make a real difference in games because when you have a huge crowd cheering you on, you want to give them a good game. The fans can also dictate how a game can go, like in basketball when you have a loud crazy student section, opponents get intimated and it hypes you and your teammates up and can swing the game in your favor.”
School vs. Non-School: “There's no better feeling than playing in front of your hometown under the lights on Friday night or on any night, especially rivalry games or playoff games which bring most of the community together and create such an intense atmosphere you can't help but love it.”
Sydney Hanson
Alma junior
Cross Country, Basketball, Soccer
Role as a SAC Member: “As a SAC member I feel like it's my job to display myself as a leader in my sports, and support all the other sports. I need to convey a demeanor that motivates my school to follow MHSAA messages. Also, I will try to take opportunities I get to teach students about what MHSAA really is about, because many don't really know what it is.”
Most Enjoyable Aspects: “I most enjoy the team aspect of sports. I love the bond that is created with my teammates and how if you are a close-knit team, it shows in your performance.”
Hunter Gandee
Temperance Bedford junior
Wrestling
Most Enjoyable Aspects: “I enjoy the bonding between teammates. Bonding that doesn't just happen on the field but also in the classroom, and at other athletic and non-athletic events. I also enjoy the sense of pride for one’s high school and holding up traditions.”
Marissa Immel
Munising senior
Volleyball, Tennis, Basketball, Golf, Track & Field
Most Enjoyable Aspects: “I really enjoy competing and working with my teammates to achieve our goals. I also enjoy meeting new people and making friends with opposing players!”
Alex Janosi
Dexter senior
Swimming, Water Polo
Role as a SAC Member: “I can do a lot by doing the right thing at a high level. By competing at a high level of play, most of the eyes are on such athletes. Doing simple things to show what sports are really about make a big impact on the high school community. From simply shaking someone's hand to running a sportsmanship summit, I can do a lot as a SAC member.”
School Sports vs. Non-School: “I think the big thing is just knowing why you play sports. We play to get energy out and have fun. At the higher levels, it's a job and adds more stress to the player's life.”
Most Enjoyable Aspects: “I enjoy being part of community that supports everyone. It's fun to be able to play for all those people you represent and to know they will be there for you.”
Darby Dean
Lowell junior
Football (Fr., Soph.), Soccer, Basketball
Role as a SAC Member: “To deliver the right message to our communities, we need to cultivate a motivated group of students within our communities who have the same thoughts and ideas as to what high school sports offer.”
School Sports vs. Non-School: “A few things that are a part of high school sports that lack in other levels are a sense of investment to a certain activity, the idea of wearing and taking pride in your school and community colors, and civic mindedness. As compared to club sports or recreational sports, I believe high school sports give an opportunity to high schoolers to honor their school and their community colors in something bigger than themselves. Not only that, but it gives the chance for kids to work with kids they have grown up around for the majority of their lives.”
Most Enjoyable Aspects: “Again, I believe one of my favorite parts about high school sports is being able to represent my school and community in something bigger than myself. Also, I believe nothing beats the feeling of winning a big game against a rival with my best friends right on the field with me.”
PHOTO: East Grand Rapids’ Lindsay Duca (22), a member of the MHSAA Student Advisory Council, looks for an open teammate during last season’s Girls Lacrosse Division 2 Final.
Fighting Irish Stand Together
February 7, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
ANN ARBOR – The day Bridget was taken off her ventilator, all of Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard gathered in the school’s chapel to pray for the 12-year-old member of their family who soon would finish her fight against a rare form of brain cancer.
Senior Adam Olszewski had never seen anything like it. He’s been around the school through the careers of multiple siblings and understands what makes his school a special place. But “her story touched everyone,” he said. “That’s the closest I've ever seen the Richard community.”
The saddest days at Gabriel Richard have only a slight connection with the Fighting Irish’s student cheering section, a finalist in this season’s MHSAA Battle of the Fans II.
But the collective camaraderie present as the school and community mourned signifies the solidarity that has made cheering at the “The Greenhouse” a decade-long tradition and regular part of student life.
“People who come through Richard or are around the Richard community, they say they see something different in how people interact with each other, how close we are,” Olszewski said. “It’s on a different level.”
And that togetherness was easy to recognize during the MHSAA’s Battle of the Fans visit Tuesday for the Fighting Irish’s boys basketball game against Madison Heights Bishop Foley.
Gabriel Richard – which finished sixth in the selection of five finalists for last season’s inaugural BOTF contest – was the third stop on this year’s tour. The MHSAA also has visited reigning champion Frankenmuth and Vandercook Lake, with trips coming up to Zeeland East and Buchanan before Facebook voting begins Feb. 19. The champion will be announced Feb. 22 on Second Half.
Olszewski’s memories of the Irish’s cheering section go back into the early 2000s. His oldest brother Jeff led it as well before graduating in 2008, and even before his family played a part, Adam remembers seeing mentions of the section in the local newspaper.
That recognition through the years has meant a lot to Gabriel Richard, which has 515 students and is much smaller than three Class A schools also sharing the city – Huron (1,810 students), Pioneer (1,670), and Skyline (1,645) – and its local media spotlight.
But in another obvious way, Gabriel Richard is different than its three larger counterparts. It’s a Catholic school, drawing students from multiple Catholic feeder schools, and in turn, multiple communities that border Ann Arbor.
Developing togetherness would seem to be difficult with students coming from various places each day. But the opposite has been true.
As Olszewski explained, the students at Gabriel Richard can find their own niches – sports, or drama, art or other interests. The classes also have retreats each year that bind them tighter.
At a school Gabriel Richard’s size, everyone knows everyone else at least by name or face, and at one point Tuesday the cheering section chanted for a cheerleader by name, at other times did the same for individual players, and Olszewski jokingly scolded individuals throughout the section as he led the cheers and kept the group organized.
The Irish cheerers can be found just about everywhere, even when multiple teams are playing on the same night. On Friday, a spirit bus will take students to the school’s hockey game before bringing them back to watch the boys basketball team. The section has shown up plenty of other places from Comerica Park for the Catholic League baseball final to the school’s powder puff football games.
“We’re definitely bonded,” senior Aaron Tishkoff said. “As a student section, we pride ourselves like that. … I had a friend ask, why can’t we do this at our school? People just won’t do it. And we’re like, we've always done that. That’s just what we do at basketball games.”
“When I got here, the first few (games), it was a lot different,” said senior Blaise Stearns, who transferred from another area school midway through last year. “Everyone comes here and just has fun. You get more close with everybody.”
A major bonding point is the school’s annual "Masquerade for Mott," a fundraiser for C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan. In its fourth year, the event includes nearly two weeks of fundraisers and cheering section theme nights, with the main event next Tuesday’s boys basketball game at Detroit Catholic Central – which joined with Gabriel Richard last year to create a fundraising competition.
A friend of Olszewski’s died last year from a heart condition, and he visited Mott to present the check from the 2012 "Masquerade." On Friday, the cheering section will have a “Zebra Night” in honor of Bridget, who was a big fan of the Gabriel Richard football team and whose favorite animal was a zebra.
Although Bridget’s older brother is an underclassmen at the high school, most of its students didn't know her. But they did know her story and felt bonded by being part of Gabriel Richard – and coming together in her honor again Friday will mean a lot.
Like they have this week for “Superhero Night,” “Beach Night,” and “’70s Night,” they’ll join together to have a good time for a good cause. The message is simple: This is fun. This is what we do. And this is what we'll continue to do when the next class takes over leadership at the front of the crowd.
“It’s a positive attitude, especially if they see the senior guys like us having a positive attitude. It’s really easy for them to follow,” Wolf said. It’s been a tradition here for so long. It’s not that hard for us to do. Kids know it’s Friday night, we go to a basketball game. That’s what we do; we go and have fun and we participate in the student section.”
Subway is a sponsor of this season's Battle of the Fans II contest.
PHOTO: (Top) Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard students follow leader Adam Olszewski as they ride the "roller coaster" during Tuesday's boys basketball game against Madison Heights Bishop Foley. (Middle) "Moses" emerges from the top of the Gabriel Richard student section. (Photo courtesy of Todd Sexton.)