The Tigers are tied going into overtime. Suddenly, a player breaks wide open. They’ve got defenders beat. They shoot. They score. They celebrate. The crowd? Well, they go mild.
It’s not an uncommon scene at EHS sporting events. We have athletic programs that are routinely ranked among the nation’s best, yet students can’t seem to fill the bleachers. This lack of school spirit sucks the life out of games, and it’s something that, for once, we’re among the last in the conference in.
A lack of “Tiger Pride” – a phrase I may have heard once in my freshman orientation, only for it to be completely abandoned – is indicative of a culture issue within EHS. New classes of students inherit poor school spirit, and there’s little incentive to build it up, as the bar for student excitement was set on the floor as soon as students first walked in.
Last year’s seniors spent over two school years in a pandemic, making it hard to get into restricted sports games. That means that, while the majority of current students never attended an EHS with mandated masks and social distancing, they still feel the aftershocks of quiet crowds.
Going to school in an environment where packing the house isn’t routine can make it hard to find the motivation to go to regular games, as there’s little social pressure to do so. It’s one thing for students who aren’t fans of sports to skip games, but when diehards can’t make the cross-town trip, the issue becomes clear.
Sure, fans attend senior nights and the homecoming game, but they can’t seem to make it to the biggest field hockey game of the year or a soccer grudge match. Students turn down the chance to see their friends and classmates play in some of the most pivotal moments of the season, even when the best programs in the area or state come to visit.
When O’Fallon’s girls soccer team, which was ranked in the top 50 in the nation by MaxPreps, battled the Tigers last spring, the stands were empty. When Brother Rice came to rematch the 2023 baseball state finals, the outfield seemed more crowded than the bleachers.
Lacking school spirit isn’t a nationwide plague. Schools in Texas and California and Florida constantly go viral for their proud student sections, and the Chicago schools that EHS routinely bests often have far better spirit than we could hope for.
EHS is outclassed even within the Southwestern Conference. Orange Rush pales in comparison to the Kahok Krazies, as purple and white often drowns out orange and black in Edwardsville. At regional tournaments, dozens more Alton or O’Fallon fans make the trip than EHS students.
The issue reaches outside of the realm of athletics, too. Even for homecoming week, where Student Council carefully picked themed dress-up days for students, only a fraction of the school seemed to have any interest in coordinating costumes. I could count on two hands the number of Adam Sandlers and Brats I saw walking around the hallway, and beyond lame onesies, I can’t remember anyone dressing up in their “haunted” best.
Just look at the turnout for homecoming week’s events. The pre-football game tailgate had low attendance outside of the volunteers who had to be there, and events from previous years like the bonfire or movie night being cut in favor of pack-the-house games signal that rebuilding Orange Rush is something that needs dedicated time and effort. If school spirit wasn’t an issue, then merely going to a game wouldn’t be an event warranting multiple Instagram posts.
For many, even the pep rally, which should be the pinnacle of homecoming week, felt more like an obligation than an opportunity. At a rally where the only goal was to raise school spirit, little energy was generated, and students seemed more hyped to be dismissed than for the class videos.
Lackluster school spirit has infected EHS for years, and the long-term side effects are finally being felt. When students from Collinsville or Alton are making the trip to home EHS games more often than Edwardsville students, the issue becomes clear and reflects poorly on Tigers. And when no one appears to care about dress-up days or spirit weeks, that Tiger Pride wanes.
Go to games. Dress up. Support your classmates. It makes all of us look better.