The music, adrenaline, glitter, beach balls, cheers and most importantly students are what make the West-East game a yearly success. Imagine having a night like that every

Friday night. That is the overall goal of the Bellevue West Spirit club this year.

“Spirit Club is absolutely awesome. It’s something we’ve talked about for a long time. Our spirit has been kind of lacking, which is surprising because we have really good teams,” activities director Kevin Broderick said.

The purpose of Spirit Club is to make Bellevue West’s school spirit better.

“I think we are making it better because we’re doing a lot of things that make all kinds of students want to come to the games or events. We’re not just focusing on one group, we’re trying to make all of them equally as important,” junior Courtney Nunes said. She actively participates in the Spirit Club.

Pumping up school spirit is not only going to make the experience of the game better, but also will affect how the players perform as well. The cheering crowd makes the players feel even better about the game.

“It gets our adrenaline going and just makes us ready to play. It also helps in close situations and makes us play much harder,” junior Brayden Knapp said.

The club started during the Leadership Summit this year. Students noticed the lack of spirit at Bellevue West, and thought it would be a good idea to start a Spirit Club.

It is believed the performance of the basketball players will be much better if there are students filling up the student section. Not only does this help everybody’s school spirit, but our team as well.

“I honestly believe our crowd is one of the reasons why we won that one extra point at the first home game,” Broderick said.

To increase the amount of school spirit at Bellevue West, the Spirit Club has a lot of exciting things planned. The couch is not the only thing that has made a premiere this year. Towels and t-shirt guns might be purchased.

“We are doing little things. We got the spinners going made by Mr. Nadgwick and the woods classes. Art classes painted the spinners and they should be recognized for that. I love the theme days, and I like the different songs played. We will do different activities with the crowd,” Broderick said.

The Spirit Club is also working with the Thunderettes and the cheerleaders. Many people are working together to make this school full of spirit. It takes everybody to make this happen.

“The student section this year is a lot more positive and energetic so far, and they are really into the game,” Nunes said.
Getting students to come support the players creates a very fun and positive environment for everybody, including teachers and parents.

“It’s the whole overall environment that is just awesome. It’s fun to be there,” Broderick said.

This year’s student section has the potential to be greater than last year. It could make things fun for everyone who attends the games.
“Compared to last year with no Spirit Club we had very few students and this year with Spirit Club we have twice as many students coming to our games,” Knapp said.

Showing spirit involves dressing up for theme days, attending the games, being a positive supporter, and having faith in all of the teams. When students show their spirit, it makes players feel good about what they are doing. Administrators want students to come to games, despite what students think, because it makes Bellevue West a more positive place.

“I’ll take the stress because I love it. I love, love, love big crowds. I want to have a ton of students there having a great time. That is very important. If the West-East game is that much fun, let’s do it every game,” Broderick said.

Chloe Brim
Reporter