Pleasant Valley’s football team has had a successful start to the 2017 season with a 3-0 record. A contributor to this success, in addition to the team’s hard work and dedication, may be the enthusiasm and excitement of the fans. For the first time in PV history, frontline consists of both male and female members. The lively group, just large enough to spell out ‘Spartan Nation’, is composed of eight boys and five girls. One of those boys is Will Bogner.
Bogner, a senior, is the head of this year’s frontline and the first to have chosen girls to be a part of it. “I just thought that there was no reason to not have [girls] on it.” For him, frontline is all about having fun and being loud. Bogner says, “I just wanted to make this year fun and as memorable as possible.” And he is off to a great start.
Female member Cami Hunter shares her thoughts on PV’s first coed frontline: “I think it’s awesome having girls on frontline! It’s super cool our grade is being inclusive because anyone should be able to show school spirit no matter their gender!”.
This year’s frontline, just like previous years, has a game day ritual of tailgating in the Scott Community College parking lot prior to gametime. Hunter says that the tradition “gets them hype” and their goal is “to be as hype as possible!”. Going into her third season of PV girls varsity basketball this winter, Hunter understands how much it means to have student support at games.
Senior Arthur Braden also knows how important it is for students to cheer on the school’s sports teams. Four years of varsity football experience and three years as starting running back for the Spartans has exposed Braden to a number of different frontlines. However, he explains that this year’s frontline tops any other frontline he has witnessed.
“I think having girls on our frontline is amazing! It’s great for our seniors to allow girls on frontline,” says Braden. The energy affects Braden’s playing in many ways such as bringing excitement whenever they cheer. He believes that the cheering is contagious and makes the team go harder each and every play in order to impress their student body.
Braden comments on the student section: “I believe this frontline and student section is better because not only are seniors, but all the classes are cheering for us which is the way it should be!”. According to him, students seem to be more enthusiastic this season.
Member of the cheer squad, Emma Elceser, agrees that this is the most energetic frontline she has seen in her four years as a varsity cheerleader. To her, the crowd seems to be just as loud in the fourth quarter as it is in the first.
“I think frontline should be open to whoever is willing to come to each game and cheer on the football team,” Elceser says. “Whether it be all girls, all boys or a mixture, as long as they’re in the stands having fun, then it really doesn’t matter. Getting the entire student section involved, including the freshmen, is something that this year’s frontline is particularly good at,” explains Elceser.
The frontline, along with the student section, impacts not only the football players, but the cheerleaders as well. The cheers started by the cheer squad are meant for crowd involvement and Elceser states, “It’s so much fun for us when the crowd yells or joins in on the words of our cheers.”
Seniors on frontline, Ben Decker and Jack Angell, cheer animatedly during the football game against hometown rival, Bettendorf, on Sept 11, 2018 effectively getting others in the student section energized.
