Many students may have seen the snapchat stories on their phone with a particular slogan: “LET THE FANS CHEER.” This slogan has evolved into a campaign of sorts, for the conflict between a particular group of students and the administration at Terra Linda High School, as well as a few other individuals.

Although many schools and students, even parents, have been cheering intensely at various high school sporting events, things got out of hand between a group of Terra Linda High School seniors, a few sports officials, and the administration this year. This ongoing conflict began at the first Novato soccer game, where a group of TL seniors were, according to senior and student body president Jeff Weiner, “kicked out [of the game] unjustly because of [Novato’s] athletic director.” Senior Noah Savelli, who was at the game, mentioned that the Terra Linda fans, in this particular case, were solely cheering positively for them team.

Before any of these incidents occurred, Katy Dunlap, Terra Linda High School’s principal, recognized that sports seasons like basketball and soccer are relatively rowdy, and decided that some of the boys she knew were going to cheer for their team should attend an MCAL behavioral meeting. This particular group of boys were given a set of rules and regulations by the MCAL board of athletics. Like any set of rules, interpretation is subjective. MCAL Cheering Rules PDF (1)

Patrick McNamara, who attended the MCAL behavior meeting, says that he knew the athletic director’s warning at the Novato soccer game was unjust, because they were simply chanting “Trojan Nation,” and cheering for their team, which the athletic director found to be disrespectful. Savelli mentioned that the athletic director was also very strict with other parents from both schools, and the way he was conducting himself on the job was “immature.” Savelli did admit to getting angry and throwing a few swear words at the athletic director after many incidents of unfair warnings, which may have added flames to the fire.

After the game, the students were disciplined by TL administration. Savelli says Dunlap gave the students a chance to “speak for themselves and take ownership of their participation.” She gave them the chance to write down a punishment that the students felt applied to each of them specifically. Some said suspension from a couple games, some said suspension from away games, some said suspension from five games, etc.

However, since this incident, there have still been several instances where these seniors have had warnings from the referees, complaints from parents, and more, about their cheering.

Weiner mentions that the issues between this particular group of fans and the administration has been going on way before the whole “Let the Fans Cheer” campaign, and says that “Let the Fans Cheer” was essentially a reaction, due to the bad reffing and the punishments the boys were receiving for standing up for their players.

A lot of the issue is interpreting what cheers are offensive and what are not. The chant “air ball,” which the boys have been warned about, or cited for in past games, has been a popular cheer since essentially the beginning of basketball. Although it can be interpreted as an individual remark, which is marked as inappropriate by the MCAL board of athletics, it is relatively general, and almost tradition.

This group of boys understands that a few of the remarks thrown out at the games may have come across as extreme, such as a direct quote I heard from a home soccer game towards the referee, “Is that whistle the only thing you blow?” This type of comment was generated from a long term relationship between a particular referee and this group of senior boys. The students believe he makes terrible calls, singles them out as students, and is not respectful to them, leading to lack of motivation to reciprocate the respect. Some of them did not believe that their disrespectful remarks hurt the team or turned the referee against Terra Linda’s sports team. McNamara quotes, “If you’re a bad ref, you’re gonna be a bad ref.” However, Savelli says that if the referee has had negative experiences with a school’s fan group, there will be biased calls. That being said, Savelli also mentions how frustrating calls affect not just their particular group of fans, but parents and coaches as well, and will push multiple groups of people to react. Savelli says about the varsity soccer team specifically, “It’s an NCS championship team, it’s pretty important.” This indicates that people will get fired up and serious about a team that is so valuable for Terra Linda High School.

McNamara also comments on some mixed messages from authority figures. He mentions that some of the referees would laugh at a comment thrown at a particular player for comedic purposes, such as “hit the weight room.” Savelli also notes that even after a parent complained about the cheers at a basketball game, a teacher was sitting with the students throughout the game, and gave them no warning that they were doing something wrong. In addition to that, an assistant coach from the TL basketball team was actually encouraging the boys to keep cheering and remain excited, because he thought it was helping the players.

Usually, the cheering does help the players. Hesler Deleon, a senior and key player of the varsity soccer team, thinks that the cheering does help the team perform better, and that he values that so many students support the team.

The main issue is that the passion of the students for the game and taking their teams to the next level was misinterpreted, and it escalated into individual remarks and conflicts with referees. Referees make bad calls, and people get upset; it’s often difficult to find the line between pumping up the team and being actively supportive, and becoming offensive, aggressive, and unnecessarily “rowdy.” That being said, our school has great athletes, and a group of students who cheer too much, which is certainly more helpful than a group who cheers too little. We have the right idea, it’s just making sure our sports fans keep the good intentions that they started with, and that the administration acknowledges this intention of support, and recognizes it when addressing the situation.