Western Oregon Journal

I think we could all learn a thing or two from the students at my little sister's high school.

This school shall remain nameless to protect the innocent, but to give you a general idea, it's in the Metro League, which includes schools from the Beaverton and Hillsboro School Districts, and Jesuit High School.

Unidentified High School's football team is winless this year. They probably won't win a game all season. They get blown out on a fairly regular basis.

You would expect that a team playing so poorly would have no fans at games, right?

Actually, you'd be wrong.

Unidentified High has ardent supporters game-in and game-out, no matter how many points the opposition scores.

It all started when the varsity-girls soccer team-of which my sister is a member-decided to get all glammed up for the football games. The girls are the football team's own personal cheering section, and they go all out in game preparation. With their tutus (coordinated in school colors), hair, glitter, makeup, wifebeaters and lettermen jackets, they look like whacked-out ballerinas.

"We make our own fun," my sister explained to me one day, and they have a good time.

As a result, their fun seems to be contagious. Much of the rest of the school is following suit.

Morale is high. Comradeship and school spirit flows freely among athletes and non-athletes alike.

Unexpectedly for these soccer ladies, their enthusiasm has come full-circle. Who do you think shows up at the girls' soccer games on a regular basis? Oh, yes: the football players, and in tutus, no less. They yell and cheer and have a good time. They-and other male students-wear shirts both to school and the games that read "Unidentified High varsity soccer chicks rock!"-in black and hot pink, no less.

Our school could be a bit more like Unidentified High. We could get more out of our college experience. More students could come out and rally around the athletic teams. We could dress up, cheer and go a little crazy. After all, these student-athletes are our peers, roommates and friends. We could offer them a little inspiration; I'm sure they wouldn't mind. Our teams are pretty competitive, even if their win-loss records don't always indicate. But even if they lose, so what? We can make our own fun, too.

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