The beginning of each school year comes with an array of sports games that many Wilmington Friends students take part in, in one way or another. Although participating in a sport each year is required at Friends, extreme devotion and support for the team is not. Wilmington Friends is an example of how students go above and beyond when it comes to supporting their fellow classmates at the events. Whenever there is a sports game occurring the whole school is aware of it. Each player of a sports team will show up to school wearing a specific dress code, such as all black or neon, to express how dedicated each of them are to their sport. This not only allows other students to become aware of the game and attend it, but it also allows the team to express themselves.

Even without being a part of any sport at Wilmington Friends, students experience what it is like to be in a gym or field filled with devoted fans. Cat Clark ‘16, said, “Although I do not participate in any of the Friends sports teams due to the fact that I participate in crew outside of school, I still get really pumped about going to volleyball and football games throughout the school year.”

Although the cheering is usually kept within reasonable and appropriate measures, there are times when the cheering seems to get fans kicked out of the game for being too rowdy or distracting. Some argue that fans should be allowed to go to a sporting event and express themselves because it is seen as a freedom of expression. On the contrary, others believe that sporting events should have limits because the ones that end up getting kicked out have gone too far. Sydney Gardner ‘16, commented, “I feel people should be able to cheer as loudly as they want to for their team but I think that doing things like yelling at the referee is crossing the line.” Although many other people shared the same opinion as Gardner, there were a few who felt the opposite. Spanish teacher Chamby Zepeda says “I feel the fans should go crazy when cheering for their team, I don’t think there is anything disrespectful or wrong about cheering on your classmates in a positive, energetic manner.”

The student section is often filled with chanting students. The amount of time and effort that fans put into supporting their school at games shows how much sports really can be seen as a freedom of expression. When asked about her devotion to WFS sports, Louisa Spinner ‘18, said, “This year I decided to become the manager of the volleyball team because every year before I went to every game anyway, so it was a bonus to be able to help out the team and have a bus ride to every away game.”

Whether it’s soccer, football, volleyball, track, or a different sport altogether, each team has their own unique ways of expressing themselves, and each team has their own set of devoted fans. Although every sports fans might not be as loud as the others, they are all seen as a freedom of expression. Though some people may think the catchy phrases and crazy outfits should be kept to a minimum, others feel that the chanting is a freedom of expression. Overall, fans cheering is a form of freedom of expression.