July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Patriot Pre Games (01/25/06)
Cheerleaders and the band
Patriot Pre Games (01/25/06)
By By RAY COONEY-
(This is the last story in a three-part series focusing on the pre-game activities at Jay County High School boys basketball games. The first story, about the players, was published Jan. 11, and the second, about the coach, ran Jan. 18.)
From the giant bell to the giant banners, the Jay County Patriot boys basketball pre-game show put on by the cheerleaders and band should be a familiar sight to fans.
The pre-game show as it is currently constituted has been the same since the mid-to-late 1980s. And most of its pieces date back even further.
It all begins when the band files into the gym just after the start of the fourth quarter of the junior varsity contest, led by the bass drums.
While many, if not most, schools have gone to smaller pep bands, Jay County still brings everything it has — more than 100 strong. They all head to their seats on the end of one side of the lower level of bleachers, across from the home bench.
Already, this is Sousaphone player Cody Grady’s favorite part of the evening.
“It’s awesome shock value,” he says. “We all come in and everyone kind of goes, ‘Wow, that’s a really big band.’ And then you hear our sound and you hear the entire gym get real quiet.”
A few minutes after the band enters, with about four minutes to play, the color guard arrives.
3:00 remaining, JV game
While their JV counterparts continue to cheer, the varsity cheerleaders head to the corner of the gym nearest the Jay County bench. This is where they retrieve the bell.
As the JV game finishes up, the girls will stretch in preparation for a long night of cheering.
On the night of the Patriots’ game against Northeastern in December, this warm-up session also included some fancy dribbling from senior Holly Taylor, who grabbed a ball off the rack which was awaiting the varsity squad. Attempts by some of the other girls were less successful.
20:00, pregame clock
Once the JV teams clear the floor, the cheerleaders take their position on the court. At center court will be the giant white bell with its supports painted red and the word “PATRIOTS” and a circle of stars in blue.
The bell, which came from the tower at the former Bryant High School, is one of the newer parts of the pageantry, but is traditionally wheeled out to its position by the sophomores on the varsity squad. With just two sophomores — Amanda Johnson and Erika Hunt — this year, and Hunt away at a gymnastics meet in Valparaiso, freshman Jessica Beaty gave Johnson a hand.
The cheerleaders then start the chant of, “Hey we want the Patriots”, calling for the players to come out to the floor. When they do, the band wails away on the school song while the cheerleaders accompany with motions which have been in existence since its inception. Again it’s the job of the varsity sophomores to ring the bell before joining in on the dance.
“I like when we bring the bell out and get to do the school song,” said Taylor. “It’s an exciting part, right when the players come out.”
18:30 remaining
While the cheerleaders take off to stretch some more and practice for the end of the pregame show and the game and the fans visit each other and the concession stands, this is the band’s showcase time.
The band will play a selection of songs over the next 15 minutes. Among the favorites, according to band members Jamie Habegger (flute), Ben Wellman (Saxophone), James Heare (trumpet), Laura Vogler (trombone) and Sara Garringer (baritone) and Grady, are “Hey Baby” and “Crazy Train”, both of which involve some vocals.
Also on the list are “Final Countdown”, which led off the set at the Northeastern game, “Land of 1,000 Dances”, “Hang on Sloopy”, “The Horse”, “The Hey Song”, “Takin’ it to the Streets”, “Takin’ Care of Business” and “El Tigre”.
“We try to give the crowd a variety of different things, and hopefully music the boys are getting fired up to,” says first-year band director Kelly Smeltzer. “That’s the whole point of doing it.
“I like to see the kids get into the music they play. It’s just fun to fire the crowd up and the team up too.
“Every year we try to add two or three new (songs), and this year it’s been more than that. I like to add new ones just to keep it fresh ...”
3:00 remaining,
clock frozen
Each team’s cheerleaders may do “hello” cheers to the opposing crowd, followed by the band playing the visiting school song. Smeltzer says it usually takes the previous week to learn the song, unless it is especially difficult or unfamiliar.
Then comes the Jay County school song again, followed by the color guard taking the gym floor. Their performance is usually accompanied by a song with a patriotic them. This year it is “In the Defense of Liberty”.
Most of the fans are already on their feet for the color guard, and remain there as the band plays the national anthem.
3:00 remaining,
clock starts
As the countdown begins, the cheerleaders gather in the corner of the gym by the visiting bench. When the band starts to play a concoction it’s dubbed “The Drum Ditty” they circle the court again, the seniors ending up in front of the home bench.
Then follow the same three cheers/songs which have been used at least since the 1980s.
First is “Go Big Red”, then “Eat ’Em Up”, with the cheerleaders clapping and tumbling throughout. Next is the “Boogie Chant”, junior cheerleader Kayla Cline’s favorite, and something Weaver got from one of her Universal Cheer Association camps about 20 years ago.
2.1 remaining
As the clock ticks into single digits it is stopped for the introduction of the starting lineups. After the visitors are introduced, the big finish comes with the big banners.
As the drummers bang away and PA announcer Barry Weaver introduces the Patriot starting five, several cheerleaders are lifted into the air to display banners with each starter’s name. The banners came into being in the early 1980s, the brainchild of former JCHS athletics secretary Jeannie Habegger. Mindy Weaver turned them into reality, sewing the white letters onto the red and blue banners.
For a while the banners were given to each senior player after graduation, but it was too expensive to make new ones each year. Now Weaver removes seniors names after graduation and will add the names of new varsity players the following year.
In the past the formation has had five cheerleaders in the air, each holding a single banner. But thanks to a smaller squad and some injuries this season, it just three, with two of them holding two banners apiece.
“I like seeing our starting lineup,” said Weaver. “I’ve taken a lot of pictures of that over the years.
“So many times the starting lineups, what we did a long time ago, I thought took away from recognizing the team. This is something where it looks nice and the attention is on the players.”
Senior Jessica Howell and junior Kelsey Bone both enjoy this part the most as well “because all the fans get into it more than anything else,” says Howell. “We were the first ones to do the banners, and everyone copied off of us.”
And then it’s game time.
The cheerleaders head for the sideline, hoping at the conclusion of the game to join the band once more, dancing to the fight song following another Jay County victory.
“Cheer, cheer for Jay County High,
Show us your spirit, show us your pride,
Write our name in history,
By backing our team to victory.
Patriots come and rise to the call,
Red, White, and Blue means pride to us all.
Lift your loyal banners high,
And fight for Jay County High.”[[In-content Ad]]
From the giant bell to the giant banners, the Jay County Patriot boys basketball pre-game show put on by the cheerleaders and band should be a familiar sight to fans.
The pre-game show as it is currently constituted has been the same since the mid-to-late 1980s. And most of its pieces date back even further.
It all begins when the band files into the gym just after the start of the fourth quarter of the junior varsity contest, led by the bass drums.
While many, if not most, schools have gone to smaller pep bands, Jay County still brings everything it has — more than 100 strong. They all head to their seats on the end of one side of the lower level of bleachers, across from the home bench.
Already, this is Sousaphone player Cody Grady’s favorite part of the evening.
“It’s awesome shock value,” he says. “We all come in and everyone kind of goes, ‘Wow, that’s a really big band.’ And then you hear our sound and you hear the entire gym get real quiet.”
A few minutes after the band enters, with about four minutes to play, the color guard arrives.
3:00 remaining, JV game
While their JV counterparts continue to cheer, the varsity cheerleaders head to the corner of the gym nearest the Jay County bench. This is where they retrieve the bell.
As the JV game finishes up, the girls will stretch in preparation for a long night of cheering.
On the night of the Patriots’ game against Northeastern in December, this warm-up session also included some fancy dribbling from senior Holly Taylor, who grabbed a ball off the rack which was awaiting the varsity squad. Attempts by some of the other girls were less successful.
20:00, pregame clock
Once the JV teams clear the floor, the cheerleaders take their position on the court. At center court will be the giant white bell with its supports painted red and the word “PATRIOTS” and a circle of stars in blue.
The bell, which came from the tower at the former Bryant High School, is one of the newer parts of the pageantry, but is traditionally wheeled out to its position by the sophomores on the varsity squad. With just two sophomores — Amanda Johnson and Erika Hunt — this year, and Hunt away at a gymnastics meet in Valparaiso, freshman Jessica Beaty gave Johnson a hand.
The cheerleaders then start the chant of, “Hey we want the Patriots”, calling for the players to come out to the floor. When they do, the band wails away on the school song while the cheerleaders accompany with motions which have been in existence since its inception. Again it’s the job of the varsity sophomores to ring the bell before joining in on the dance.
“I like when we bring the bell out and get to do the school song,” said Taylor. “It’s an exciting part, right when the players come out.”
18:30 remaining
While the cheerleaders take off to stretch some more and practice for the end of the pregame show and the game and the fans visit each other and the concession stands, this is the band’s showcase time.
The band will play a selection of songs over the next 15 minutes. Among the favorites, according to band members Jamie Habegger (flute), Ben Wellman (Saxophone), James Heare (trumpet), Laura Vogler (trombone) and Sara Garringer (baritone) and Grady, are “Hey Baby” and “Crazy Train”, both of which involve some vocals.
Also on the list are “Final Countdown”, which led off the set at the Northeastern game, “Land of 1,000 Dances”, “Hang on Sloopy”, “The Horse”, “The Hey Song”, “Takin’ it to the Streets”, “Takin’ Care of Business” and “El Tigre”.
“We try to give the crowd a variety of different things, and hopefully music the boys are getting fired up to,” says first-year band director Kelly Smeltzer. “That’s the whole point of doing it.
“I like to see the kids get into the music they play. It’s just fun to fire the crowd up and the team up too.
“Every year we try to add two or three new (songs), and this year it’s been more than that. I like to add new ones just to keep it fresh ...”
3:00 remaining,
clock frozen
Each team’s cheerleaders may do “hello” cheers to the opposing crowd, followed by the band playing the visiting school song. Smeltzer says it usually takes the previous week to learn the song, unless it is especially difficult or unfamiliar.
Then comes the Jay County school song again, followed by the color guard taking the gym floor. Their performance is usually accompanied by a song with a patriotic them. This year it is “In the Defense of Liberty”.
Most of the fans are already on their feet for the color guard, and remain there as the band plays the national anthem.
3:00 remaining,
clock starts
As the countdown begins, the cheerleaders gather in the corner of the gym by the visiting bench. When the band starts to play a concoction it’s dubbed “The Drum Ditty” they circle the court again, the seniors ending up in front of the home bench.
Then follow the same three cheers/songs which have been used at least since the 1980s.
First is “Go Big Red”, then “Eat ’Em Up”, with the cheerleaders clapping and tumbling throughout. Next is the “Boogie Chant”, junior cheerleader Kayla Cline’s favorite, and something Weaver got from one of her Universal Cheer Association camps about 20 years ago.
2.1 remaining
As the clock ticks into single digits it is stopped for the introduction of the starting lineups. After the visitors are introduced, the big finish comes with the big banners.
As the drummers bang away and PA announcer Barry Weaver introduces the Patriot starting five, several cheerleaders are lifted into the air to display banners with each starter’s name. The banners came into being in the early 1980s, the brainchild of former JCHS athletics secretary Jeannie Habegger. Mindy Weaver turned them into reality, sewing the white letters onto the red and blue banners.
For a while the banners were given to each senior player after graduation, but it was too expensive to make new ones each year. Now Weaver removes seniors names after graduation and will add the names of new varsity players the following year.
In the past the formation has had five cheerleaders in the air, each holding a single banner. But thanks to a smaller squad and some injuries this season, it just three, with two of them holding two banners apiece.
“I like seeing our starting lineup,” said Weaver. “I’ve taken a lot of pictures of that over the years.
“So many times the starting lineups, what we did a long time ago, I thought took away from recognizing the team. This is something where it looks nice and the attention is on the players.”
Senior Jessica Howell and junior Kelsey Bone both enjoy this part the most as well “because all the fans get into it more than anything else,” says Howell. “We were the first ones to do the banners, and everyone copied off of us.”
And then it’s game time.
The cheerleaders head for the sideline, hoping at the conclusion of the game to join the band once more, dancing to the fight song following another Jay County victory.
“Cheer, cheer for Jay County High,
Show us your spirit, show us your pride,
Write our name in history,
By backing our team to victory.
Patriots come and rise to the call,
Red, White, and Blue means pride to us all.
Lift your loyal banners high,
And fight for Jay County High.”[[In-content Ad]]
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