A student section or student cheering section is a group of student fans that supports its school's

athletic Athletic may refer to: * An athlete, a sportsperson * Athletic director, a position at many American universities and schools * Athletic type, a physical/psychological type in the classification of Ernst Kretschmer * Athletic of Philadelphia, a ba ...

teams at

sporting events Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, t ...

; they are known for being one of the most visible and vocal sections of a sports crowd as well as for their occasionally raucous behavior. They are most often associated with NCAA basketball and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

games, but can be found in several sports in both college and high school. A student section is an important part of a school's fanbase and a significant contributor to

home advantage In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to ga ...

Function

A student section can vary in size from dozens to thousands of people, and comprises current students, the school's

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, o ...

or pep band, and in some cases, recent

alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

. The students often arrive and fill their designated section in the stadium before the rest of the fans, sometimes hours before the beginning of the game, and will usually remain standing throughout. Before, during, and after the game, the section performs a number of different group actions, including chants, songs,

gestures A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, o ...

, dances, and the use of props. Some of these actions are passed down over generations, while others are completely spontaneous. The purpose is twofold: to energize the home team and crowd and to frustrate the visiting team. As media exposure of college athletics has grown, some schools' students have come under fire for inappropriate behavior, including starting profane chants; harassment of visiting teams and fans; and throwing objects.

Basketball

Student sections are well known for their role in college basketball, where the more intimate and enclosed venue allows the students to be seen and heard more clearly than in football. Several student sections have become an integral part of the game experience, and as such have earned nicknames for themselves. One of the most well-known examples is Duke University's Cameron Crazies, who synchronize their actions and make player-specific taunts outlined on distributed "cheer sheets." There is no group of fans more famous in the sport than the nearly 1,200 "Cameron Crazies" that attend Duke games at Cameron Indoor Stadium, which makes them the most polarizing in college basketball as well. One of the most notable student sections is the

Orange Krush Orange Krush is a branch of the registered student organization (RSO), Illini Pride, at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. In its current form, the Organization has two faces. First, the Orange Krush is the student cheering section ...

of The

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Un ...

, which combines school pride with altruism by giving back to the community. As of the conclusion of the 2012-2013 season, the Orange Krush Foundation has donated more than a total of 2.5 million dollars to various local, state, and national charities. The Ohio University "O-Zone" is well known for providing quite a formidable environment to most any basketball nemesis who visits the Bobcats' imposing 13,000 seat Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio. The Show at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

was the first to ever use Big Heads as free throw distractions, which can be seen at sporting events around the world. Other named student sections include the

Izzone The Izzone is the Michigan State University men's basketball team student section organized and run by the Athletic Marketing Department at Michigan State University. Named after head coach Tom Izzo, the Izzone consists of nearly 5,000 members, sea ...

, the Oakland Zoo, The Bench and the Hoo Crew. At most schools, the student section will be on the end closer to the visiting team bench. As both NFHS and NCAA rules require teams to play at the basket towards their own bench during the second half, this placement allows free throw distractions to occur during crucial moments of the game.

Football

Football student sections are similar to those in basketball, but can be considerably larger, sometimes consisting of several thousand people. They are often situated in one or both endzones to allow the crowd noise to distract the opposing team's offense while in the red zone or backed up against their own endzone. Many football programs directly involve the student section as a part of the gameday experience, where they are integrated into the team's pregame and postgame. Penn State has one of the nation's most famous and intimidating student sections. In 2008, it was recognized as having the best student section in the country for the second consecutive year. In 2019, it was named student section of the year by a committee of

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

broadcasters and writers.

Other sports

Student sections can also be found at other school sporting events - including

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

games - for both men's and women's teams.

References

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External links