Pep rallies

Who doesn’t love a pep rally?

They’re loud, boisterous, emotionally overwrought and typically focused on sports and athletes. If that isn’t your scene, you may not be into it. But even if you aren’t naturally a pep rally person, you have to admit, you could use a cheering crowd from time to time to get you pumped for that big presentation, parenting conversation, home improvement project or sometimes even your household chores.

I went to my first pep rally this week since the fall of 1987 when I was a member of the vaunted Fighting Highlanders football team. It was my senior year of high school. When I worked at Mercer University in the early 2000s I did attend a “Midnight Madness” event to kickoff the start of basketball season.

That felt very pep rallyish, but even if you count that, it’s been a while since I’ve rallied my pep.

If you spend two minutes talking to me these days you know I work at Oglethorpe University as VP of marketing and communications. It’s such a fun place, affording me lots of opportunities to participate in college life as an onlooker and promoter.

Our athletic teams compete in the NCAA’s Division III in which athletes do not receive scholarships. They really do play for the love of the game. Passion for Oglethorpe sports has ebbed and flowed over the years, but since I arrived on campus two years ago, a group of students have formed a club called Oglethorpe Sixth Man, and they have dedicated themselves to rekindling the flames of school spirit for the Stormy Petrels.

How can you not have passion for a mascot like a Stormy Petrel? Petey the Petrel is the best. 

Before the pep rally, I caught up with Oglethorpe Sixth Man co-founders Neal Nankani and Willem Jaron, both engineering students and athletes themselves. Neal is a member of the men’s tennis team and Willem plays on Oglethorpe’s most successful athletic team, the men’s golf team. The pep rally took months of planning, and it was a labor of love. They were practically giddy that they were able to pull it off and have several hundred students show up.

This pep rally wasn’t for a single game but rather the start to the fall sports season in which all the teams that play during Fall Semester were introduced. At Oglethorpe, that meant women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s golf, and men’s and women’s basketball. You could see the appreciation and enjoyment on the athletes’ faces. They had never experienced that kind of enthusiasm outside of a game during their Oglethorpe careers. I spoke with a freshman golfer after, and Chris said he had never had anyone cheer for him like that even during high school. Then again, I don’t know how many schools hold pep rallies for the golf team.

We had a great hype man on the mic, and the athletics department sprang for the lights, fog machines and upgraded PA system. If you have never had the pleasure of seeing a game at Pinholster Court in the historic Dorough Field House, you should add it to your bucket list. The Black Top, as the black painted wooden surface is called, is stunning, and raucous cheering really echoes off the wooden rafters.

All of the best of Dorough was on display, though the lack of air conditioning (see the “historic” part) did make for a hot night. We yelled ourselves hoarse for each team and celebrated the accomplishments from the previous season as the coaches gave their speeches.

I hate coach interviews on television, but I love coach speeches. They are great, sometimes for all the wrong reasons. I still remember my high school football coach, James Hale, telling the Fighting Highlanders before that pep rally back in ’87: “Everybody wants to wear that jersey on Friday. You enjoy this pep rally. You’ve earned it.” Not typically moved by his pep talks, I admit I felt a little pride at having survived the crucible of football practice in the Central Florida August heat and humidity.

I’m taking the Stormy Petrel coaches at their word. It’s going to be a great year for all of them. While our golf teams and men’s soccer team have the greatest probability of success, both of the basketball teams are loaded and should be improved.

After this week, I’m convinced the pep rally is unique among life’s experiences, and it’s good for what ails you. Tonight after supper I will imagine my own personal pep rally:

“And now, making his season debut on the Dishwashing Team, at 6-4, 184 pounds, last season’s all-conference dishwasher, let’s give it up for Super Senior,  Laaaaaaaaance Waaaaaaallllllllace!”

It can’t help but improve my performance, and failing that, it will certainly lift my mood.