Entries for 'Battle of the Fans'

A standard for Michigan’s high school student cheering sections has been set over nine years of Battle of the Fans. Carter Aalfs has been part of it almost from the start.

This year's Battle of the Fans IX finalists have shown us over the last two weeks more than enough to prove they should be considered among Michigan's top high school student cheering sections.   Now we're asking you over the next two days to help us determin...

Jonah Bunce had been waiting for this opportunity. With Hope College just down the road, the Zeeland East senior had grown up studying the Dutch’s Dew Crew and its powerful student section punch. Classmate Liz Bays had been looking forward to her time in “T...

Every year cheering in Buchanan High School’s student section is different – a different mix of students guarantees a different leadership style, different ideas and different levels of creativity. But let’s not confuse different with new. Buchanan ha...

Braeden Dinninger was so stoked before Friday’s Saginaw Heritage boys basketball game against Midland Dow, it felt like he might bounce right out of his neon green headband and hot pink arm sleeve. A year ago, Heritage’s Hawk Nest became a bona fide all-sta...

An annual power boasting two title banners, another return finalist that impressed for the first time a year ago, and one of the earliest contenders in contest history have earned opportunities to vie for the MHSAA's “Battle of the Fans IX” championship reco...

Congratulations, Battle of the Fans IX semifinalists. You've made it to the "Challenge Round."  Consider this quite an accomplishment – but also an incredible opportunity to give the rest of Michigan an inside look at why your student section should be ...

Six schools have won at least one Battle of the Fans championship since the contest was created during the 2011-12 school year. This year, it could be your school's turn to show it has the top high school cheering section in Michigan.

North Muskegon senior Kendal Hoppa grew up watching the older kids in her town cheering on their friends at high school games, a sports-based extension of the close-knit community. And what she’s known about Norse Nation for years, the rest of Michigan now knows ...

Sun, rain or snow, our Battle of the Fans VIII finalists made themselves ready to go these last few weeks as we maneuvered through crummy weather and some quick changes to see all three student sections in action.   Now we need you to jump in and tell us whic...

Watch what’s become nearly a decade’s worth of Buchanan High School “Battle of the Fans” videos online. Check out the four MHSAA BOTF banners – including two for championships – hanging side by side on the far wall of the school&rsquo...

North Muskegon junior Caleb Rypstra readily remembers being an elementary schooler in 2012 and watching 2,000-point scorer Spencer Krannitz take on Whitehall in front of a gym jammed in part by a giant student section. Senior Nicholas Rossiter didn’t like going t...

Three years ago, Saginaw Heritage teacher Melissa Fila showed up at Bay City Central, tub of pompons in hand, ready to rev up her students who had made the trip to support the Hawks boys basketball team. She found three huddled together and two more sitting with their ...

The reigning champion and two first-time finalists have earned the opportunity to vie for the MHSAA's “Battle of the Fans VIII” championship recognizing the top high school student cheering section in Michigan, as awarded by the Student Advisory Council. Bu...

Battle of the Fans VIII semifinalists: The spotlight is all yours.  You have 12 days to show the MHSAA's Student Advisory Council why your section is a must-see on this year's BOTF finalists tour.

You go to all the games. You're cheering on your classmates the right way. You're having a blast with your friends. And you haven't seen a student section yet that can hang with you.   But are you ready for the statewide spotlight?

A focus on high school student sportsmanship, during and also outside of competition, will highlight this fall’s Michigan High School Athletic Association annual Sportsmanship Summit series, which will run during the first two full weeks of November.

Neighbors present and past filled Buchanan’s gym a week ago to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the school’s 1978 Class C boys basketball championship. In their midst, another champion built its case to make the community proud once again.

Three finalists have shown us this month why they should win the Battle of the Fans VII championship. But we need your help deciding which should be called the state's best student cheering section for 2017-18.

Cailin Gunn was new at Buchanan entering eighth grade, and she was shy. What’s more, eighth graders in her district are housed in the same building as the high schoolers, which understandably could be intimidating.  She went to only one basketball game that ...