Welcoming Our Fans Back

After a hard year of masks, following protocol, and not having friends/family cheering them on, Raider athletes finally got back to the sports they love and have packed stands filled with their biggest supporters.
Considering the struggle it was for athletes, finding the effort to put in when they didn’t have anyone to be in their corner cheering them on made sports a tougher challenge last season.
Rangeviews athletic director Coach Palmer said, “ Yeah I think it definitely adds to the atmosphere and their spans, and that part of high school sports cause you can fill the gym with family and friends.”
The effort athletes put in to show off to the loyal parents that pay for your sport or have coached you when you were younger and really sparked that love for your sport; you want to perform and prove that the effort they put in for you, that you’re giving back your 100-percent.
They also are very limited to the amount of games you will play in your life and if you don’t play in college then its 4 short years that you will play in high school. It not only affected the athletes but the coaches as well.
“It was amazing to see all of the fans cheer on their fellow Rangeview athletes, and to see all the coaches family’s there to support us with the thing we love to do,” Coach Bible added.

When talking with the Raider family they all agreed that having fans definitely impacts them and the game. “It changes the whole environment of the game, hearing the fans screaming and opponents booing, it changes the whole tempo of the game,” Football athlete Austin Appiah stated.
Having that excitement and intensity and then having the encouragement from the fans really boosts the mood of all the athletes. A few of the Raider athletes or former student athletes said that being back in the stands was lots of fun and brought some normalcy back into their lives.
All of the Raider family loves to go and support one another even if they have no clue what’s going on. One of the newest Raider athletes Briana Garcia had a few things to say about playing in front of our Raider family. “ It is very encouraging, if you have a good play they cheer you on and if you did something really good having that encouraging cheer from the fan and the agreement from them that it was a good play.”

The Raiders definitely have held up their reputation for being some of the best students and athletes anyone could ask for. As the school year progresses and the sports schedule stays packed it should be so exciting to see the bigger response from the Raiders and how the shift in intensity is added back from our fans.