Student section leaders excited to uphold tradition, but also bring in their own ideas

For as long as anyone can remember, Bearden has carried on the tradition of passing down a maroon vest from the past student section leaders to the new ones, which were hand-picked by their predecessors.

Last school year, Ross McKenry assumed the role of student section leader, taking Jackson Arnold and Addison Fulcher with him to carry the flags. At the end of the 2017-2018 school year, the three previous leaders chose Harrison Moseley, Cole Poynter, and Taylor Waak to follow in their footsteps.

“Me and the other leaders chose Cole, Harrison, and Taylor because they were students who were at all the games and were always loud and having a good time, so we thought they would be a perfect fit to carry on the tradition of student section leaders,” McKenry said.

Although they are carrying on the traditions set by many generations, the new leaders expect there to be a lot of changes. They did not want to comment on what exactly will be different but made it clear that with the new leadership there will be advances.

“Everything will be different from last year,” Moseley said.

However, the leaders will also make sure to keep certain aspects of the student section the same.

“I want to bring back some of the old chants that other leaders have used in the past,” Moseley said. “I feel like it’s the best way to get the crowd excited.”

Moseley and Waak also intend to incorporate the flags into the student section as much as possible. They want to create more school pride at games.

Like past years, each game night will have a theme. It is a way to bring the crowd together and encourage spirit. Each of the leaders has his own personal favorite theme night. Moseley enjoys jersey night, which will be the theme when Bearden football hosts West in the season opener on Friday night at 7:30.

Waak’s favorite is toga night, and Poynter’s is USA night.

There are also other facets that the leaders want to continue to incorporate to get the student section energized.

“We really want to get the whole student body involved this year by making each game as fun as possible: baby powder, boom boxes, the whole shebang,” Waak said.

The leaders hope that if students go to the football games, that they will realize how enjoyable all other games can be and there will be an increase in attendance.

“If we can make people have fun at games, it will influence them to attend all kinds of sporting events,” Poynter said.

Bearden’s student section is notorious for being one of the best in the state. It always has a large turnout, even at away games, and it works hard to get the players just as excited as the students.

Poynter and the other leaders expect this year to be no different.

“My goal for this year is to make sure we still have the largest, wildest student section in Knoxville,” Poynter said.