Over the course of the year, there have been a countless amount of big games across all sports at FHC. Most of these games have not had a student section with the exception of football. To change this, there has been a change in how teams make admission for students.

Ever since Jonathan Goei took over as the athletic director, there has been a mentality shift in how athletics are viewed at school. Mr. Goei encourages athletes and students to support each other by going to other sporting events. I asked him why he thinks that is important. He said, “There are probably a million reasons, but the support of your fellow classmates/peers and building community would be at the top of the list. We want all of our students out supporting all of our students. There are a lot of people out there doing a lot of good stuff, and the more we can support each other, the better off we’ll all be in the long run.” This practice has allowed teams to have more support at their games which can lead to a more exciting environment.

All athletes love having a student section at their games, especially when it is an important contest. One of the games that had a large student section was the FHC vs. FHN volleyball game. This game not only had conference title implications but also was a big rivalry. Elana Kavanagh recalled the environment and said, “It was very nice and exciting to have some of our students cheering us on at one of our toughest matches when we needed it most.” In the end, the Lady Rangers were able to win this game and secure the number one seed in the conference for the tournament because of the support of the student section. If the team wasn’t backed by the crowd of students, it could have been a completely different game.

Volleyball and soccer games against rival Forest Hills Northern had great environments but were the only games that had a noticeable student section for any sport besides football. To alter this, Jonathan Goei has implemented a new concept to get more students out to games. His idea is to have one game per team where all students will be let in for free which will accomplish many good things.”The goal is to get a large group of students out to maybe one of your bigger games/rivalry games, expose more students to more athletic programs in the hopes that they want to come out and support more often and to increase interest in programs,”said Mr. Goei.

Free admission to a game is music to the ears of students at FHC. Most of them love going to the various games and matches, and now with the chance to get in for free, they are even more excited. Junior Luke Stiles has been to a few of these big games and shared his opinions on the idea. “It is nice to not always have to pay to get into certain games and it’s saving me money.” The lack of ticket costs will cause more students to attend more sporting events around the school, thus giving FHC teams a true home-field advantage.

Hopefully, this new concept will cause more students to try to go to other games besides football and allows teams to have the support of a full student section. More students in the stands for a variety of competitions will improve the environment for everyone surrounding the game and help the FHC Ranger teams prove the tradition of excellence.