Vikings show pride and spirit through game themes, yet some sports don’t get the same treatmentThis is unfair because all sports should have the same treatment especially if it affects how the athletes play.

Boy’s tennis is one of the few sports that doesn’t have game themes.

 “I am upset that we don’t have dress-up themes for tennis,” senior Max Hein said. “It makes me feel embarrassed because it makes it feel like our school does not have spirit for all our sports,” Hein said.

Other teammates agree that they wished tennis could have dress-up themes and that it would increase Viking spirit as well as attendance at their matches. The team also thinks it would make them perform better knowing they have support behind them.

Junior Trevor Adkinson plays football where the Viking spirit is unmatched. Every single game has a dress-up theme, and the student section is always engaged and present for these matchups.

“I think it affects how we play when students dress up. When you see your classmates and peers in the crowd having a good time, it makes me personally want to win so that way there isn’t a bad mood and everyone has fun,” Adkinson said.

Not only is dressing up fun and engaging for the crowd, but it also helps the athletes stay motivated and encouraged to win when they feel their entire school standing behind them united as one.

“It’s hard to explain the feeling, but it’s a really surreal experience when running through the tunnel of students and seeing all the crazy outfits. It’s really cool,” Adkinson said.

Unlike Adkinson, senior Maddox Preder on the basketball team isn’t impacted by the themes

“Doesn’t matter to me. I feel like dress-up themes are fun for some people, so I guess they could do them but me personally, I don’t care,” Preder said.

Preder explained that he doesn’t pay attention to the crowd when he is on the court which is why dress-up themes don’t matter to him.

So if most athletes prefer to have game themes and even play better with them, why don’t all sports have them?

Senior Madelyn Ask, along with the cheer and sports teams, creates the game themes.

“We have reached out to all sports about different themes. Some sports like soccer wanted a singular theme for all away games and different ones for home, and some didn’t need themes at all,” Ask said.

Larger superfan attendance makes a bigger impact, especially with a dress-up theme. 

“All sports have the availability to have dress-up themes, but it may not be practical for every event. Swim doesn’t usually have themes because it usually doesn’t draw the largest student section-type crowd. Other sports can’t have cheering like we may do for a football game at all so they’re even less likely to have any themes,” Ask explained.

Maybe one day every sport will have game themes but for now, Vikings will have to find other ways to cheer on their teams and show Viking spirit.