By Benjamin Verble — During the school year, fall sports are extremely important to students. Football, volleyball and soccer games have a high attendance rate and school spirit is off the charts. But after fall, school spirit should not stop there.

While attending the basketball games, the student section should be just as deep as the football section. The crowd should be rowdy and the chants should be endless. Every shot that goes in, the floor should shake from the roar of the student section. This is what the players and students expect from basketball games, but that is not always what happens. After the fall season ends, student attendance goes down which is frustrating to the players and the students who bring their “A” game to every event.

Many winter sports like basketball, swimming and wrestling are usually overlooked by students, which makes our school and its student body look weak to the others that are in attendance. There are things that could be done that could increase attendance such as better advertisement of the event, but the athletic department and can only do so much. It is all up to the students and their ability to persuade people to attend.

“Have fun themes, do halftime contests, and have prize giveaways,” senior James Daughtery said. “A lot of our best fans are in a fall sport, so once their seasons are over, the attendance should increase. A lot of students will see their participation and it will inspire them to attend.”

School spirit should always be at a high level, not just during football games and it is up to the students to support their peers and let other schools know that GlenOak is a school you cannot compete with in any aspects of school spirit.

[Updated Aug. 19, 2017: This article has been reformatted for consistency.]