An annual tradition that occurs within the school is the homecoming pep rally. During the pep rally, competitive events occur between the students and teachers. A main highlight of the pep rally is the introduction of fall sports. Before the competitions occur, all of the students go wild for our sports team introductions. Each fall sport gets their own introductions and have their own 15 seconds of fame.

Introducing fall sports is a great idea, as it brings together the students and school. A question that may be raised from this, though, is why aren’t spring and winter sports introduced?

There are many school events that the school has in which they can announce the other sports. For example, we could announce winter sports at the annual dodgeball game. For spring sports, the school should be able to set aside at least one hour of the day to recognize the athletes.

What’s so important about recognizing winter and spring sports? We believe that since fall athletes are given the spotlight, the other sports deserve the same recognition. All of the athletes work hard, which should mean all the athletes deserve the same amount of attention. Just because the student athletes play in a different season from fall, shouldn’t result in them missing out on something special.

There are many students that play multiple sports, and we agree that spring and winter sports deserve more.
When the fall athletes are announced, it is a fun and exciting environment to be a part of.

“Being able to go out there and have fun with the team was really exciting for me,” junior Jacob Joseph said. “It was neat how each sport got to have the spotlight they all deserve from the hard work they put in.”

Some may say that it’s always been a tradition to have a pep rally during homecoming week and it’s not that big of deal because it corresponds with homecoming. Most schools throughout the state could agree with this, as most of them only have one pep rally per year.

However, why can’t Utica be different? Why can’t we give other athletes the attention they deserve? Utica is known to be different and to give things a chance. Our school is also known as a “family,” so let’s be a true family and not leave anyone out.

The school has the ability to let winter and spring sports be introduced as there are many opportunities to do so.

Junior Johnny Tisch, who plays a winter and spring sport, believes it’s a good idea that the school should let all athletes be introduced.

“I’ve never had the chance to experience any of this with my team,” Tisch said. “It would be really cool to go out there in front of the school and have the spotlight with the team.”

All in all, we believe that since there are opportunities to announce other athletes, all athletes deserve the same amount of recognition as fall athletes, and that the school should experiment with this idea. Student athletes work hard to balance a sport and school, and should be awarded with a quick introduction.