What does it mean to be a fan? When you think of a fan, do you imagine a person covered in sports apparel representing their favorite team, cheering fervently for his or her team surrounded by a bunch of friends. Or do you imagine a fan who is a statistical wizard who knows all the players stats, and history of his or her favorite team. Fans don’t have to be loud or rambunctious, but in reality, all of the fan stereotypes are closely related to one another.

Being a fan also comes with a somewhat unprecedented duty: good sportsmanship. The rambunctious fans who come to games drunk, shout obscenities, and degrade the opposing team anyway possible may be funny and may get support from other fans, but should these fans be considered spirited?”

Here, fan support has lead to controversy over the years since the school first opened. The controversy originated early in the school’s history with a group of fans known as the White Tee Death Squad. The White Tee Death Squad originated in the late 1990s at Manteo High School with a couple kids who wore the same white T-shirt to basketball games. Eventually, the number of kids who bought into the idea of white tees grew, and soon the White Tee fan base was born. Although it was innocent at first, the fan base quickly took a negative turn.  According to Principal Arty Tillett, this fan base earned a negative reputation with administrators and other schools.

The White Tee Death Squad was ordered disbanded shortly after First Flight opened. The apparent leaders of the White Tee Death Squad came to First Flight from Manteo High when that school’s population was split between the two schools. These former Manteo High students started up the White Tees at First Flight in 2004 with seemingly harmless intentions. However, that innocence didn’t last long. Almost immediately opposing schools cried foul, accusing the group of being racist and using derogatory chants.

After much controversy, First Flight administrators ordered the group abolished. According to Tillett, it took two years until the group was officially disbanded. Although the White Tee Death Squad is gone, controversy among fans is still present. Students behavior in the recent years at soccer and basketball games have been at the center of fan issues.

When I look at the ideal fan, I look at someone who is respectful, accountable for their team, but very spirited. Sure, some trash talking may occur from time to time. And I believe you have to defend your team. It’s part of sports culture. However, I believe you cross the line as a fan if all you do is trash talk the other team, which some people continue to do even when their team has lost a game.

I don’t condemn the person who is viewed as an “inappropriate” fan. Although their actions may not be perfect, they are still making an effort to show spirit and stand by their high school. You can’t disrespect that.  You can’t eliminate all negative things about a fan base. Again to do so would take away from sports culture.

To solve the controversy here at our school, I believe students should strive to model what it means to be a good fan. Positive fans can set an example and hope that others will imitate their behavior.

We can’t force a fan base to suddenly be perfect examples of sportsmanship and spirit. Trying to force this on fans will lead to retaliation and more negative behavior. Truth is, it is virtually impossible to have a perfect fan base. But students can choose to make a difference. Students can spread the message that we need to create a spirited, not negative, fan base.

You can’t eliminate all negative behavior at sporting events, but those who choose to support their school by cheering for our teams in a positive way can increase school spirit exponentially.