The Friday football games have always been a highlight for South students Being able to have the student section cheer on the team, knowing that it’s the weekend afterward. However, at every halftime when the marching band performs the South Fight song, the crowd is silent or mumbling the words shown on the brand-new scoreboard. It is as if no one remembers what the song is. Marching Band teacher Christopher Takis says that the same fight song has been at South for over 50 years and used to be a lot more popular amongst students.
“Every year one of the first things I teach the kids is the South Fight song,” Takis said. “However it’s unfortunate that most people don’t cheer along when we play the song purely because they don’t know the words.”
Students such as Isaac Synder ‘26 don’t seem intrigued in getting to know the fight song either, with the Devil’s Den’s music often blocking out songs from the marching band.
“I went to nearly every South game this year and other than the halftime performance, you never hear the band play,” Synder said. “Since there is a ton of noise coming from the speakers in the Devil’s Den and crowd chatter, the marching band can barely be heard – even if you were listening for it.”
Takis says that in the past before there was a Devil’s Den, the band used to be a lot more popular than it is today. With students actually participating in the cheers, some even encourage others to be loud when the band is to start playing.
“When I first started teaching the band there was a ton more interest from students in music and the marching band,” Takis said. “However now that they added a Devil Den with speakers and with a smaller marching band it is harder to communicate with everyone in the crowd.”
Band student Colin Hynous ‘26 hopes that Band could gain more traction in the future. Through encouraging all of his friends and practicing to be louder at games, The band hopefully makes the students hear them.
“I think if the band had just a few more students we would be able to have everyone hear us at the games and not just halftime,” Hynous said. “Hopefully for my senior year next year, there will be a lot of incoming freshmen that would be interested in band. So we can prove how awesome the marching band is to be a part of but especially to hear.”
