As a new school year starts, the Grosse Pointe community members find their Friday nights filled with many things, a common one being football. Though what happens on the field is an essential part of the night, there are many different groups of students helping make football games the true community events they are. Students working on the Dance Team, Marching Band and Cheer work tirelessly all fall to help add to the spirit of Friday nights.
The marching band originally was at the far end of the field, but recently has moved closer to the student section by decision of their Director Christopher Takis. Mellophone player Lydia Thompson-Redus ’29 said that there are many mixed feelings on this new change, but overall she thinks that it will be better to add to the environment of game nights.
“[Christopher] Takis [marching band director] wanted to be able to communicate better with the student section,” Thompson-Redus said. “Mostly to decide who is playing at what time so we’re not playing over each other.”
Thompson-Redus said that the band works past dark every Wednesday night during the fall to be prepared for game nights. They begin at 6:30 pm outside, practicing their marching and finish inside, practicing their music for an hour. Despite the hard work that marching band requires, Thompson-Redus enjoys being a part of it.
“My favorite part of game nights is when we get to do the cadence when we’re walking out,” Thompson-Redus said. “It’s cool because we’re marching and everyone just gets out of the way.”
The hard work spans beyond just the marching band. Dance team member, Natalie Vassel ’26 said that though many may think the dance team has a different routine to every single song that the student section plays, there’s much more strategy behind it.
“We don’t know what songs are going to play because the student section just plays them randomly,” Vassel said. “Once we hear a song start to play, we’ll look at our coach or one of the captains and they’ll say a number one through five. If there’s not enough time, then we’ll do a mini which is one dance move over and over again.”
Another big aspect of football games is the cheerleaders. Alexa Rimpela ’26 said they work hard to keep the crowd engaged during every game. She said she wishes they could interact with the student section more, but can’t because they are set up farther down the sidelines. Nevertheless, she said it is cool to be next to the football players and see the field from a different vantage point.
“During a close game, we are almost as anxious as the football players since we are so close to the game, and are representing the team as well,” Rimpela said. “We try our best to encourage them and let them know we are supporting them even if they miss points.”
