Over the past four years at Elder, we’ve come to enjoy many things that this school has to offer.  Some being the spiritual retreats, Elderfest, the Friday pep rallies, but one sticks out more than the rest. I think I speak for all of Elder when I say that sitting in the cheering section at an Elder sporting event stands alone at the top of this list.

Growing up I remember going to games at either Nippert Stadium, the field house or The Pit and standing over by the cheering section just looking in, wishing I was in the middle of it. I remember listening closely to the cheers at The Pit and relaying them back to my dad. I remember sitting up by the flag pole on that brick wall witnessing Elder play Colerain on ESPN. I remember Joe Ramstetter catching a 40-yard bomb thrown by Josh Moore against Colerain in the playoffs to send it into overtime. All these things stuck with me over the years.

The time finally came, I remember my first ever cheering section against Middletown at Nippert Stadium like it was yesterday. It didn’t matter to me where I was located in the section, heck I think I was in the last row. I just remember looking up to the cheerleaders up front with their big megaphones thinking “I wish that was me”. Little did I know I would be holding the megaphone myself leading the section my senior year.

In grade school I would always try to simulate what the cheering section would be like but boy was I wrong. Believe me when I say Elder’s section is the most electric section in the country. Nothing holds a nickel next to a packed Pit.  I looked forward to the weekend just for Friday nights. Even though we weren’t actually playing in the game, being under those lights at the Pit was something else. I can’t even begin to describe to you what it was like but I promise you that you will never experience something like that at any other school.

Freshman year I remember hearing “Cherish these years, because they are the fastest four years of your life.” I never really understood that until now. It feels like yesterday I was shadowing Robby Oswald, learning the ins and outs of this place and reciting the alma mater over and over.  Well here I am now four years later, just a couple months from graduation. Time flies when you’re having fun.

I personally think the section is a key piece of the foundation Elder has laid out. It is where friends are made, where games are won, and more importantly where strangers become brothers. Doesn’t matter who you are or where you came from, in the cheering section we are all students of Elder who will do just about anything for a W in the Pit.

So underclassmen, cherish these next couple of years because believe me when I say the end will come faster than you think. You only get so many so make the most out of every chance you get because before you know it the games will end, the cheers will stop, and all you will have are the memories you made to remind you of the times you had.