After years and years of Sperry’s and dress shoes at Elder High, this reign comes to an end. Now, this footwear is not required, and gym shoes are now allowed on a daily basis.

No longer must one feel the wrath of Coach Rankin for wearing Sperry’s in the weight room. No longer must one receive brick-sheets or demerits for dress code violations. Gym shoes are the new wave at Elder.

Mr. Schoenfeld shared a story with his fifth period Personal Finance class at the beginning of the year regarding Elder’s new shoe policy.

Long, long ago, a few Bombers of St. Xavier tried to sneak student tickets from Elder to the football game at the Pit. Elder legend, Mr. Ray Bachus, the business manager at the time, immediately sniffed out the stench of the Bombers.

How did he perform such a task? Easy. They were wearing gym shoes.

But that was then, and this is now. Elder students are no longer recognizable by their footwear, because a wide variety of footwear is now acceptable every day.

The real question is: are gym shoes even worn by students each day of school, or do students resort to the ol’ Sperry’s for the day?

I realize that only “dress shoes” were required back in the day, not just Sperry’s, but Sperry’s were dominant when it came to the selection of the students.

Personally, I enjoyed sporting the Sperry’s my freshman and sophomore years. They providedstyle and comfort, and as they say, “look good, play good”.

I have seen mixed results when it comes to shoes this year, some people rock the Sperry’s every day, and some people have a wide variety of shoes they like to sport during the week.

For example, Ryan Tressler is the prime example of mixing up the footwear.

“I like to vary it up. I’ll wear either, it depends on if I have to work after school,” Tressler said. Gym shoes are worn especially for work days, according to Tressler, but he prefers the Sperry’s. “Makes you look better,” he said.

As he was complimenting the switch to gym shoes, Tressler proceeded to go on a rant about the quarter zip policy. Great to hear from a passionate Elder dress code critic.

One complaint I have about the Sperry’s is their resilience. I feel as if Sperry’s are easily worn out by wearing them every day. This proved point in my freshman year, where my classmate Ethan Boyers’ pair of Sperry’s were so beat up, he would’ve been better off just wearing his socks to school.

“Anybody who wears Sperry’s needs to get a life. It’s just not how we do things now,” said Boyers. Safe to say that Boyers has officially jumped on the gym shoes bandwagon after his frightening experience with Sperry’s.

I like the new allowance of gym shoes in the halls of Elder High. From an athletic standpoint, you never have to worry about forgetting gym shoes for lifting or conditioning, avoiding wall-sits courtesy of Coach Rankin.

Also, you get to go the whole day in your favorite shoes. For me it’s my gym shoes, for others it’s their Sperry’s. Having the choice is what matters to me though, and I’m sure plenty of students can agree with that.