Exeter’s 2024 Hype Crew: Big Red Zone

By JACK CASSIDY, SOPHIE FENG, AVA KRUTTSCHNITT, AARYAN PATEL, ADELLE PITTS, KEVIN THANT, MELIA THIBAULT

Throughout athletic events, the roars of the PEA student section can be heard above all else, and the Big Red Zone team is the epicenter. The school’s hype squad is composed of six seniors dedicated to ensuring that Big Red athletes receive the support they deserve. They are in charge of theme coordination and driving student attendance at athletic events. Even more importantly, they are in charge of hyping the crowd up at games so that Big Red never loses its spirit.

      As one of the most prominent clubs on campus, Big Red Zone is responsible for choosing themes, cheers, and music for the student section at athletic events. They give Big Red an edge over every other team by bleeding with pride, wearing bright red clothing, and screaming chants. Their constant support during games makes for a more enjoyable experience.

        Being athletes themselves, each senior was motivated to provide the same team spirit that they’ve received throughout their years at the Academy. Nettie Rattray, the group leader, Dylan Schwab, the chant coordinator, Keighley Bosshardt, the social media director, Charles Dobbins, the campus DJ, Anna Holtz, the theme coordinator, and Quinn Smith, the hype man, are all extremely driven individuals who take pride in the atmosphere they create at sporting events

       The first event Big Red Zone hosted this year was the white-out-themed football game on Friday, Sept. 13. For the week preceding the game, the club’s Instagram account promoted the game daily. They got students involved by sending out a poll for students to vote between a white-out or red-out theme.

     Come game time, the student section, only white in sight, showed up with incredible school spirit. Senior Jack Doherty said, “They posted everything a week ahead, which allowed everyone to get ready with a white outfit and made the game a great time.”

      Lower Ben Wilkinson agreed. “I think there should definitely be more events like the whiteout. Where I come from, we always had themes for Friday Night Lights, so I like the fact that I’m seeing it here at Exeter.”

       Many have noted Big Red Zone’s increased activity on social media and its broader outreach and promotion compared to last year. “I think they’re just more communicative and reach out to the community more, which will make games a lot more hype,” Doherty said.

        Dobbins added, “The white-out really just took us promoting it consistently, and the student section showed out.”

       Despite this, there were still some criticisms of the white-out theme. “They made a poll and red-out won, but they still chose white-out, which was weird because the opposing team’s uniform was white,” said an anonymous source. The opposing team during the white-out game was Suffield Academy, and confusion was seen in some fans when they noticed that the opposing team’s uniform was the same color as their theme.

        However, Rattray mentioned that they chose the white-out theme because of who was voting. “If you looked at who was actually voting, a lot of it was mainly alumni or people that don’t currently go to the school.”

        When asked about plans to get people to other events like this, Dobbins highlighted themes as essential. “We can incentivize students to come to games with fun events and free merch based on specific themes. Themes will definitely be something we will be doing more of this year.”

        Themes were a significant part of Big Red Zone last year, but from the turnout we saw at the white-out football game, this year the club is better utilizing social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram to consistently promote themes and provide a bigger show. Dobbins also hinted at more exciting spirit week themes to come, including some secret E/a spirit week themes.

       In order to increase school spirit and energy at games, Big Red Zone is in the process of making a game day etiquette video to show students how to be more engaged and supportive of the teams. Rattray said, “Once we come out with that video and establish that we want everyone to make noise and get excited, then it’ll further the fans’ engagement with the game.”

       “It’s really easy to get kind of worried about being embarrassed by cheering too loud, saying something wrong, or standing somewhere wrong,” Rattray emphasized. “But I just want to completely eliminate all embarrassment because embarrassing yourself is the fun part of it.”

       In the future, Big Red Zone is looking to be involved in each and every game. Schwab mentioned, “There’s a girls’ soccer game next Friday, and we’re trying to target the Friday night games because Friday nights are more fun. We’re also trying to spread the love and get all the different sports teams, not just focusing on one. We’re looking for night games or even maybe going to a soccer game at Austin Prep or somewhere else not on campus.”

     From sports games to spirit weeks to everyday life, the encouragement, energy, and excitement each member of Big Red Zone possesses is infectious and spreads through campus. As the fall sports season starts to ramp up, students have a lot to look forward to from Big Red Zone, and this club is sure to deliver.