Red Tide has been the face of PVHS for a while now, and with their rowdy chants and contagious energy, it is not hard to see why. Last year however, the leadership aspect of the club, the presidencies, was shut down by school administration.

“Students were outraged. Red Tide is the whole reason some people even go to sporting events,” said junior Chloe Gyerman.

Students complained and some even called for the resignation of some administration members. These calls were never answered, so the Red Tide leaders found a way around the ban, by changing their trademark red to black. The Red Tide leaders replaced their bright red blazers with jet black ones and assumed their position at the front of the bleachers and continued to lead chants and rile up the crowd.

This was a very tense time between administration, who believed they had put a stop to the potentially dangerous behavior of the Red Tide leaders, and students, who felt betrayed.

Despite the rising tensions on campus, the Red Tide leaders were allowed to pass on their position to a group of successors at the end of the year, who have decided to take a bit of a different approach to the club.

Red Tide leaders Isaiah Aly, Jason Law, Jack Larkin, Dean Dellovade, Tre Gonzales, and Shane Irwin have decided to focus more on the responsibilities that come with this leadership position, rather than the excitement of getting caught up in the moment.  

One change that has been made is the switch from blazers to jerseys, which is actually what the original leaders wore.

‘The Red Tide presidents last year made a deal that we’re not going to wear the red jackets anymore and we are going to get jerseys to show tradition to the original baseball players and jerseys…so we are just going back to tradition to kind of change the image,” Dellovade said, referring to the baseball players who started Red Tide in 2005.  

The other leaders agree. “We’re are trying to show everyone what Red Tide is all about, going back to the roots,” Aly said. “We are trying to restore the old Red Tide and have a physical symbol of the change that has occurred.”

Despite this change and the promise of a new Red Tide, some PVHS staff members were not convinced that any real changes would be made. To combat this doubt the leaders put on a conference of sorts where they gathered all of the PVHS staff before school started, during staff professional development days, and made their case. They gave a presentation and then opened the floor to teachers and staff that were still skeptical or had further questions.

“[The goal was] asking them to just have some faith in the program, that we are actually going to do this thing, and to just wait a little bit before they start to doubt us or anything like that,” Aly said.

The leaders also wanted the support of the staff. They feel that once they have the people who allow the club to operate, they can reach students and parents with much more ease.

“We gave [the staff] ‘Tide Pride’ shirts as well and asked them to wear those on game day so that hopefully kids would follow them,” said Gonzales.

Although the leaders are going to great lengths to improve their public image and mend relations between Red Tide and administration, they were not the only catalysts of this change. Last year’s Red Tide leaders decided that to prevent another shut down, there had to be change, so they worked with administration to create a new plan for the next year.

This plan included the switch to jerseys and lettermen jackets, as well as the prohibition of “mean” chants, as a way to make the image of Red Tide more family friendly.

The goal of keeping students in the stands after half-time was also a big part of this new Red Tide plan.

The current leaders have risen to the occasion in regards to these changes. They can be seen calling out students in the crowd who seem to be trying to instigate something that could be potentially harmful, whether it be physical, or the beginning of a derogatory chant. The leaders have also expressed the intention of getting the student body to come out to all sporting events, not just varsity football games.

“We want people coming out and being  a part of Red Tide, just because of the fun atmosphere. It doesn’t even have to be a football game,” said Gonzales.

This would allow football players, who are typically on the field watching Red Tide, to be a part of the group.

The leaders have also expressed a keen interest in fundraising, and getting Red Tide into community events. All of these changes have created a feeling of unity at Palos Verdes High School, and have alluded to a positive, family friendly Red Tide, that will be around for years to come.