Chants, cheers, and rocketing energy levels: these are telltale signs that Red Tide is in the house.
This support is imperative, because a sport team’s win goes beyond the skills and strategies of the individual players involved. A win is also determined by which team has the home turf and the better cheering crowds, which affect how athletes play. This is true at both a professional and a high school level.
The home crowd’s roar can be intimidating. Its effects may be noticed during professional and collegiate sporting events, in which teams often get agitated during critical situation. From unsuccessful free throws to missed field goals, teams can be significantly thrown of by the crowd’s pressure, or lack thereof. During nerve-racking times, the crowd is always roaring for the home team.
Meanwhile, the crowd is also trying to distract the opposition during these heart pumping moments. Players do not want to disappoint the fans, so failure is not an option. The crowd helps athletes, because they want to impress the adoring fans with their skills. According to senior varsity volleyball player Erin Donahue, “When you are in front of everyone, you have more motivation to play hard.”
The crowd helps create, increase, and maintain this motivation, and playing with this support is much easier than playing against it. Fan intensity is like a badge of pride, because it shows how dedicated the fans are not only to the team but also to the individual players.
Even with a much smaller fan base compared to those of college and professional teams, the athletes at Palos Verdes High School love the energy provided students and parents at home games. Junior football player, Steven Delcarson said, “It is definitely different when you are at home… you have the crowd backing you up and we [Sea Kings] have an excellent cheering section, the Red Tide. They definitely get you amped and give you an edge over the other team.”
Delcarson also believes that playing at home helps with performance. “It sounds weird thinking that a field is more than just a field, but we are used to it, so it helps us out, because we are used to that environment.” Donahue agreed, noting, “I definitely feel more comfortable playing at home. We practice there and spend a lot of time there.” A comfortable environment is an important factor for athletes, because it helps alleviate one more variable during a competition.
Crowd levels also tend to be higher at home games, and school pride also runs higher. “When you have people there, you want to win for reasons other than yourself, because when you play a sport, you play for your team to win,” said Donahue.
Having a group like Red Tide helps change the game with all the shouting, chanting, and roaring that helps the team play even better. Even if the teams do not pull out with the win, being part of the action makes it special for the athletes by giving them the support they needed to be stay in the game.
“Red Tide can change how the game is going,” said Delcarson, “If we are behind or not doing so hot, and we hear Red Tide still cheering and backing us up, it gives us confidence to do better and turn the game around.”