Negative chants and music distract players
At any game there is cheering from the band and the crowd. Cheering can both be positive and negative. When the chants are negative, it can distract the players.
When the girls varsity basketball are playing at other schools, the school will get their band, and their student section to chant or play music. The music and chants distract the players of Stillwater.
With sections and playoffs around the corner, it is an advantage to play at home. The benefits are not having to travel so they have more practice time. Also there are more parents, friends and students that attend home games than away games.
Loading ...“Definitely the setting of the court and the lines on the court are hard [to see],” junior forward Emma Murphy said. “We are used to them [fans] cheering for us and that does not happen on away games, they usually do not come.”
The setting makes a difference when playing the game. They are going to a court that they do not normally practice or play on, which is difficult.
Murphy explained, “The band at Moundsview is crazy. It is really echoey in the gym and it is really hard for us to hear the coach when we are taking a timeout. They [the students from Moundsview] get at least two inches away from his [Stillwater coach] face when we are listening to what he has to say.”
“She looks nervous”, “Oh my God!”, “What is she doing”, “Wipe your shoes”, were just some of the sayings that the fans said to get inside the player’s heads during East Ridge game on Jan. 26.
“The music is a huge distraction because you can not hear anything our coach is trying to tell us and it is just so loud that you can not concentrate on the game,” junior forward Emily White said.
The girls are totally focused and do not let the noise from the bands or fans distract them while they are playing the game. They work well together, communicating and working hard to win. The girls have love and passion for the game of basketball.
Murphy explained when and why the chants/ music do not distract her. “No, not when I am playing, but when I am on the bench yes. Because when you are on the court you are zoned in on the game and you really do not hear anything besides your coach. You kind of distract yourself away from it.”
With sections and state coming up the chants and bands may or may not effect the girls while playing. The key to the girls’ success would be to keep working hard and focusing on the game, not the negative comments.
“It might effect us in a way where we can not hear the plays our coach is calling so one might think he said one thing and another might think he said another,” White said.
“I am not that worried about chants at sections, my team wants to win and they are not going to let a couple of mean distracting chants get in the way of that,” center senior captain Madisen Schmitt explained. “We really do not prepare for chants and stuff, I have confidence that my team will not let it affect their game.”
Madison Crain is a junior at Stillwater Area High School. Madison is the layout editor for the Pony Express Newspaper. Madison is also involved in Key...
Mikayla Erf • Mar 29, 2016 at 8:38 pm
Awesome article! It provided powerful quotes that showed the view-point of the players and how they feel about it. The flow was amazing and the article did an awesome job of showing both sides of the story.
Brianna Halverson • Feb 18, 2016 at 8:31 am
Interesting article. It mentioned both the positives and negatives to cheering and when they cheers affected players. Good opinion and well-organized article. The direct lead was definitely a good choice and allowed the article to jump right in to the body of the information. Well done!
Craig Sanislo • Feb 17, 2016 at 5:38 pm
Great article. I thought Madison did a nice job writing an interesting article on a topic that isn’t wildly interesting. She made the story interesting with great quotes and interesting opinions.
Sam Hudachek • Feb 17, 2016 at 6:38 am
I loved this article! It was well written and there was a nice flow to it. You also has great quotes from Emma Murphy. I would have to agree with you and not with Joe. I think that negative chants are more to get the opposing team to screw up rather than boost moral for our team
Laura Ilkka • Feb 16, 2016 at 11:48 pm
I enjoyed reading this article. There were a lot of quotes from girls on the team, also lots of information following that as well. It was well written and easy to read.
Austin Dowdall • Feb 16, 2016 at 10:48 pm
This was a very well written article that had a few great quotes and had a very strong end to it.
Dylan Andres • Feb 16, 2016 at 9:50 pm
I like how you talked to players who go through this. The quotes from the fans at the East Ridge game was a great touch. I feel the article bounces around a lot though, kind of moving from point to point quickly. But overall, the reader is able to feel what the players feel when they are being distracted and that makes for a solid article.
Nick Carlson • Feb 16, 2016 at 6:22 pm
Well written article that drew me in with it’s uniqueness. I have never really thought much about how chants and bands can be that distracting and you did a good job covering it. I think having a variety of teammates in different positions really gave variety and sides to this story, as some said they are affected but others not. My favorite quote was from Madison Schmitt who showed how even though some players may be affected that she would lead them to a focused and successful game. I especially liked your sentence structure when you listed the comments said at games because I could imagine them saying it at the game. Other sentence structures I appreciated is how you explained how the chants might affect the players, but then in one simple sentence said that their love for the game is strong and could overcome these distractions. Other details including how players might to be able to hear the coach even during timeouts I think was good to include. Good job overall.
Adam Sutcliffe • Feb 16, 2016 at 5:22 pm
Good job on the article. You were able to effectively balance both sides of the issue, gathering opinions from people directly involved but not having an inherently strong bias on it yourself.
Joe Rice • Feb 16, 2016 at 8:35 am
Well written article but I disagree, if someone’s chants are negative towards the opposing team, it can boost moral for our team.
Erin Lemanski • Feb 16, 2016 at 8:04 am
Great article Madison. I like how you got the players opinion when talking about the issue. The chants and bands are very distracting to us when were are on the court. I also like how you added some of the things the student sections say.
Jared Taylor • Feb 15, 2016 at 12:47 pm
It is a very balanced article, with great quotes about how the chants can be distracting to the player, and also having examples of what students where chanting during the games