If you went to Bowie’s last two football games or Tuesday’s home volleyball match, spectators might have noticed the atmosphere was a bit livelier than the usual games have been in the past.
While the games had their share of good moments on the field and court, the difference was the organized student section that brought all the energy and enthusiasm only teenagers cheering on their school mates can bring to the proceedings.
Besides just being loud, outfits or themes were coordinated. Faces and T-shirts were painted at homecoming along with whistles. A luau theme permeated the volleyball match full of grass skirts and leis. Friday’s road game to Holliday were white shirts and face paint for a whiteout type theme.
Not just settling for looking nice, concerted effort also has gone into being loud in the way only teenagers can. Short little chants and organized clapping at the right moments, like before every serve in volleyball, can make even the routine moments of the game feel that much bigger.
Most schools show a bit more spirit the week of homecoming that can lead to one excited stands a season if enough students are encouraged, but to keep it going takes some commitment.
Junior volleyball player Lexi Kirkham and several of her classmates decided to try and make homecoming that much more special on Sept. 13. They created the Twitter account BowiePepSquad and sent out text messages to encourage enough of a group to commit to being loud during the football game that it drew some notice compared to the usual apathetic student crowd before.
People noticed. Bowie football coach and athletic director Cory Mandrell brought down the group after the game to thank them for their support as he saw it had an affect on the field.
Not wanting this to be a one time thing and to have all the football players return the support they received Friday night forward, Tuesday’s volleyball game, just a regular non-district game against state ranked Bridgeport, saw an even bigger crowd show up.
Fans would have been remiss to think it was a themed pep rally day with all of hula skirts and tropical shirts.
While this might be just a short lived trend that might die down after awhile, it is not the plan.
Kirkham said they are mostly making things up as they go along.
Fans will see how long the loud crowds and themed outfits keep showing up, but for right now the school spirit is hard to ignore if you are going to Bowie sporting events.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.