Not only do you hear the whistles of referees and the encouragement of coaches at Antioch Community High School games, but also the roar of the Cardinal Crazies cheering on their team: “Y-E-L-L! Y-E-L-L! Everybody yell, Go Sequoits!”

The presence of the respectful, responsible and proud students of ACHS is well-known at all home and many away games.

A Historic and CRAZY Spirit

The Cardinal Crazies were not always around to cheer on the sports teams of ACHS. In the early 2000’s, the Leadership Conference of ACHS started the Cardinal Club in an attempt to imitate Warren Township High School’s school spirit group, the Blue Crew. One of the biggest goals of the Cardinal Club was to increase student attendance and participation at Sequoit sporting events. In the mid-2000’s, Michael Nekritz became the principal of ACHS, and his student advisory group decided to rename the Cardinal Club to the well-known name of today: the Cardinal Crazies.

This school spirit group sponsored tailgates before certain contests, like basketball and football games. The Cardinal Crazies tailgates were eliminated a few years ago, but they are slowly starting to make a comeback. On Fri., Sept. 20, the first tailgate of the season was held behind the Antioch Township Assessor’s Office next to Lakes Community High School before the Antioch Sequoits took on the Lakes Eagles in the annual rivalry football game, the Pigskin Classic.

The Cardinal Crazies are always led by enthusiastic and passionate students. Each year, a few students take the lead and bring together the student body to support ACHS’s athletes. Traditionally, the Cardinal Crazies establish a theme for both football and basketball games. Popular themes have always included black, white, cardinal and neon-outs. Throughout the years, additions have been made to increase the scope of participation of students.

“The pep band, which was solely initiated by students in our instrumental music program last winter, has been a nice addition to the group at home basketball games as has the marching band staying around for the second half of the football games,” said ACHS Athletic Director Steven Schoenfelder. “Hopefully, we can eventually coordinate some cheer and dance routines to go with the band at home contests.”

The Cardinal Crazies continue to grow into an even louder and larger fan section to support the great Antioch Sequoits sports teams.

The Leaders of the Pack

This year, the ACHS students in charge of the Cardinal Crazies are seniors Nick Geidner, Nick Muskat, Mitch Greany and Alex Ochoa. They attempted to organize the group in many different ways, such as making posters promoting themes for fall athletic games and creating a Cardinal Crazies group on Facebook. The Facebook page assists in spreading the word to students about times, locations and themes of Sequoit events.

“Usually, leaders will post in our fan section Facebook page a poll with a few themes on it and have people vote,” said Geidner. “This year, we have found it to be a lot more effective if we keep the themes simple, such as color outs, so that everyone will have something to wear.”

In addition to reusing ACHS’ original, popular themes, the Cardinal Crazies have considered others. Nontraditional ideas for themes tossed around for football games included beach, pajama and holiday.

Although larger groups of Cardinal Crazies appear at home football and basketball games, this year’s Cardinal Crazies leaders have been doing all they can to get ACHS students to attend other sporting events.

“The Cardinal Crazies support all Sequoit sports teams,” said Geidner. “Where football and basketball tend to be more popular among the student body, a lot of the Cardinal Crazies like to attend other team events, such as soccer or volleyball games. I believe that having the Cardinal Crazies at every game helps all teams out a lot. It shows them that people care about their sport, which gives them a lot more confidence to play harder.”

Cheering, Dancing and Playing Spirit

Although the Cardinal Crazies may be the most prominent group in the stands, other groups also contribute to cheering on ACHS’s athletic teams during games and halftimes. On the field and sidelines, the cheerleaders, dancers, and marching band members of ACHS add to the strong sense of school spirit at football and basketball games.

“We [the Cardinal Crazies and ACHS cheerleaders] work together much more than we have in the past years. Nick, Nick, Mitch and Alex personally talk with Courtney [Carley], Sam [Ditzenberger] and I about what cheers we should do and things like that,” said ACHS senior and varsity cheerleader Sinclair Guntharp. “[The Cardinal Crazies] are definitely easier to get along with and much more supportive this year than in any other year I’ve been here.”

“I like that the band and the cheerleaders and the dancers are there because they make the game more exciting and get everyone pumped for the game. They are fun to watch and listen to,” said junior and Sequoit fan Briana Jimenez.

The Cardinal Crazies leaders believe that the attendance of fans at sporting events can affect how well the teams play.

Geidner said, “Our goal as fan section leaders is to try and get as many people as we can to attend every game, home or away. The more we hype it up every week, the more people will go. And the more people who go, the better the team tends to do.”

Demonstrating school spirit is one of the best ways for ACHS students and members of the Antioch community to display the pride they have for their talented athletes and musicians. The Cardinal Crazies, along with ACHS cheerleaders, dancers, and marching band members, exemplify the qualities that create an Antioch Sequoit: respect, responsibility and pride.