With the dreaded midterm season upon us, students and faculty are looking forward to a much needed and well deserved winter break. The start of this break comes with the highly anticipated Paul W. “Frosty” Francis Kingswood Invitational Tournament, known to most students as the KITs. A beloved tradition on campus, the KITs are a three day basketball tournament that take place after midterms each year. For three straight days, students, faculty, alums, and others from the community pack Hewett Gymnasium to cheer on our boys and girls varsity basketball team looking to bring home a championship. The KITs are one of the most exciting sports traditions at KO, but often leave me wishing that we had a similar sense of school spirit throughout the year.
The truth is many students would argue that KO lacks school spirit and I would have to agree. Watching my public school friends post pictures for the past few months from Friday night football games is a constant reminder of the school spirit that KO lacks. This leads to the question: why does KO not have the school spirit that many students desire?
The simple answer is scheduling. Typically, prep schools play games on Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays, times that are not convenient for students to attend games. Furthermore, at KO, students are required to play a sport during nearly every season, making it almost impossible to attend games due to having games of their own at the same time that other games are taking place. In recent years, the athletic department has taken strides to add more night games during the season that allow an opportunity for most students to attend. This fall, KO organized Friday night games for the varsity football team as well as both varsity boys and girls soccer. Despite inclement weather for the soccer teams, these games drew many fans creating an exciting environment for our Wyvern athletes to compete. Just last week, boys varsity basketball hosted Westminster on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. and the stands were quickly packed propelling the team to a 87-62 victory. Students have appreciated the recent efforts to include more night games and I would encourage KO to continue building this in the future.
With the KITs bringing a thrilling competitive environment to Hewett Gym consistently each year, many students long for other athletic events that garner this same energy. One tradition that is always looked forward to is Hewett Day, a day when all fall sports teams play at home, allowing students to cheer on their friends throughout the day. In the spring, KO hosts Spring Sports Day, a day that closely mirrors Hewett Day instead for spring sports. Yet, in reality most students do not even know when Spring Sports Day occurs and it does not gather nearly the same fans as Hewett Day. However, it seems in recent years that even Hewett Day has not brought the same excitement it used to. Another longtime KO tradition is Hockey Night, a night dedicated to honoring the life of Ryan Gordons ’05. In 2015, KO got rid of its hockey rink to repurpose the space to what it is now: a fieldhouse consisting of a weight room, basketball and tennis courts, the hospitality suite, and yoga studio. This shift has meant that Hockey Night, in addition to all varsity hockey games, has been forced to be held at an offsite location. This adjustment makes it harder for students to attend and has contributed to a decline in attendance. Furthermore, in the spring KO hosts Spring Sports Day, yet truthfully most students aren’t even aware of when this event takes place. I propose that KO should look to build more excitement and promotion towards our existing athletic traditions, perhaps via pep rallies and spirit weeks, and look to add more to the calendar throughout the year. These events are appreciated by the student body as a way to build community around our sports teams, fueling our athletes to perform their best.
In recognition of KO’s lack of school spirit, in recent years an Instagram account named “thewyvernden” has formed, created by KO students to promote team successes and upcoming games throughout the season. The account was created a few years ago by seniors who saw the value in school spirit and wanted to create a strong fan section that rivaled nearby schools. To this day, it has accomplished this goal, even selling Wyvern Den T-shirts last year. “The den allows us to foster a strong sense of school community while also boosting school spirit,” senior and Wyvern Den leader Aashni Patel said. “It’s a great environment where we aim to encourage a positive fan section and experience.” The Den has brought much needed spirit to KO and students are excited to see how they will grow in the future.
In previous years, KO had an organization known as SAAC or the Student Athletic Advisory Committee. This group’s goal was to provide a place for student-athletes to advocate for their respective teams, communicate with the athletic department, and promote school spirit through athletics at KO. Along with planning various events, SAAC would organize meetings with team captains and also took efforts to make non-athletes feel included. I encourage KO to bring back SAAC, giving students and faculty the opportunity to work together to bring more spirit to KO.
