A sea of white is seen behind the endzone. Chants fill the air, along with an array of silver pom poms shaking above the crowd. Football season has begun and the Tribe has arrived.
The Tribe has been a staple icon for the Granite Bay High School student cheering section
throughout past years.
However, this year there are going to be a few new changes—starting with Kyle Holmes. The GBHS drama teacher has recently been appointed to be the new
advisor for the Tribe.
“For the past five years or so, Tim Healy, the Athletic Director, has kind of overseen the Tribe very informally,” Holmes said. “(But), he is a busy guy and he is running all of our athletic
programs.”
Holmes was recently asked by Healy and new principal Jennifer Leighton to help preside over the Granite Bay student section. Holmes was chosen because he has a background working with sports teams including the Sacramento Kings and the Oakland Raiders.
“The Tribe leaders this year do a really great job of trying to involve everybody and make the Tribe about supporting the athletic event that is happening, and not focused on the tribe as its own entity that wants attention,” Holmes said.
Holmes, as well as Healy, want to work on making the Tribe more centered on cheering on the athletes and creating an environment where every student feels like they belong, and less about the cliques.
Senior Tribe leader Nick Marakas appreciates the additional help from Holmes and is looking forward to some great athletic seasons with a new and improved Tribe.
“Personally I am glad Holmes is stepping in and helping the Tribe out,” Marakas said. “It is very helpful for us to have someone able to step in at times and give us a voice with administration.”
A main goal with the Tribe this year is to incorporate more students so that the section is louder and has people in it who want to support the teams and encourage cheering.
“Our way of making the Tribe as big and the best it can be is really just getting more students
involved. We are trying to have a good time with it and make sure everyone is welcome and feels able to come to the Tribe and cheer for their favorite sports,”Marakas said.
A new change that has been a hot topic for students around campus is the fact that only a certain amount of people get entrance into the Tribe after a specific amount of time. But, Holmes approves of this new rule and justifies the reasoning behind it.
“I think it’s a good decision. I think that any time you go to any school and they have a student
cheering section, whether it’s Cal Berkeley or Stanford, they only sell so many tickets and
that creates a premium,” Holmes said. “By creating a premium, the people who want to be there at 7:00 to be in the Tribe are the people who want to be there cheering the whole game, and
that’s a big problem in the Tribe.”
Tim Healy said he also wants to encourage participation and make the Tribe a more inclusive group, which has been a continuous goal for the past six years.
“I think that the thing that we have been trying to do is to cut across the cliques and artificial divisions of students and make everyone feel like they belong at Granite Bay High School,” Healy said. “They should (feel) apart of that group, (and) it should be about having fun.”
Healy said he chose Holmes because he not only has experience with rooting groups and sports teams, but also because he shares a similar philosophy regarding the tribe—that it is an “organic” and student established cheering section.
“It’s something that the students, in a way, want to create a positive cheering group that
adds to the culture at Granite Bay High School,” Healy said.
In regards to changes going on within the Tribe, no drastic alterations will be made for the
upcoming athletic seasons. The Tribe will continue to be determined by the students and are
a voice in the world of GBHS athletics.
“The Tribe is a place students want to be, (and) other schools look at us and want to be us,”
Marakas said. “We are the best student section and the only (goal) for us is to get bigger, better,
and louder.”
