Under the Friday night lights, the bleachers of Roy Lester Stadium fill with hundreds of RM students ready to cheer on the Richard Montgomery football team. So far this year, the energy of the student section has been ecstatic.

Over the years, traditions have been created in order to increase the spirit of the RM student section. One of these has been Hell’s Kitchen, a group of seniors who help lead the student sections in cheers and chants during games. Hell’s Kitchen usually bangs pots and pans to boost the energy. 

“Our goal is to create a positive environment in the student section,” SGA Spirit Officer Sam Navarro said. “Chants that build the Rockets up instead of breaking our opponent down can help create that environment.” 

Hell’s Kitchen requires a lot of planning and coordination. A section of the SGA executive board includes spirit coordinators, who this year are Sam Navarro, Scout Pollack, Kelly Romero, and Udy Mbanaso. “The school decided [Hell’s Kitchen] would be better if it was run through the SGA,” Navarro said. “It not only has helped with organization, but has made communication easier.” 

Hell’s Kitchen preaches following student section etiquette and has even posted a video going over the rules of the section on their Instagram. “Keeping everyone on the same page and being in unison makes our spirit stronger,” Navarro said. “It’s also important that students follow the rules during the game. Throwing stuff at people really kills the vibe and makes it not fun to be in the student section.”

Another spirit group at RM is the Juice Crew. Juice is student-run and more crazy and spontaneous compared to Hell’s Kitchen. The five seniors, Adam Kaidi, Nate Peschin, Timmy Jones, Luke Gutman, and Zach Wisneksi, write a letter on their chest to spell out juice. The old method of hyping up the crowd was splashing juice all through the stands.  With etiquette rules changing this year, the Juice Crew has switched to baby powder. 

“The goal of Juice is to bring back the spirit of our student section and to do our part of being loud,”  senior Adam Kaidi said.

A major part of what makes a student section look spirited is the theme of the game. The Spirit Coordinators and other members of SGA announced last week all eight themes for the football games this season. Some new ones this year were Camo and Western, along with the traditional blackout, whiteout, and gold rush games. ¨I think RM has more spirit than a lot of other schools, we are always all decked out in the theme.” Sophomore James Cooke said.