Danya Elbendary

The Longhorn Stampede cheers on the team during Neon Night at the boys Basketball game against Parkway Central. “We wanted to try and have as many themed nights as possible because we’re the best senior class to come through Parkway West,” senior Kevin Doherty said.

This season’s tradition of themed basketball games began on Friday, Nov. 30 at the boys’ first home game against Parkway Central.

Originating with “Neon Night,” organized by the school Activities Directors, students were told to wear some form of neon, emphasizing the highlighter-yellow Longhorn Stampede shirts, in order to unite as a school and support our team. Although this themed game was similar to others held in the past such as “White-Out Night” during the football season, it was perceived by fans in an entirely different way.

“After neon night’s success, we decided we wanted every home game to be like that, which is where we got the idea for creating themed games,” senior Ryan DeMuri said.

After talking with the students about this new idea, the administrators decided to try something different. Spirit leaders, or students designated to lead the student section during school events were selected.

“The administrators warned us to choose our themes carefully. They loved our idea, however, so together we thought of fun, creative themes for the upcoming games and how to spread the word about it,” senior Victoria Bezzole said.

“The spirit leaders are me, Kevin Doherty and Ryan DeMuri. Athletic Directors Brian Kessler and Susan Dean chose us because we’ve been taking charge at the different games all year. Basically our job is to start and lead the cheers and to get the student section pumped up. We also help create the themes and spread the word about them.” senior Jon Vogel said.

Upcoming themes for games include “Preppy Night” and a “Hawaiian Night.”

“I think it’s awesome that we have such great fans this year. It makes the games much more energetic and fun to play in. The team loves having the student section packed and the outfits just make the games that much more fun,” senior and player, Cash McCurdy said.