As senior Jordan Montez stands in the on-deck circle, he shows support for his teammate currently at bat. His first swing is a ball. “Good take,” Montez says. His teammate swings and hits the ball to left field, making it to first base. “Let’s go, kid,” Montez shouts, as he steps up to the plate.

For many sports, cheering is a crucial aspect of being an encouraging teammate. Montez, who has been playing baseball since he was young, has made it a goal to be a good teammate to his fellow baseball players.

“When it comes to cheering for my teammates, I just try to be loud, be supportive and show that I am there,” Montez said.

During baseball games, Montez emphasizes cheering when one of his teammates is up at bat but will also use his voice on the field whether he is getting ready to bat, or standing in the dugout.

“Some things I say are like, ‘Swing the bat,’ ‘Good take,’ ‘Three, two, one have some fun,’” Montez said. “So when someone gets walked, I’ll try to lead and say, ‘What do we love?’ and the rest of the team will say, ‘Free 90s’ since the distance between bases is 90 feet.”

He also described different phrases or chants the team will say for certain players.

“For certain players we’ll shout their number so for Jayce we’ll shout ‘Niner,’ since he is number nine,” Montez said. “For Orlando we’ll sometimes cheer something similar to the O’Reilly’s jingle, and say ‘O-o-o Orlando,’”

For softball, it is no different. Sophomore Khadijah Kamil believes cheering is important in sports and helps encourage those on the field. Kamil and her team also have phrases they will say when their teammates are at the plate.

“When someone is up at bat and they make contact but it’s a foul ball, we’ll say something like, ‘Way to make contact,’ but if it’s a ball we’ll say, ‘Good eye,’” Kamil said. “Or if they strike out we’ll say, ‘Way to battle,’ just something to encourage the batter.”

While some focus on cheering for those up at bat, Kamil also ensures to cheer for her team’s pitcher while she is in right field.

“I think it’s really important to be loud and cheer on our pitcher. Our pitcher is new, and she finds it really helpful to hear cheering and know that we are cheering her on,” Kamil said. “So with being in outfield, I make sure with every pitch I am cheering her on.”

Unlike sports such as baseball and softball where cheering is constant and encouraged throughout the game, etiquette regarding cheering is different in other sports. In tennis and badminton for example, it is crucial to remain quiet during certain times of the match and cheer only when it is allowed.

Senior Joshua Yi described the situations where it is best to support his fellow tennis players during a match.

“During a tennis match, you should really only cheer at certain times,” Yi said. “We often like to cheer for one another whenever we make a good serve or hit a good shot that wins us the point. Even though you still miss the point, your team can still commend you for going for the ball or putting in the effort.”

Badminton is similar to tennis when it comes to verbally cheering. According to sophomore Minh Dang, spectators and teammates should be quiet until a point has been earned by one team.

“It is important to stay quiet while the birdie is in the air for the people who are playing,” Dang said. “If we are on the sidelines, we can only cheer if the point has been earned.”

While in a match, Dang believes that it can be distracting when there is too much noise.

“As a player, like when I am playing, I don’t want to feel pressured with the cheering and the loud noise. It’s important to focus on the birdie,” Dang said.

According to Yi, cheering for the victory of one team can be perceived as condescending toward the opposing team, so cheering is often kept to a limit as a means of respect toward the more unfortunate team.

“However, when the opposing school makes a mistake or misses the shot, you shouldn’t cheer as it would technically be bad manners or bad sportsmanship,” Yi said.

Kamil believes uniting as a team to support one another and their victories helps boost the energy and morale of the players, alongside encouraging them to continue putting effort into achieving more victories.

“It’s all about hearing encouragement from your teammates. At one of our games, our shortstop, Vanessa, made all the plays, and that was our three outs,” Kamil said. “So in the end, we were super hyped in the dugout because we were doing really well, and so the energy was really good and super encouraging.”