Friday nights are reserved for one thing around Knox County, high school football. Whether it be going out to support the Yellow Jackets or visiting one of the county schools, generations of football watchers have watched Knox County’s best play. But recently, this tradition has slowly started to fade. The love for Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets football has slowly started to disappear.
This negative attitude has continued onto social media. Parents and community members alike have been bashing our program following losses and appear to have lost all hope in this program. Recently on social media, fans attacked our team ruthlessly. ‘Let’s go another year of nothing but FAT L’S for Mount Vernon we bringing the depression cup back home’ said one “fan”. Another “fan” even called the energy field, ‘depression field’.
However, our Hive has started to stand up for our team. No matter what the score is, the Hive has remained full and loud. A new chant that has started to be used this year is a core piece of this new mentality. ‘Never back down never what?’ is called out by one of the Hive leaders, and the Hive responds ‘Never give up!’
This simple call and response was first popularized by a popular influencer who goes by Nick Eh 30 who used this call to hype up his teammates while playing online video games and show how he believed in them. This style of chant is exactly what our team needs right now. Since 2004, we have had 6 coaches with the average coach spending only 2.8 years at our school. The only constant that has remained throughout this turmoil has been the support of our fans.
As Coach Weber and the team adjust to a new style of play, it is crucial that our support does not waiver in this crucial time. Coach Weber is attempting to do something that has not happened in a very long time in Mount Vernon, build a culture. Weber is attempting to reinstall a motto that is long lost for our youth, ‘I was born in Mount Vernon, I want to play for Mount Vernon’
If this team is going to succeed in the future, the students should not be the only people supporting them. Building a culture takes time, and Coach Weber is being thrown under a microscope by parents based off his first season. He is attempting to build something which has been missing for years. He needs more than 2.8 years to recreate what we have been missing for so long. You can not expect a magical fix after being hurt. Healing takes time and that is what Coach Weber is attempting to do, and he needs the community’s support.
So maybe we should listen to our youth. Maybe we should support our team no matter what. We need our colt and middle school football players to see how much this team is loved by our community so they strive to change it for the better. And if quoting an influencer is what needs to happen, let it happen. So instead of spewing the negative comments, we need to support him and our team. ‘Never back down never what? Never give up!’
Charlotte Petrie with the illustrations
