By Ryan Duffy
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For years, and with more than 100 State Championships under its belt, this school has prided itself on its performance in athletics. The football team has made it to State the last four seasons, winning once, and the men’s basketball team has accumulated a record of 33-2 over the last three seasons. The women’s swim team has won 23 State titles in a row, a national record.

But while these teams have gained success through hard work and dedication, another factor that is sometimes overlooked, according to senior Ben “Dobo” Dobrovodsky, is the student fans. Through groups such as Hound Pound, Big Game and Wild Bunch, students are at virtually every game cheering the Hounds on to victory.

Dobrovodsky, a Big Game member, said the fan section has an important job for each game. “The main job of a crowd during a game is to get everybody, including the team, pumped up,” Dobrovodsky said. “The crowd tries to be loud as possible and make the other team choke, so we do weird chants and cheer hard because everyone likes to win, and no one likes to lose.”

That effort isn’t in vain, according to Oscar Falodun, varsity basketball forward and senior. He said the fans are an important factor in every game. 

“The role of a crowd for high school sporting events is huge, because they could either bring positive or negative energy,” Falodun said. “Big Game and Wild Bunch bring a lot of positive energy that fires us up before the game even starts. As a player you love to see the gym packed full of people supporting Carmel.”

Mark Galloway, men’s varsity basketball head coach, said the crowd has a major influence on coaches and players during the course of the game, as well. 

“I think a crowd can sometimes give a team extra energy during a game,” he said. “At our home games our student body and fans are the best.”

In sports, pundits and critics often talk about home field advantage. In a sense, the home team is comfortable with the playing conditions and the visiting team is playing in a hostile environment. Dobrovodsky said he thinks home court advantage is embodied by the student fans here. 

“Of course the fans give the home court advantage,” he said. “We are loud and crazy when something good happens and we’re loud and angry when something bad happens, or we get a bad call, which we all know something about.”

“The fans are one of the reasons why a team does so well and is ready to destroy the opponent,” he added. “From personal experience, playing in front of a huge crowd on your side is better than playing in front of nobody at all.”

Galloway said the fans have even helped change the outcome of games in his time coaching. “I believe ultimately the players decide the outcome of the game,” he said, “but I do think our student body here has a lot to do with the success we have in games. When our gym is packed and our students are into the game it has an effect on our team and the opposing team.”

Falodun said he is a major advocate of the fan groups at the school. “Fan groups are really important and they contribute a big part to our success as athletes by doing little things,” he said. “Even just yelling and making noise while the other team is shooting a big free throw adds pressure that can change the outcome of our games.”

Dobrovodsky said he thinks this school’s size gives Carmel an advantage. “We have around 4,300 kids at our school, if even one fourth of those students showed up to a game that is still more people than in most school’s whole student body,” he said. “I truly believe that when players see that section of blue and gold cheering them on, it makes our teams that much harder to beat.”