The Flock—a group of Robbinsville High superfans—do a cheer called the “Raven Rollercoaster” during a football game last fall.
Robbinsville High School students form club to cheer on peers
With March Madness in full swing, college basketball teams are in the spotlight—and so are their fans. Student sections are known for their chants, enthusiasm and even props, and last year, a group of Robbinsville juniors and seniors started to take note of just how different their bleachers looked from a big-name college’s or even other local high schools’.
Games, even some of the bigger sports like football and basketball, were poorly attended, and school spirit was lacking. Then-junior basketball player Anthony Massi enlisted the help of some seniors, mainly former soccer captain Brendan Barca, to get a student section together. They dubbed themselves The Flock and started going out to games just as football season wrapped up and basketball season began.
“We didn’t have an official membership list last year,” Massi said. “We kind of started by giving away T-shirts and having people come to meetings.”
Around 75 students signed up that first year. It has since grown to over 150. Senior football player and Flock member Nick Ferraro said he and his teammates noticed the difference.
“When we were on the field, you look out from time to time,” he said. “It took up a small section last year, and then this year, you could see they were spread out from not even only just in the stands, but standing along the fence chanting.”
Tom Biscardi, also a football player and Flock regular, said the support goes both ways.
“As an athlete, you don’t want to let your fans down, either,” he said. “There’s a lot of them there. On the flipside, as a fan, you don’t want to let your friends down by not being able to go to a game.”
Fall and winter are The Flock’s major seasons. They meet several times a school year, often before big events like tournament games, rivalry matchups and homecoming, to discuss a gameplan and learn chants. Massi even made up a PowerPoint presentation for a few meetings.
“I remember this year, we had a meeting in the week leading up to homecoming,” Massi said. “We had a classroom that was overflowing because there were so many people trying to get in.”
Massi said the club’s popularity skyrocketed after a boys’ basketball game at Steinert last year. The Ravens, led by Massi himself, won on a buzzer beater after being down by double digits.
“We made a furious comeback at the end,” he said. “We were down a lot of points early in the game. We kept chipping away, and The Flock really helped us get back into the game. Our fans were going crazy. They were louder than Steinert’s fans.”
After that game, Massi said The Flock’s Twitter account “blew up.” Potential members wanted to know how to order T-shirts, attend meetings and join.
“That was the moment where it really took off,” he said. “It’s kind of carried over, and we’re hoping to keep going with it.”
Another memorable game was the football team’s 27-18 win over Burlington City on Sept. 20. The Ravens were down by three touchdowns by the third quarter, but Ferraro and Biscardi said The Flock didn’t let up.
“We were down by like 18 points,” Ferraro said. “We kind of thought we were out of it, but we were going to play to the whistle. Every time we made a play, you could hear all the fans going crazy. That pumps you up. Every time we made a play, we’d look to the fans, and the fans would go crazy.”
And even when games didn’t go as planned, the fans still clapped their hands and raised their voices.
“The football players appreciate The Flock so much because we didn’t have such a successful season,” Ferraro said. “We were surprised to see that the bleachers were filled every game, whether we lost last week 45-6 or were winning. No one really gave up. Everyone was still cheering until the last second.”
Basketball and football are The Flock’s main sports, but they also attend wrestling, soccer, field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse matches. Sports like baseball and softball are a little more difficult to cheer for, Massi said, but they’re brainstorming on other ways to support.
The Flock uses its own chants and cheers, as well as adapting some from the college sports world. Sometimes they’re made up on the spot.
Senior Justin McKay’s Raven Rollercoster is a fan favorite.
“He mimics going on a roller coaster to the crowd, and the crowd mirrors whatever he does,” Massi said. “It’s the whole crowd and we’re bunching close, pretending we’re on a roller coaster and going in different directions.”
They also enjoy the “You Can’t Do That” chant, which happens when someone on the opposing team gets a penalty or commits a foul.
Massi said there has been a definite increase in school spirit since The Flock banded together. He and his fellow seniors said they would have appreciated something like the club when they were new Robbinsville students.
“I think for awhile, there was sort of this aloofness,” he said. “People didn’t really want to take an interest. Our grade and the grade that graduated before us, we kind of set this example and people started to follow. People were bringing out their school spirit and trying to join something and follow that lead. The majority was actually the underclassmen. They really followed, too. I get to reach a lot of different people. It sort of serves as a platform to bring everyone together. You kind of unite over something as a student body. That’s the most fulfilling thing for me, at least.”
Ferraro said anyone who wants to join is accepted, and he has seen even some of his shyest peers join up and raise their voices.
“It’s not just people from your grade,” Flock member Biscardi said. “You’re normally just with people from your own grade. This is like people from every class coming together, all being together and cheering for your school’s teams.”
And it’s a good thing other classes have joined. The core group of seniors graduates this year, and they’re currently searching for the perfect people to take the reins once they leave. Bascardi said he’d like to see fundraising for things like props, banners for the gym and more T-shirts. He and Ferraro got started this year.
“We’re trying to get more serious,” Ferraro said. “This year, me and Tom decided to go big. We got heads of the two star basketball players blown up, like at college basketball games. When people started coming to games, they saw that. I’m hoping next year, whoever’s going to take it over will make it bigger and better.”
For now, though, the boys are focusing on finishing out the spring sports season—and their Robbinsville careers— as loudly as possible.
“I can plan my schedule for certain things outside of school around the games,” Massi said. “That just shows how big it is. I think it’s good that everybody’s supporting each other. The football players, the basketball players, the soccer players, the lacrosse players, everybody goes to each other’s games. It’s nice to see that as a player and a fan.”
,
