“I think we should just stop caring about what the administration says during games and just have fun with it like we used to do. Not having a care in the world what other people think,” stated Cory Jenkins, ‘24.
Lately, MV Administration has been on the Khaos Kage’s backs whenever it comes to the chants our beloved student section does to our competition.
“I would say just keep doing what the Kage has been doing in the past. Sooner or later the administration will see that it’s all in the name of competition and loosen up a bit,” said Aaron Scarber, ‘25.
With the overarching presence of administration and their power to kick students out of the game as they see fit, it can be a scary feeling, especially for Ram fans just trying to cheer your team on.
The Centralia game is a perfect example of where we felt restricted. Koehnke stood right on the floor next to all the Kage leaders and members who think of and do the chants and we felt we couldn’t say certain things because of his presence,” described Jenkins.
A noticeable power dynamic is present within Kage with some of the leaders only being involved for popularity status and a spot on the floor. Others are all-in for the good of the Kage and involvement in the games.
This claim has been true for the past two years. Many Kage leaders are not as involved in the game as they probably should be, which is a complete 180 from the 2021-22 Khaos Kage era.
“My freshman year with Roman as Kage leader it felt like we were able to do our own thing and not get threatened to get kicked out but now you may accidentally say something and get yelled at instead of just being asked politely to not say that anymore,” added Scarber.
“There is a noticeable change between when Roman was a Kage leader to now. I feel like administration plays a partial reason as to why, but we also have kids who just sit in the Kage and do nothing, or sit on the bleachers beside the Kage,” said Jenkins.
As Jenkins said, many have noticed our involvement has gone down as a whole, with many who are seated in the Kage treating it as a social event and not a time where students should cheer on classmates in the name of competition.
“I feel like there has been a slight change in the Roman Harrison days, there hasn’t been as much Ram pride in my opinion. I don’t think it has to do with administration,” asserted Diedrich Smith, ‘25.
The Kage has seen a major jump in restriction whenever it is directed towards women’s sports, such as volleyball, basketball, and even cheerleading.
When attending a women’s volleyball game, Mr. Koehnke relayed to the Kage members who attended, that if we tried to intimidate the other team in any way, we would be kicked out of the gym.
“As a member, I’ve felt restricted when we can’t do chants against certain team’s cheerleaders or even coaches. So mostly during the basketball season plus when the Kage is restricted do not say a lot during volleyball,” stated Kamaree Pollard, ‘25.
It doesn’t stop there. With social media being a huge part of students’ lives, the feud between MV and Centralia has been taken to another level by the respective student section’s “Barstool” accounts.
MV Cheerleader, Lucy Greathouse, ‘24, said of the MV/Centralia Barstool scandal, “Long story short, I thought it was hilarious. I felt both Barstool accounts were quite humorous, although it did cause some hurt feelings on the Centralia cheerleader’s side.”
Due to miscommunication, the Centralia cheerleading coach did not take this lightly.
MV cheerleaders explained they had nothing to do with the posts and social media jokes being made, causing Centralia’s cheer coach to email the head of IHSA, to try to disqualify MV’s Cheer team.
With many injuries and sicknesses that MV’s Cheer team had faced this year, they were not going to let a situation in which they had zero participation stop them.
“It did stress us out as a cheer team because we thought we were going to have to forfeit or be disqualified,” Greathouse added.
Students realize the Administration doesn’t want the term “disrespectful” tied to their schools’ name, but it is not taken literally.
Chanting against an opponent is a tale as old as time and is something all high schools do.
The chirping and back-and-forth between the fans build suspense, adding character to the game.
“This is a message to the MV Administration: LET THE KAGE BE THE KAGE!!! #618MostHated,” surmised Scarber.
