Tradition, commitment and excellence describe the Birdcage. But, in recent years attendance has been low, chants are quiet amongst the crowd and now the players grow restless. Last Friday, Prep played Norfolk in the first round of the NSAA playoffs at Benson. Yes, the game was played at Benson but, geographically, Benson is two miles closer to Prep than Burke’s location. Many students living in west Omaha find it difficult or cumbersome to travel Benson to watch the Junior Jays on Friday nights. The west Omaha students should consider themselves lucky to live and commute to a close Burke Stadium whereas east Omaha students have to tackle the traffic of workers as they head home on Fridays.

“I live in east Omaha and I have never been deterred from supporting my brother and friends on the football field,” senior Dermot Swanson said.

Swanson is just one case in which a student has attended almost every game no matter the location, opponent and date. There are others who are not this dedicated to Junior Jay Football.

The Birdcage atmosphere is the lowest I have seen with student participation and attendance tenuous. The students need to come out to the games no matter where the games are located to support the White and the Blue as they go to battle on the field.

“The importance of the Birdcage is far more important than the students realize. Fans can seriously change the outcome of the game,” senior quarterback AJ Hubner said.

Hubner is right, student participation is low and you can feel an energy that’s absent every time you enter the stadium on the Prep side. When I was younger, I went to the Prep football games at the old UNO Caniglia football field, you could feel the energy build as the students paraded into the stadium with school pride and cheers. The excitement was similar to the ‘Tunnel Walk’ in Lincoln. Prep students came from all over Omaha to watch their friends and classmates take the field near 61 and Dodge. But, now all seems lost when it comes to that type of energy. Students could not make to the first round of the NSAA playoffs last week. It could have possibly been the last time the class of 2017 took the field and only an estimated 40 students were there to sing “The White and The Blue” after the historic comeback to advance in the playoffs.

“Stay an extra five minutes to sing ‘The White and The Blue’, it is one of the coolest traditions of Prep sports,” Hubner said.

Ah, tradition, a word that is thrown around more than “Health and Wellness” in the halls of Creighton Prep. Prepsters pride themselves on tradition and how the same things occur each and every year specifically in the Birdcage realm. Well, there is one tradition that has yet occur this season and it is troubling for future generations of Prepster to never be able to experience. At the start of every fourth quarter, Prep students used to  join together with arms around each other as they swayed from side to side singing the words to “Hey Baby”. This short song has halted the continuation of tradition in the Birdcage. This camaraderie was only seen in the best student section in the state, but now it has been greatly diminished.

“I remember my freshman year where, if we didn’t cheer, we were kicked out. I miss that Prep mentality. I am honestly questioning if we’re the best student section in the state,” junior Blue Army member Andrew Hoover said.

Wow! A student on Blue Army is questioning if CP has the best student section. This should be a shock to all who is reading this but, it is the truth. I have heard viable reasons from many students for missing games such as: too much homework for the Thursday Night Game, Lincoln games are too far, etc. Although there are some legitimate reasons for missing games, there are far too many that are not such as: going to a party, a dance or just plainly leaving at halftime due to boredom. These players work their bodies each and everyday at practice and their reward is to walk into a stadium with an empty student section.

“I have gone to three or four games this year. I haven’t gone to the game because I have been hanging out with friends at our homes. I have found it more fun to hang with friends than to be at the game,” freshman Sai Vikranth Kanthamneni said. Kanthamneni does plan to go to the game this Friday against Millard North.

Players are finding it difficult to play when there is no incentive. The incentive used to be playing in front of your friends and peers but, now there is a lack-luster amount of support in the stands for the Junior Jays.

“It makes me feel bad that our team isn’t good enough for our school. We have high expectations for the team and for the Birdcage. Every game there should be more and more students, as a school we should want to support each other and try to help our teams win,” Hubner said.

Andrew Hoover takes part of the blame for not having all the chants ready with excitement and positivity.

“We need to start more creative chants and be more engaging with the student section. Sometimes we drift toward the field and just watch the game,” Hoover said.

Leaving at halftime might be the worse crime. This shows that you want to be there but find the game that your classmates and peers are working for is too boring. This is heartbreaking. The players might not notice you leaving but, other students do notice. Multiple Spirit Committee members leave at halftime or do not show up to the games. The seniors on the Spirit Committee are supposed to lead chants, songs and show how the greatness of the Birdcage. Seniors that leave at halftime show to the younger students that it is ok to leave early and ditch your classmates that are trying their hardest to win on the field. The students that leave at halftime should be ashamed of themselves.

Alumni had the opportunity to be part of the the glory days of the Birdcage at CP. They had the privilege of being part of great school pride and great athletic teams.

“We always went to the games on Friday night. Football games were reserved for Friday night,” said Taylor Stormberg, class of 2009 and current director of annual giving.

Jonas Luedtke, class of 1999 and current Economics teacher, has a similar viewpoint to Stormberg.

“It is absolutely absurd that we are only getting 35 to 40 kids at a football game. That was the only place to be when I was in high school. When I was at the varsity games I would be screaming my head off like an idiot, but it was awesome! The atmosphere was awesome, it was school spirit, it wasn’t in a cheesy way. It was the family atmosphere and it seems like that has been lost along the way. When I hear that 35 to 40 guys are going to the Birdcage that is troublesome in so many ways. At Prep we are a family and the people that do not think we are family are a part of the problem.” Luedtke said.  

Eventually, the football season will end and the basketball season will begin. The student section at basketball games mean so much to the player’s momentum and for disrupting an opposing defense. In 2014, Creighton Prep would not have beaten undefeated, and then number one basketball program in the state, Benson High School without the rowdiness of the Birdcage. As the final horn blared, students rushed the floor to jump with joy with their fellow classmates as the Junior Jays defeated number one Benson. This commitment to the Birdcage is what senior forward Matt Wellendorf wants to see.

“I would really like to see kids come out to the Cage. Last year’s support was awful and it really does affect the attitude and performance of the players,” Wellendorf said.

I believe to bring students back to the game there needs to be better communication with the leaders of the Birdcage and administration. This communication with the leaders will further inform the rest of the students on what they can and cannot do. Students need to learn from administration which chants from the past have been deemed inappropriate. This communication would further develop the knowledge of the actions that can be committed by the students, without this the students and Birdcage is left in the dark.  

“We need to find ways to incentivize to students to come back to the Birdcage whether it is soccer, baseball, wrestling and even football. I think we need to come together with whoever is running the birdcage as far as student body and faculty and staff and administration. They all need to come together and find a median where the students know they can push it to this extent. We need to get back to the place to be on Friday nights,” Luedtke said.

Lastly, attendance to the football game this Friday should take precedent. So, cancel your date or appointment. Do your chores or homework on Saturday because the Junior Jays are taking the field and need our support! BE LOUD, BE PROUD, GO JAYS!