As the sun set above the field goal posts on Sept. 12, the football team made their first tackle of the season. At that moment, the crowd erupted and it looked as if a large snowstorm had suddenly hit the student section of the football stands, leaving a fresh blanket of white snow.

However, it was not a blizzard of snowflakes that overwhelmed the bleachers, but a blizzard of students decked out in their favorite white Wreckers’ apparel, cheering their hearts out for their favorite football team. These students, who are seen not only in the stands of the football field, but on the hill of the soccer field, in the bleachers of the gym and on the newly installed benches at Ginny Parker, are known as Staples Superfans.

Superfans, whose blood pumps blue and white, love to support their teams by bringing spirit to each game and riling up the crowd in order to encourage the players on the field to get that big W for the Wreckers.

“Superfans’ jobs are to be the loudest and best fans a team can have, out of any school we play, no matter what sport it is,” Sam Kratky ’15 said.

Every year, the Superfans are organized through a group on Facebook, a place where all grades come together to support the Wreckers. While the group is usually run by a few senior boys, athletes post in the group to encourage fans to come to their games.

This year the spirit and dedication was taken to a whole new level. For the first Friday night game, Griffin Thrush ’15, one of the admins of the Facebook group, organized for all students to meet and walk down to the football field – in their white apparel, of course, for the game’s white out – to see the Wreckers make their grand entrance onto the turf.

Thrush posted in the group encouraging everyone to come, as it “will be an energy booster for the boys. They tend to run out to parent-filled bleachers, but this year we will be there for them before they run out onto the field.”

Football team captain, Jake Melnick ’15, said that it is truly an exhilarating feeling seeing all the kids there cheering on the team, especially that first Friday night showdown.

“Walking out of the locker-room with all the fans going crazy in the stands really gets all the guys pumped up,” Melnick said.

However, it is not just the players that get excited by all the enthusiasm, but the fans as well. Students love painting their faces blue, attending the games and cheering on their friends who are on the field. The spirit and excitement is simply contagious.

“Being a Superfan is one of my favorite experiences at Staples,” Kratky said. “Nothing compares to cheering your head off at a Friday night football game in a sea of white in the stands.”

Whether it is cheering at a football, soccer or field hockey game, Staples students are proud to be Wreckers and have no problem showing their pride. This thriving superfan culture makes Staples’ athletes even prouder to represent such an energetic student body.

“Every time we see the hill just packed with our fans it motivates us to play hard and win,” boys’ soccer captain Michael Reid ’15 said. “They’re the best fans in the FCIAC.”