The New Cheer

It's always the brass section!

The high school band front in the bleachers and the cheerleaders on the football field complemented each other during games. The cheerleaders would start a cheer and the band front – all girls and friends of the cheerleaders – would echo and amplify the cheer. Occasionally, the band players would join in too, though usually as a joke.

The trombonists and trumpeters high in the bleachers weren’t into the cheers or even the football game. Their classmates on the field weren’t exactly providing them with reasons to cheer being that they still had a 1 win, 5 loss season, which was almost identical to the past three years. No, the band members were there to have fun and occasionally provide entertainment for the crowd.

Sometimes, the band front started a cheer and the cheerleaders went with the flow to continue it. They had a dance and kick number prepared for most cheers.

Well, that is, until the brass section came up with their own cheer.

Some, after they heard the idea, might have called the brass players unschooled and illiterate, but neither accusation was true. They knew exactly what they were doing.

Five brass players stood up and started their never-before-in-history cheer.

“F-I-T-E, fight, unkh! F-I-T-E, fight, unkh! F-I-T-E, fight, unkh!” They spelled out their new word, yelled its well-known homonym, and gave a guttural unkh at the end for emphasis, which led to a new round.

After five times through, some in the band front stood and helped the brass. Even the brass section was surprised at the assist so early in their hostile cheer takeover.

The cheerleaders, on the other hand, were in a dilemma. They weren’t officially part of the band, but they did represent the school and the team on the field. If they continued the cheer, they’d labeled ignorant and illiterate. Plus, they had no dance or kick step to associate with the new cheer.

They huddled together while the cheer grew louder and as more band members joined in, and then all of a sudden broke up and one by one began wagging their fingers and shaking their heads at the band.

The cheer died down for the moment, but sooner or later, the cheerleaders would need a better plan than a wag of the finger. With this small cheer victory, the brass players would be emboldened to be much more creative than ‘F-I-T-E, Fight, unkh!’

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