Every year, the Cathedral Prep sports teams go into the season with great expectations to win a state title. But they can never do all the work alone, and that’s why they always have the 12th Man behind them: the Cathedral Prep Rally Crew.
Mainly consisting of seniors, this year’s bunch includes Charles Agresti, Kelyn Blossey, Reece Colvin, Derek Hime, Elijah Hunt, Andrew Kolodychak, Sam Louie, Brody McIntire, Anthony Morgan, Michael Mucha, Mason Orlando, AJ Roach, Jack Rouch, Kyle Sargent, Jake Slater, Alex Vahey, and Jake Vandee.
Elijah notices that cheering for the Rambler sports teams brings the guys closer together, even when they may be in disagreement
“There’s definitely a stronger bond on rally days and game days,” he said, “Whatever differences we may have at the time get put aside when we join together to celebrate our Ramblers.”
Everyone knows Prep’s famous chants and traditions, with Mucha saying that his favorite chants are the banana chant and “Roll Ramblers, keep rolling.” His favorite tradition is bringing up a freshman to yell the P-R-E-P chant.
Although the Rally Crew has always supported football and basketball, Jake Slater hopes that the crew can cheer for the baseball team just like they did last year.
“I feel like the boys are trying to get something going,” he said. “Hopefully for baseball. It was nice last year; we saw a lot of energy at those baseball games. You know, we had 30 kids at the Prep-McDowell baseball game. With COVID last year, not many people went to the football or basketball games. But come springtime, once everyone was kind of back in school, everybody really liked going out to the baseball games. So hopefully, for the spring, we can get something going for the Prep-McDowell baseball game.”
With basketball season ongoing, Reece Colvin enjoys balancing his play on the court and duties as a Rally Crew member.
“I enjoy balancing the two,” he said, “because I get to see both sides of the rally crew. During football season, I’m in the rally crew and help out with rallies getting people to games, and start chants, things like that. It’s really cool to watch the games and be able to cheer your friends on, but then at the same time, when playing basketball, you get to experience your friends cheering you on. It’s a great feeling when you’re giving it your all on the court, so I do like being able to experience both sides, and it makes it a lot of fun.”
Although those three sports get a lot of attention, some other fantastic teams such as the swim team may feel looked over. Kyle, a swimmer himself, would be open to a section at a swim meet but understands why people may not want to go.
“I mean, it would be cool to see the rally crew support swimming,” he said, “but I also understand that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. The meets are long, and if you aren’t a swimmer, you wouldn’t really understand what’s going on.”
This year has presented a lot of great moments in sports, with Andrew Kolodychak saying, “I’d have to say that my favorite moment from this year from being on the really crew would have to be seeing the CP brotherhood in all its glory as we cheer on the boys during football games.”
Known for his high-profile energy on and off the field and mat, Kelyn Blossey loves to see when his positivity rubs off on the rest of the students when hyping them up for games.
“I think that when we put all our hard work and effort into a video or rally, I think it kind of gives us a lot of pride to see that the positivity and the hyper energy during a rally that the students and faculty display,” he said, “We really feel good about what we’re doing and enjoy what we do because, at the end of the day, that’s our main goal: to hype everyone up for big games and let the school and teams know we care about them. It’s good to see that when people bring that hype and that positive energy to a rally, it definitely gives us enthusiasm and a passion.
Kelyn added, “I think [the positive energy] does reflect to game days. For example, if we have a pretty good rally and everyone enjoys it and is hype during it, I think that game, or whoever we play, is definitely going to feel that [energy] and we come out with a big win.”
With Chuck Agresti having many family that have gone to Prep and Villa, he notes that his father and grandfather, both Prep graduates, love seeing him, having fun with his friends.
“I’m a third-generation Rambler,” Chuck said, “and my dad and grandad went there. They’re happy for me for being in rally crew; they just enjoy seeing me make the most of rally crew’s last usual year at Prep really, being that we’re moving away from being an all boys school. They’re both happy to see me on the rally crew and having as much fun as I can and making other people laugh.”
Although this will be the last year of only boys before Prep moves to a co-educational institution, Anthony Morgan knows that the Rally Crew will be in good hands, but there are some perks you got to have if you’re willing to be a part of such an honor.
“The future of the Rally Crew should be in good hands,” he said, “but what I think makes a good rally crew member is: one, someone who truly cares about Prep, and two, somebody who’s willing to go to games. If somebody isn’t willing to go to all the games, or at least most of the games, they shouldn’t be in rally crew. Rally crew is for the people who truly love watching their brothers play.”
Morgan added, “Another role you have to play in the rally crew is [to be] outgoing. You can’t be scared to talk in front of people or show yourself because you’re gonna be front row. You gotta be the loudest, the one making the chants, and be the one that keeps everyone in check.”
