By Emma Thompson
The MOB is the student section for McDowell High School. Students come together for all different types of sporting events to support and cheer on the school.
The MOB is run by a McDowell club called the GameDay Crew.
“GameDay Crew is a small group of students who plan the themes, sell white-out shirts, organize pep rallies and advertise for games to try and increase school spirit and attendance at athletic events,” said Crystal Myer, the teacher behind The GameDay Crew.
The club began in 2013 when a couple of students went to Myers and other teachers asking if they were able to hold a pep rally.
Myers stated that the word “mob” means “a large crowd of people that can be excited and sometimes unruly.” This corresponds well with what the McDowell student section was all about, so the name MOB stuck.
– Photo by Eric McMahon
There is so much work put into the MOB by the GameDay Crew to make McDowell’s student section what it is.
Vice President of GameDay Crew Joslyn Schnell said, “Although it becomes stressful at times, being in charge of the Mob is one of the best things that has happened for me. I love school spirit, involvement, and supporting my fellow student-athletes.”
Schnell tries to make the student section a “welcoming environment with crazy energy,” but these efforts can’t prevent some students from being viewed as disrespectful at times.
“I dislike that they don’t clean up after themselves. The marching band usually has to clean up after,” said Evelyn Hoover, a sophomore at McDowell. “They’re also really out of control sometimes. I’ll be sitting in the mob section with my friends and there will be pizza thrown and drinks.”
If any rules are broken by someone in the section it is reported to the administrators. Some punishments may include detention, being banned from pep rallies, games or even suspension.
On rivalry days when McDowell takes on Cathedral Prep the whole environment drastically changes.
Schnell describes this as “ a unique feeling of excitement” as we start to see the tension between McDowell and Prep. Schnell says when it’s time for the football game to start the number of people in the MOB “skyrocket” and the MOB “comes to life.”
The Mob isn’t just for the students, it helps the players as well.
“When you are playing in front of the mob, you play in front of people you know, you have to play for your city. You’re not just doing it for yourself anymore. You’re doing it for your school.”
Matthew Eggleston
Football player Matthew Eggleston stated that, “When you are playing in front of the mob, you play in front of people you know, you have to play for your city. You’re not just doing it for yourself anymore. You’re doing it for your school.”
To make a “good” student section you have to have a decent amount of people to do loud cheers, and have good school spirit and that’s just what the MOB has.
“Being one of the best student sections in the state puts a lot of pressure on us. We constantly want to go big or go home. I truly believe that our student section encompasses what every other student section looks up to,” says Schnell.
All the work to make the Mob what it is has been a major success. Schnell has seen the mob featured on TikTok, and that really shows the true power of the MOB as a whole.
