TIME TO LIGHT A FIRE

I've been sitting on this topic for weeks now, but with the championship season right around the corner, it's time to take the lid off.

It wasn't long ago that the words "Yorktown Tigers" struck fear in a lot of teams. One of the reasons for that was the unbelievable amount of fan support YHS teams had during the glory days of the mid-2000's. Swimming MATTERED at Yorktown, not just in the pool, not just in the school's hallways, but across the whole community. And that's why Yorktown Swimming mattered all OVER Indiana.

Where are we now? At home meets, fans sit on their hands and barely make a peep. Almost nobody bothers to cheer or yell encouragement. God forbid that we'd hear the chant of "Yorktown REE-LAAYS" (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap) before one of our squads takes to the blocks. The kids themselves don't even bother to do the infamous, pre-meet cheer that included kickboards being pounded in rhythm on the blocks to get everybody's juices flowing. I sure do miss those times.

Now it's time to do something about it. Every Yorktown fan who goes to the Hoosier Heritage Conference Meet on Saturday should wear SOMETHING green and/or black, denoting their loyalty to these awesome kids. We should be loud and proud all day long, and make that Natatorium vibrate with "YORKTOWN RELAYS" before the medley, 200 and 400. And we should yell our lungs out for every race, so our kids, the other kids, and everyone in the building knows YORKTOWN is there.

How can we demand the best from our sons and daughters if we aren't also willing to give them OUR best?

Let's revive the old traditions, start a few new ones, and show the rest of Indiana that Yorktown Swimming is back, and is here to STAY.

KICK SOME ASS, WIN CONFERENCE, GO TIGERS!!