‘Lost the moment’, Fate of the Fall Pep Rally

On By Branford Buzz

By Owen Lentner

Some disapointing news hit BHS athletes and students last week when the annual fall pep rally was canceled. I had the opportunity to speak with Michael Woods, the district athletic director, for insight on why the event was canceled.

Additionally, Mr. Woods has been in discussions with Assistant Principal Joe Briganti and other students about planning an event before Homecoming, which is scheduled for November 22. There are also plans to hold a winter sports pep rally, Mr. Woods said.

Mr. Woods stated that there were several dates scheduled for the fall pep rally. Unfortunately, conflicting events, like PSAT testing, put the pep rally on the back burner. Mr. Briganti, Mr. Woods, and the fall sports team captains met to plan a pep rally – which had a date scheduled for Friday, Oct. 25 – but it ended up falling through.

“We just couldn’t get our feet underneath it,” Woods said. “We had some planning that felt short, meetings that fell short…”

The pep rally was originally scheduled for September but was postponed then by the administration before it was rescheduled for Friday, Oct. 25.

Woods said he felt as if they were not sufficiently planned for Friday, so the decision was made to cancel the event and rethink future planning.

While nearing the end of the fall sports season, Woods has recruited students to rethink the event and help plan it to involve more students.

Briganti and Woods spoke on Monday, trying to make sure they get it right, they said. They said they are scheduled to meet again on Friday to continue discussions on the pep rally and are planning on an event near the end of November.

Pep rallies are held three times a year for each sports season – fall, winter, and spring – and have a colorful tradition at the school, dating back to the infamous “Wrecking Ball” skit by the cross country team in 2013. The energy of the pep rally typically comes from the skits or games each athletic team performs after they are introduced.

In past years, the skits have caused controversy casuing the administration to cancel the pep rally.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the pep rallies, like most large gatherings, were canceled. At BHS, pep rallies returned in 2021.