Urban’s new Spirit Squad – a Stu-Co-endorsed dance team led by Aida Cooney ‘26 and Micaela Winthrop ‘25 – starts this fall. Any Urban student can join the Spirit Squad regardless of past dance experience. The dance team will meet once a week at lunch and perform at school athletics events each season. The goals of the spirit squad are to increase school spirit and community engagement by creating a new way to get involved with the school, supporting student athletes and making Urban’s school spirit more visible.
According to Associate Director of Athletics and Girls Varsity Volleyball Coach Kali Heys, the Spirit Squad would increase support for teams that play their games away from Urban. “Basketball and volleyball are probably [Urban’s] most attended sports [games] because they’re on-campus and so they’re the easiest to go to,” she said.
Meanwhile, field sports like soccer and lacrosse do not attract as many attendees. “It’s harder getting people to come out … when the games are off campus,” said Heys.
“Our athletes [put] a lot of time [into] their seasons, so I think it’d be helpful to have a little bit more appreciation from other student athletes or students in general,” Director of Athletics and Boys Varsity Basketball Coach Joe Skiffer said. “Come cheer them on and support them.”
This support is important for many reasons. “Playing any sport is terrifying,” said Ari Wayne ’27, a member of the girls varsity soccer team. “Support from my team helps a lot, but just hearing people in the audience cheer for me [is] encouraging and … helps a lot, especially with confidence.”
“Athletes feed off of the energy of the crowd,” Heys said. The Spirit Squad would increase the energy of the crowd both by getting more people to games and through their dance performances.
Outside of the Urban community, some can perceive the school as highly academic, but not as particularly athletic or spirited. “We still have a reputation as not being a sports school,” said Heys. “When you go [to Urban], you know that people do go to [sports] games, and it is important to people’s high school experience,” Heys said. “[The Spirit Squad] will help people outside of the Urban community know that we care about athletics [at Urban].”
The Spirit Squad is not the first of its kind among San Francisco high schools. St. Ignatius College Preparatory (SI) and Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory (SHC) both have dance teams that perform at sports games. “They’re really, really good,” Winthrop said. “That’s the vision. That’s the ideal. … I’m trying to emulate [that].”
With the introduction of the Spirit Squad and the new Urban Pep Band, athletic events will showcase many different students. “We’re not just celebrating the athletes, but also the musicians and dancers, all at one event,” Heys said. “It can be really cool when you bring in different parts of the school.”
