By: Nicole Burns
Mission Viejo High School has earned the right to be proud, but when does it go too far?
Being a student at Mission Viejo High, it is rare to go the whole four years without attending any form of a sporting event. Whether it’s the football games or one of the many star sports MVHS covets, Mission is without a doubt an athlete’s school.
Since MVHS is stellar in multiple sports including football, soccer, basketball, track and field, and many, many more, the student body is used to acting confident in the crowd. The games for any successful sport are nowhere near quiet, often heading towards deafening more often than not.
However, when it comes to the MVHS student section, pride and entitlement will rear their ugly head in the bullying chants and rude comments.
The first time Mission Viejo students showed this ugly side of them and actually got reprimanded for it was early in the first semester, way back in football season. Santa Margarita High School, a Catholic school, was losing a game against the diablos and our student section thought it would be a good idea to start chanting “God can’t help you.” To a Catholic school.
Now, this could have been an innocent mistake, lost in the heat of the game. Mr. Zides told everyone to knock it off so they did, but it didn’t end with football season.
At a basketball game on January 6th, 2020, MVHS played Trabuco Hills High School. On this basketball team, there was a certain player that was not as skinny as the other players and was getting more out of breath. Instead of cheering for the Diablos, groups of students in the stands took to chanting “we have chocolate” and “want some water?”
The targeting is where it becomes too much. It goes from sportsmanship to outright cruelty and bullying. Mission students have become so entitled they forget where the game starts and where the game ends. The inferno has turned ugly with pride as they boo the opposite team constantly, chant cruel things, and much worse.
When Sydney Wilks, a senior at MVHS, was asked if she saw entitlement in the sports crowds she says, “Just because we are undefeated, doesn’t mean we have to be high and mighty about it. That’s why all of the other schools in the area hate us because we have such a bad attitude about winning.”
Mission needs to realize that yes, as Diablos, we can be proud, but there is a point where it gets to be too far. Although the devil is in our name, we don’t have to torture the other teams. There is a difference between biting back at schoolyard taunts to seeking out players and screaming at them from the stands.
MVHS needs an entitlement check and a lesson in sportsmanship before we head into next year’s football season. Hopefully, the class of ‘24 brings some kindness into our student section.
