Student sections and their themes are an essential part of high schoolers’ experience at Friday night football games. But many times, students may not have an outfit that matches the theme.

     The Penn-Trafford cheer team now has a solution for that possible problem. 

     Starting this year, the P-T sideline cheer began offering short and long-sleeve t-shirts this year to match the student section’s themes for the Homecoming, Blackout, Pinkout, Neon, Camo and USA games.” 

     On top of the themed shirts, the team is also selling black and green fanny packs and a clear bag, which is the same design every week and costs $15.

     The team was inspired to start offering the shirts after seeing other schools’ sideline cheer teams offer a “spirit pack.”

     “We thought it might be cool to get the community involved and try to get all the kids and adults to participate in the themes,” stated head cheer coach Alexis Martonik.

    Assistant cheer coach, Lauren Vecchio, designs all the shirts and then sends them off to Redshirt, who prints all the designs. The shirts range in price from $15 to $20, depending on the design and color used.

     The shirts and other items are marketed to students, teachers and the community by a link that is shared through emails and social media. The orders are due the Sunday night before the game and can be picked up on Wednesday night from 6 to 7 p.m. at the high school, or students and teachers can get it delivered to their homeroom on Thursday.

     Due to the number of people who missed deadlines to order, the team may do a final sale later this season. 

     “We [the cheer team] are throwing around the idea of doing a last call shop after Homecoming,” stated Martonik. “We had some people who forgot to get the camo or Blackout shirt and still wanted it after the game.”

     The profits made from selling the shirts will go towards helping the competitive cheer team pay for their trip to Disney later this school year.

By Mia Williams, Editor-in-Chief