My acrimonious distaste for all things physically challenging arose during the period in which my father forced me, barely in elementary school at the time, into playing basketball.

Unfortunately, this experience not only made me view basketball unfavorably, but it also rendered me allergic to all forms of exercise.

Now, I use this as an excuse to avoid attending all sport-related school events, but lately I have questioned to what extent behavior like mine dampens school spirit.

Of course, in my initial stages of pondering, I wondered why school spirit is necessary at all. After all, many students already study day and night to please their parents and themselves, which furthers our school’s academic rankings and reputation, so there seems to be little reason to also ask us to dress up in ridiculous outfits on spirit days and flock to every home game.

However, school spirit is an important element of high school life—it unites students and faculty and it gives students greater pride and confidence about being part of the Saratoga community.

The evidence of this lies with the Saratoga-Los Gatos football game of last year. Though I regrettably did not attend this game, virtually the entire school, including both students and teachers, babbled on about it for weeks afterward; Saratoga’s “red pride” was palpable during the days following. This was one of the brief periods in which I wasn’t cynical about our school’s sports programs. If I felt the tinge of pride in one of our school’s non-academic achievements, I’m sure nearly every other student did as well.

Yet, it seems hypocritical for people to advocate for attending sports games while ignoring our school’s exceptionally talented academic clubs, such as the math club, robotics and speech and debate.

These clubs participate, and for the most part, excel in statewide and national competitions. And sure, showing school support at these competitions might serve to further Saratoga High’s reputation as a “nerdy” school, but this is an image we should be proud of.

In fact, having a math team, marching band and journalism programs that are nationally recognized is what gives our school its unique culture: one that is not only centered on “jocks,” as it is in many stereotypical ‘80s teen movies, but also on the more bookish students, an unusual deviation of the societal norm. In addition to promoting variety in the school, our school appreciates students for all of their individual and differing strengths.

After all, sitting out on icy bleachers after the sun has set to watch a game one may lack any understanding of (the only thing I know about football is that the referees tend to blow their exceedingly shrill whistles a lot) doesn’t appeal to everybody. That said, watching the MSET team’s robot climb up a pole or put a ring on a pin might not seem like the ideal activity to everyone as well. But maybe after football season ends, try taking couple of hours off to cheer on MSET during the FIRST competition or attend an orchestra concert.