Have you ever been at a Solon High School football game and seen a group of boys with funky wigs running around with a big stick, and wondered, “Who the heck are those kids?” Well, those are the spirit boys. Five senior boys who go all out at every football game and run the student section. This year’s bunch: Ethan Braun, Dylan Fischer, Trent Williams, Ryan Guggenheim and Austin Calvetta.

When asked why they chose to become a spirit boy, almost all of them responded with the same  answer: “because it’s fun.”  The only way one can become a spirit boy is by being selected by a previous spirit boy. And that’s the easy part. Being a spirit boy isn’t all glitz and glamour. In order to be sworn in as a spirit boy, one must pass the secret initiation: a series of difficult tasks chosen by the previous year’s spirit boys.

After completing the tasks, they receive their wig, making it official. The main role of the spirit boys is to lead the student section in chants at football games. One of the things that the spirit boys do is run onto the track and turn up with the cheerleaders. While on the field, you can see the boys doing a plethora of exercises including push ups, kicks, jumps and more.

An important prop you’ll see at every game is the spirit stick. This six foot combination of styrofoam and duct tape that’s been passed down from spirit boy to spirit boy for the past eight plus years is the centerpiece to spirit boy-ism.

“It gets people [hyped],” said Braun. “They know what to do when they see it… cheer.”