Ever wonder what it feels like for the professional, college, or even high school athletes when the crowd gets super loud? There are both negative and positive effects that can occur in this situation.

In some athletes, it sparks a fire deep inside them and helps them perform better based off how much adrenaline is pumping throughout their body. But in others, it’s like the “On Switch” before games turns off very quickly causing them to lose focus, or try and do too many things at once, causing mistakes to be made. Especially in the championship game, with the other team and their fans hoping for you to mess up. So focus and being able to “block them out” is a huge thing athlete’s need to learn to be able to handle the situation with lots of pressure.

Baylee Hedlund (11) , a Volleyball player talked about her opinion on how she does with big crowds in a sporting event. She stated, “There is nothing better than the rush you get from loud crowds.”

Demri Pilgrim (11) , an AHS Cheerleader, disagreed with Baylee’s statement by commenting, “An overall huge crowd distracts me and throws off my focus.”

Fallyn Gentry (10),without hesitation she said, “I personally love the crowd that stands behind us their energy feeds into us and vise-versa.”

Fallyn Gentry and Baylee Hedlund are two of many I have heard from that has agreed with the positive effects of the fans being a huge part of how they perform. But I’ve also heard from many such as Demri Pilgrim, that it affects them in a negative way. It all really depends on the person and how they handle huge crowds.