Fandemonium has taken over school sports. The rivalry between student sections has become just as competitive and focused on as the sporting events themselves. How loud the cheers and students are, how elaborate the themes are, and how many people there are are now becoming fodder for school rivalries, as student sections compete to earn the title of best student section.

For the third consecutive year, OC Varsity ranked the top 10 student sections present at boys’ basketball games. Steve Fryer, a prominent sports journalist for the OC Register, ranked the student sections based on crowd size, volume, and enthusiasm/passion present on the sidelines as they supported and cheered on the boys.

Last year, Servite’s “The Asylum” won top honors as the number 1 student section in the county. However, this year, the honors were earned by another school…Canyon! Here are the Top 10 Student Sections in Orange County:

1) Canyon’s “The Tribe”

2) Santa Margarita’s “The Eagles’ Nest”

3) Servite’s  “The Asylum”

4) Sonora’s “The Jungle”

5) Esperanza’s “The Sixth Man”

6) Foothill’s “The Dungeon”

7) Sunny Hills 

8) Trabuco Hills’ “The Stable Center”

9) Los Alamitos

10) Villa Park’s “The Blue Crew”

Canyon and “The Tribe” organized themselves to look like and represent the United States’ flag to gain this year’s top honors. Although Yorba Linda was left out of this year’s rankings, The Stable has been improving and growing, and we are strong contenders to break into the rankings for next year.

The Stable is expanding and evolving, with more students coming to the games to support and cheer on the Mustangs than ever before. Our themes have grown from the simple “White Out” or “Red Out” to our most recent and elaborate theme: the “Rich Out”.

At the last boy’s basketball CIF home game against Ramona, The Stable dressed “to the nines”, as boys wore dress shirts and vests or ties and girls wore dresses and fur coats to adhere to the Great Gatsby theme. YLHS students filled the gym stands with raucous chants and fancy clothes to cheer on and support the Mustangs as we beat Ramona to advance to the next round of CIF.

Junior captain Josh Miller stated that “The energy The Stable brings to the games really helps add to our motivation and intensity when we play.” The thundering cheers heard by the Mustangs and the uniformity found within the students in the stands have established the YLHS  Stable as one of the best student sections in the county. The Stable will continue to support our sports programs and show off our “Mustang Pride”. Next year, local schools’ student sections, like Esperanza’s 6th Man and Canyon’s The Tribe, will face stiff competition from The Stable as we continue to grow in volume and passion and hopefully place in Fryer’s top 10 for next year.