The Bears’ Den: Building Pride and Respect for North High
The Bears’ Den isn’t only cheering on the basketball team but also contributing to the positive culture at North High School.
Old timers still talk about Roosevelt High School’s student cheering section refusing to sit down during state tournament games at Vet’s Auditorium in 1965, to the dismay of some whose view got blocked. The Riders won the championship and their school spirit was credited among the reasons why.
That thought came to mind watching the Roosevelt boys win at North on Friday night in front of a packed-to-the-rafters gym.
Roosevelt’s win avenged an earlier defeat at the hands of the 6th–ranked Polar Bears and would have to be termed an upset. The loss was only North’s second of the season against thirteen wins and it remains in sole possession of the top spot in the Metro Conference standings.
More to the point of this story, for the Bears’ Den – North’s unsinkable student cheering section – they are still standing tall and undefeated. After all, they aren’t only about cheering on the basketball team but about contributing to the reinvigorated and positive culture throughout all of Polar Bear Nation.
The crowd came to its feet for North sophomore Mayte Gomez-Cruz’s stirring rendition of the National Anthem and stayed there as the Polar Bears burst to a 7-0 lead before the game was ninety seconds old. The place was rocking like only a jammed high school gym can on a cold Friday night in January.
But Roosevelt came to play. They steadied and pounded the ball inside, relentlessly building a lead to the high-water mark of 46-31 midway through the 3rd quarter. The Bears clawed back, eventually drawing within a point before fading in the final minutes to lose, 71-60. In a nutshell the problem was too many fouls and too few baskets. But no matter; the game was the exception that proves the rule and the rule is the Polar Express is still on track. The North Boosters are filling up Spirit Buses, taking the Bears’ Den on the road for upcoming away games including one versus Waukee at Wells Fargo Arena, site of the state tourney (can you say preview?), on February 11.
Senior Michael Pham is the de facto alpha male in the Bears’ Den. He also carries the more official title of Director of Basketball Operations for the basketball team he’s been part of throughout his years at the school; as a player prior to this year when he decided he needed to focus in some other areas as he prepares himself for college.
“But the guys on the team and Coach (Chad) Ryan insisted that I had to stay involved somehow,” Pham said while he shagged balls for the team under the basket as they warmed up for Friday’s game. “So some of us got the Bears’ Den started and now, if you want to find a spot, you better come early before it fills up.”
Pham’s efforts picked up where those of his classmate Cameron Fisher left off in the fall. Fisher came up with the idea of tailgate gatherings in the school parking lot before home football games as one means of galvanizing school spirit. Pham and others like Annie Hayes and Jolena Le took the baton and carried it into the basketball season. As the wins mount a powerful symbiosis has developed between the team and its most fervent fans. They feed off of each other.
Hayes is a senior and her sophomore brother, Ben, plays on the team. They both wear #12 jerseys. You should have seen her when her little brother came off the bench to grab a rebound and score a basket that pulled North within 56-55 with about three minutes left in the Roosevelt game. Biggest bucket since the one that finished his big sister in driveway H-O-R-S-E.
She helps Le keep the ranks informed of what’s trending in the Den via Twitter. For instance, they spread the details about logistics when the Spirit Busses are road-tripping. Pham also makes use of Twitter to tweet a virtual play-by-play of the games as they happen for the benefit of fans who can’t make it in person.
The enthusiasm of the Bears’ Den for its team is spreading.
“When we played at Ankeny Centennial you could sort of sense the respect,” Hayes said. “We feel like if we make it to state the whole city will be pulling for us.”
So, STAND by and hold on tight. Nobody at North is sitting down until this ride is over.
