April 4, 2018 at 5:30 p.m.
Sean Miller: Hauser's sports community is second-to-none
The gym is always packed on Tuesdays and Thursdays for volleyball games during the fall sports season, and then the fans return in the winter on Friday nights for the basketball games. Filling the balcony and the lower levels, the Hauser Jets Gymnasium is most definitely home to the best fans around.
Since I am a three-sport varsity athlete, I always feel at the center of the sports community. One of the best parts about basketball games is when you walk out of the locker room after a win and all the fans are there to congratulate you. That, to me, shows an amazing amount of support through the community. Another amazing part of the Hope community is when you can walk into a restaurant and everybody immediately asks you how basketball is going. There are so many more things that the community of Hope does to show support for its athletes.
Sectional time is something that I believe brings the whole community together more than anything. Last year, when the boy's basketball team won the Sectional for the first time since 2012, the community showed its support in so many ways. Everything from t-shirts to suppers supporting the team were made in the following weeks. The best memory of all is when the fire trucks stormed around the town of Hope, followed by what seemed to be a never-ending line of cars honking their horns. Not only in basketball, but the volleyball team's state-run this year showed how involved the community was during this time of year.
It doesn't matter where the Jets go, the fans travel. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how we always make Columbus North pull out their bleachers on the other side of the gym during basketball season. This is solely because Hauser brings so many people to road games that even a huge gym such as Columbus North can't keep all the Hauser spectators on one side. Normally, Columbus North doesn't even pull out these bleachers! There's only a certain couple of games every year where they have to and the Hauser Jets are one of those games.
For a gym that only holds 1,573 people, it gets loud during all times of the year. This wouldn't happen without the amazing community of Hope. No matter where we have to travel, no matter who we are playing, the Jets are always there.
So, if you haven't come out to a sporting event in a while, you might want to invest a Friday night to truly enjoy the atmosphere, and if you have, I look forward to seeing you there again, cheering on the Jets.[[In-content Ad]]
