Amboy’s Clipper Backers want to pump up school spirit for all sports teams

A group of Amboy parents is reviving a school spirit group to make sure students in every sport feel the Clipper spirit.

“We want them to feel and know we have their backs and that the whole community supports them,” Jolinda Christofferson said.

Christofferson is one of a group of parents working to revive the Clipper Backers, a school spirit group.

After the recent state championship wins by the Amboy Clippers football teams, Christofferson said a group of parents decided to consolidate their school spirit efforts.

“It started with the football games. Once the pep rallies and things started happening, a lot of the parents were putting different things together for school spirit, like hanging streamers and decorating, Paint the Town Red. So a group of us said we should make this official so other people can help and so it’s not just the same people. We wanted everybody to be a part of it,” she said.

Christofferson said the group of parents and others in the community coming together to promote school spirit under the familiar Clipper Backers name also helps the community direct donations.

“We got to a point, before we organized, where we would walk into a store, and people would recognize us as being involved with the spirit events and hand us $50 and say ‘here, put this toward the fan bus.’ So we wanted a more official group,” she said.

The first official event for the group is Friday, Aug. 14, when it hosts the Meet the Clippers Night for fall sports.

That event starts at 6 p.m. in the Amboy High School gym with volleyball introductions and a scrimmage to follow, then at 7 p.m., introductions for cross country, golf, poms, flags, cheer, band, swim and football will take place on the football field, with a football scrimmage to follow.

“We are going to be selling chips and water at the event, and we will be selling stickers for your car or your mug,” Christofferson said.

This isn’t the only Meet the Clippers event that the group is planning. Part of the mission is to bring the spirit and support students in all sports.

“We want to plan these events for winter sports and the spring sports. We want to get things more equal and get these events and the games so that people look forward to them as fun events to attend,” Christofferson said.

Clipper Backers is not a booster organization but instead is working to support Amboy athletes by increasing community support.

“We are bringing the school spirit back and getting people excited for the games and to come out to the games. We are not uniforms and equipment; the boosters are doing that. We are promoting school spirit and the teams and their games,” she said.

The group works with AHS Principal Janet Crownhart.

“The Clipper Backers are working to build school spirit through the community and through students. I think the Clipper Backers will be great at getting the word out about the games and building that school spirit,” Crownhart said.

“We work with Mrs. Crownhart, and we approve everything with her. We are working with the coaches on events like Meet the Clippers and Senior Night to make sure everyone is getting the same amount of recognition,” Christofferson said.

The group is made up primarily of parents in Amboy schools.

“It’s open to anyone who wants to join and is willing to help out. We have parents of kids who are in high school now, and we have parents of junior high kids,” Christofferson said.

She said one of the group’s goals is for students to look back and know that they were supported by their community, no matter what sport they played.

“I think it’s important in a way that kids don’t even realize yet. They are used to their parents supporting them and doing all this stuff, but when they are adults, we hope they will look back and see how everybody came together to support them and root for them and make sure it was fun for them,” she said.

Anyone interested in being involved with the Clipper Backers can call Amboy High School at 815-857-3632.

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