The only word I can think of to describe the Superfans this year is insufficient. As one of the most followed BHS clubs on Instagram, Superfans has a major influence over the high school’s athletic programs. I myself have looked at their Instagram account to find information on games I would like to attend and any theme they may have. But with lots of talk in the halls about the Superfans account and my own personal experiences, I think it’s time for someone to say what many are thinking.

Out of respect for the Superfans, who I believe are good and well-meaning individuals, I will keep my opinions grounded in facts. To be clear, this article is about the operations of the club, not a comment on any of its individual members.

The new group of Superfans for the 2024-2025 school year began their Instagram posting with the girls varsity soccer team’s schedule on Aug. 23, 2024, followed by the boys varsity soccer team’s schedule the same day. This was the beginning of what seems to be a bias within the Superfans—not because they posted the soccer schedules first, but because they didn’t post the other fall sports schedules at all. For reference, nine other varsity teams compete in the fall.

For game day, victory, mixtape and interview posts during the fall season (Aug. 23 to Nov. 17), 14 of the 29 posts featured the soccer teams. Now, this would be okay if other teams were equally represented on the Superfans Instagram, but unfortunately, the boys golf team that went 14-4 in their regular season matchups and sent a golfer to states had zero posts. Golfers weren’t the only ones, though; girls swim and dive, unified basketball and both our varsity cross country teams all had zero posts on the Superfans Instagram account.

How did our undefeated, state-championship-winning boys varsity cross country team not receive a single feature during their season. Maybe it would have been post-worthy enough if they had won it three years in a row. Oh wait, they did. Furthermore, our girls swim and dive team finished 8-2 and sent 11 swimmers to the MIAA swimming and diving state championship, but again, no posts. Unified Basketball was undefeated entering the state jamboree, but again, no posts.

As a football player myself, there is nothing I enjoy more than when Superfans post for my games. But football and cheer together also got the short end of the stick. Football had to share our only gameday post with both soccer teams and cheer only got a reposted screen recording of a TikTok that they had made themselves for their senior night.

As amazing as it was to witness the pink-out spirit at Parsons Field on Sept. 27, it is unfortunate that the football team had to post on their own Instagram account for Superfans to know the spirit when the club has clearly labeled it as their job.

In a perfect world, every team would have the same number of posts, but I understand that is not possible. Certain teams play fewer games, and others go further in the playoffs. But overall, it shouldn’t be that hard to post at least once for each team. Maybe for teams like girls volleyball, they would give a game day post before the ninth game of the season. But, no. The only other posts girls volleyball received for the rest of the regular season came after a victory over the first-ranked team in the state at home, for which there was no gameday post, and then for their senior night.

If you have gotten to this point in the article, I would assume you have become skeptical and maybe disappointed by our so-called Superfans. But let me tell you that was just the fall season; the winter is much, much worse.

In the fall season, five varsity teams went without representation on the Superfans Instagram account. It is hard for it to get much worse than that. Well, this winter season, nine varsity teams went without representation. But before I speak on their behalf, let’s talk about which teams were overrepresented during the winter season.

Of the 17 posts in the winter season, the first of which dated back to Dec. 1, 10 were for the boys varsity hockey team. As a member of the team myself, I will not complain, but I will stick up for the other 14 winter varsity teams. The Nordic ski team alone sent 11 racers to states and did not get a single post. Hannah Petersen was the individual champion at states but did not get any credit on the Superfans account. Our squash teams, who won the national championship last year at the Division VI level, did not get a single post this year either.

That’s just four of the nine. The other five winter varsity teams with no posts include cheer, boys swim and dive, fencing, gymnastics and wrestling. While the aforementioned cross country teams never got a post, the first post about running came after 139 days, with the Warriors vs. Newton North Tigers race for boys and girls indoor track.

If the biggest point of the Superfans is to bring fans together to root for their teams, then how come the club is exclusive? There is no set way for the “Superfans” to be elected as it is a closed club—no one is sure how they are chosen. I didn’t get a say in choosing the people leading the chants at games and only posting for five of the 15 winter teams. The way Superfans should operate is as an open forum where anyone can attend meetings during X-Block, just as any other club does. Then, to elect the club presidents, there should be a democratic process where every student who would like a say gets a say. Once these presidents are elected, they are not the only Superfans, but they are elected to lead the Superfans. After all, if you are to represent Brookline outside our campus, it should be because you truly are the most deserving and embody school spirit.

I understand my solution may not be possible in the near future, but until then, I would love nothing more than for the Superfans to improve this spring season. All Brookline athletes deserve recognition on the platform that the Superfans are privileged to hold.