By Anthony Cardellini ’17
THE ROUNDUP

While Brophy’s Red Army is a well known entity today, the organization wasn’t always as distinct.

“The Red Army has existed in various forms for a very long time,” said Mr. Pete Burr ’07, whose job it is to run the first period Student Council class.

At one point the Red Army was just a club of students who supported sports teams.

Mr. Burr said that the decision to make the concept a student-wide group was a conscious one.

“It had transitioned away from the Red Army to just ‘Game Day’, cheering and a student section.”

“And we made a choice three years ago to go back to this Red Army cheering section because we thought Game Day just meant that it was only for people who had games,” he continued. “So we brought back this Red Army mentality that we show up for everyone and support all parts of campus.”

Mr. Burr said that supporting fellow students is a large part of the Brophy experience as a whole.

“I think school spirit is infectious,” he said. “I think a lot of people have a hard time defining what makes their Brophy experience great and I think a lot of that has to do with the community that’s built here.”

He also said that a big aspect in this community is “building that support group.”

He said that one of the things that differentiates Brophy from other schools is the diversity of events represented.

“You know you can show up for any event from a football game to a musical and there’s going to be people there supporting students.”

Charlie Kamps ’15 agreed that supporting every student is important.

Kamps was a member of the chest-painting crew at varsity football games this year with students like Carter Santini ’15, Anand Swaminathan ’15, Mark Frakes ’15 and Max Kufel ’15.

He said that the main part of the Red Army is the students that contribute to it.

“School spirit is something that can bring the whole school together. It’s a big part of the brotherhood aspect of Brophy,” Kamps said.

He also said that carrying on the tradition of the Red Army depended on the seniors incorporating younger classes into games.

“It’s super important to have the school spirit so it’s important to bring the younger classes in. The seniors have to show how it’s done so the younger kids can carry the torch,” he said.

As for the future of the Red Army, Mr. Burr said he can’t see an end in sight.

“I don’t think the Red Army will ever go away,” he said. “There’s always going to be a bunch of crazy kids that want to show up and support their peers in whatever they do.”