The Bleacher Creatures have traditionally been a group of senior students who inform the student body about the upcoming sports games, bringing energy and enthusiasm to the student sections at athletic events.

From sending weekly emails to planning themes for the student section, this group leads the upper school in engaging with all things Gryphnation.

“The main goal is truly an electric community for all sports. Just being loud, [and] bringing the energy,” Prefect of Athletics Dev Dalsania said.

As a prefect and an athlete at St. George’s, Dalsania wants to bring the community together and create an engaged and lively environment for athletic events throughout the school year.

Last year’s Bleacher Creatures group worked toward building that electric community Dalsania envisions at St. George’s.

An 18 person roster was included across the bottom of every Bleacher Creature email during the 2024-25 school year, but as the year progressed, two students took the initiative to consistently promote St. George’s athletics.

Bo Farnsworth ‘25 and Colby Wiedower ‘25 engaged the student body with athletic events by sending out weekly emails and creating an Instagram page to post graphics and reach students.

Head of School Mr. Luke Pruett noticed the two leading the group in the right direction for encouraging student engagement at sports games.

“[Farnsworth and Wiedower] did an awesome job with Bleacher Creatures last year, but it wasn’t directly connected with the prefect of school spirit,” Mr. Pruett said.

Heading into this school year, Mr. Pruett and Athletic Director Michelle York wanted to have the prefect of school spirit and a dedicated Bleacher Creature to collaboratively bring energy to athletic events all around the school.

“The goal with Bleacher Creatures is keeping it super organic, but also putting certain people in an opportunity to lead [the] environment,” Mr. Pruett said.

By changing the structure of the Bleacher Creatures, the goal is for the organization to strengthen the student sections at athletic events across all sports at St. George’s.

The first Bleacher Creature email of the 2025-26 school year included an out of the ordinary roster: Nicholas Miller ‘26, Mary May Luton ‘26, Caroline Cochran ‘26, Jackson Bush ‘26, Casey Madison ‘27, Joleen Stauf ‘27, Zeke Joy ‘28, Jade Young ‘28, Maddy Miller ‘29 and Collin Simpson ‘29.

Mr. Pruett, Dalsania and Prefect of School Spirit Cort Casey strategically changed the group from being senior-only to students in each upper school grade – serving as less of a leadership role and more as a point of communication for involvement.

“If a random senior goes up to a freshman, they’re less likely to actually go to the event. But if it’s one of their own peers in their own grade, then they can be more motivated [to attend],” Dalsania said.

They unanimously selected senior Nicholas Miller as “Head Bleacher Creature,” a new role in this year’s group, which has involved promoting athletics with Dalsania and Casey, along with sending the weekly emails and consistently attending St. George’s sporting events, Miller has noticed a change in attendance.

“There’s been a lot more people going to volleyball this year and there’s always a bunch of people at the soccer games,” Miller said.

Throughout the fall sports season, Mr. Pruett noticed the same attendance trend at athletic events.

“The football games have always been packed, but I think the soccer and volleyball attendance have been way up,” Mr. Pruett said.

The girls soccer and volleyball seasons were highlighted by multiple winning nights for the teams, oftentimes with both playing on the same night, which correlated to positive turnouts from the student body.

Girls soccer’s season was capped off with a large student and family turnout in Chattanooga in the state championship match against Evangelical Christian School.

“A huge triumph was the fan bus for the [girls soccer] state championship game,” Mr. Pruett said about the scene at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga. “The photos of the crowd [are] iconic.”

In addition to large turnouts at the girls soccer state championship game and throughout the winning football season, it was important for other fall sports to get their moments in the spotlight.

“I just want [students] to be excited about games, [and] every sport here at St. George’s,” Casey said.

As the seasons change and the fall sports wrap up, the winter sports season is shaping up to continue this trend of athletic attendance from the St. George’s community.

Dalsania feels that this year’s group of prefects and Bleacher Creatures is building a strong future of athletic attendance.

“I also want this year to be a stepping stone for other years to come and build this as a strong foundation to show everyone this is where the energy started for all the games,” Dalsania said. “I only want it to go up from [here].”