The Face Behind ADM 6th Man

Football is a very busy and popular season for the student section here at ADM. Everyone goes all out for themes and the atmosphere is like no other sport. The seniors are placed in the front few rows with juniors and underclassmen behind. Spirt leaders lead the section in fun cheers to throw off the other team and pump our players up. But the most anticipated and important part of the season is the student section themes. Polls show that the most popular themes from the 2022 football season were jailbreak, USA, and Pool Party. Everyone accepts the theme posted by the 6th man’s Twitter account and dresses accordingly every Friday night. But who is ADM’s 6th man?

The 6th man account is passed down to a different senior or group of seniors (often girls) who decide the themes for athletic events, post positive content about the student section, update students with game times and schedules and repost Tweets shared by the administration. Although the Twitter account is most popular and visited during football season the name “ADM 6th man” comes from basketball. A 6th man is the 1st player to be put into the game that is not included in the starting lineup. This represents the extreme impact fans and student sections can have on high school athletics. At ADM the student section prides itself on being the loudest, proudest, and most supportive they can be.

This year the 6th man account is in the hands of senior Lauren Case. “I was chosen because my sister [Julia Case] and Aniston Smith ran the account last year and passed it down to me,” Case explains. “During football season Aliya Yanga and Issy [Isabelle] Gonzalez helped with the account but now [basketball season] it’s mainly me.” When passing down this account soon-to-be seniors are judged by their participation in various activities in and out of school, character, participation in themes and attendance at various sporting events.

Teacher Charity Miller has also stepped into a role regarding the 6th man account this year and has tied it to the student council. Moving forward a student council member will be in charge of the account in order to keep things throughout the school cohesive and organized.

In past years the account has seen issues with sporadic last-minute theme changes. In response to the issues that arose last year Case said, “I don’t change the themes after they have been decided and posted. It causes issues and confusion which was a problem in the past few years.” In her words, “Once it’s up it stays.” Case collaborated with other senior members during football season to think of themes that have been popular in the past and suggested to them by classmates and friends. “The goal is to come up with themes that are fun and people want to participate in.” She then compiles a list of themes for basketball season of everything she can think of and chooses one for every game. “People don’t go all out for basketball games and the student sections are smaller. So I have to make easier themes that people can get things for easily.”

Case is not sure who the 6th man account will end up with next year. “There are about 4 different people who it could go to right now,” she states. “So I don’t really know yet.” No matter who the account goes to she is confident that the 6th man legacy will live on and continue to serve the ADM student section.