The student-led fan section has long considered itself a backbone of Hall High School.  It has helped to bring students together to support each other and created school spirit unlike any other school organization.  But in 2014, it’s time as a school organization came to an end.

This summer, the school fan section chose a new name, Blue Reign, after years of people wanting to make this change.

Before the start of the 2014 school year, Hall High School denounced the recognition of The Reservation, our student-led fan section, as a school-sponsored organization.  This came on the heels of many people speaking out against the fan section’s name and Native American imagery.  In 2015, the name The Reservation was officially shortened to just The Rez.  Although this appeared to be an attempt to regain the support of the school, then-leader Kevin Carr said, “We didn’t really care too much about those who spoke out against it then.”  

But in January of 2016, Frank Waln, a Native American musician who performed at Hall High School, called out The Rez for selling t-shirts with Native American imagery, and many news sources across the country picked up the story.  The naysayers of The Rez can thank this media coverage because, “If we hadn’t been tied to all those tweets and media coverage it would probably still be The Rez today,” Carr said.

In February of 2016, the name was temporarily changed to Hall High Super Fans, leaving this year’s leaders, Will Miller, Jon Kaback, Theo Blaschinski, and Matt Cashman with the task of choosing a new name.  They embraced the challenge and agreed that “it was the only way to move forward with the group,” said Kaback.

Even though the leaders felt there were better ideas, according to leader Matt Cashman, they “didn’t think that such a big decision could be left up to four guys,” and a poll was conducted in the fan section’s Facebook group. Blue Reign won the vote, with Blue Wagon recieving the second most votes.

Despite support from students to keep the name The Rez, they say it will likely not impact their attendance at games. 

“[The fan section’s name] has nothing to do with it, I just go to cheer on my team, I don’t care what the name is,” says Hall senior Noah Sobel-Pressman.

Since changing the name, Hall principal Mr. Zittoun has reached out to the leaders, offering that everyone wearing their Blue Reign t-shirts can attend certain games for free.  Cashman said a full affiliation with the school is unlikely to happen this year, “but in the coming years, I’m sure the next leaders will lean that way.”