Painted Pirates officially a club
Originally published in the Park University Stylus in Sept. 2011.
By Andi Enns
Editor
Three semesters ago, the Stylus reported school pride at athletic events was so poor, it was hard to find enough students in the stands to spell “PARK”. At every home game this season, soccer players have looked up to see messages like “PARK PIRATES ROCK” painted letter by letter on the torsos of fans.
In the past, these fans have been a loosely-organized group of friends with a personal mission to bring pride back to Park. Now they’ve incorporated as a student club and their membership has swelled from five to 22.
“We’ve applied for allocations from student senate,” said Emma Hart, senior in psychology and president of the Painted Pirates. “The supplies can get pretty expensive for a big group, with all that acrylic paint. If people had to pay for their own, they didn’t want to participate, so I ended up spending a lot of my own money on supplies.”
Hart said anyone who wants to be a part of Painted Pirates on game day gathers to paint their bodies in black, red and yellow an hour before the first kick.
“Basically, anything that makes you feel Pirate-y is good to wear to the game,” said Hart.
Many of the Painted Pirates paint their favorite player’s number on their body, and place war streaks under their eyes. Some of them also wear bandannas, ribbons, Park-branded clothing, and pirate-themed apparel to the games.
“What I really love about Painted Pirates is that we turn it into a whole student section at the game,” said Hart. “People sit with us when they get there, and cheer with us, and it feels so great.”
She says it’s a big change from previous years.
“Park has struggled with pride at the games for a long time,” said Hart. “Zach Towers, one of the founders, made me promise when he graduated that I wouldn’t let it die. I hope after I graduate, it’ll live on for a few more years, too.”
One of the landmarks of the Painted Pirates has always been the beat of the tribal drums. At home games, the drums seem to be a call to action that can be heard far beyond the reach of the fan’s voices.
“I had been playing drums for about two years when I found out Student Life had djembe drums,” said Richard Ashley, alumni in communication arts and founding member of the Painted Pirates. “We just put two and two together.”
This year, they’ve added pounding on plastic buckets to their sound.
“I think it’s intimidating to the other teams,” said Hart. “We have these drums, and our unique cheer, and the other teams don’t understand it.”
The unique cheer was invented by the founding members, Hart said, and it goes like this: “Go Park go! With a piece of rope and a mango seed, we’re going to (clap) the goalie!”
“It’s just made up,” said Hart. “It’s nonsense. But it’s also pushing the line – I mean, we’re going to clap the goalie!”
The other cheers have been adapted from classic cheers and chants, and ideas from fans.
“One of our classic ones is the goal chant,” said Hart. “We just say, ‘It’s a goal, it’s a goal!’ over and over, and then – ‘we want another one, just like the other one, another one, another one!’ We got to do that one 15 times in one day last week, Jon LaHue’s voice was so sore after that because he led the cheer each time.”
One of the historical events remembered by many Painted Pirates was last year’s away game at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo. Students packed a “spirit bus,” and practiced their cheers on the way.
“Even though we lost, even though they were less than hospitable, we still had more fans at that game with their chests painted than there were Jewell fans in the whole stadium,” said Zachary Towers, alumni in psychology and founding member of the Painted Pirates.
The sense of community doesn’t end when the game is over, though. Hart says the students like to go to the cafeteria together afterward to get much-needed rest and refuel.
“From the start of painting to the end of the men’s game is probably six or seven hours,” said Hart.
The Painted Pirates never take a lunch break between games, Hart said.
“It’d be really cool if Sodexo would grill out near the field on game day,” said Hart. “I think it’d encourage students to stay for the game and it’d be so much fun.”
All students are welcome to join the Painted Pirates. To be a part of the group, even just for one game, get in touch with Hart at emma.hart@park.edu, join the Facebook group, or talk to anyone who is painted at the games.
“Go to the soccer games and sit in the student section, not the comfortable chairs,” said Ashley. “Don't watch the game, be a part of it. Listen to the chants and yell ‘til you can't use your voice anymore. If your hands hurt from clapping or playing drums, your voice is gone and you have a lobster-red sunburn, then you can say you have fully enjoyed the Painted Pirates.”
By Andi Enns
Editor
Three semesters ago, the Stylus reported school pride at athletic events was so poor, it was hard to find enough students in the stands to spell “PARK”. At every home game this season, soccer players have looked up to see messages like “PARK PIRATES ROCK” painted letter by letter on the torsos of fans.
In the past, these fans have been a loosely-organized group of friends with a personal mission to bring pride back to Park. Now they’ve incorporated as a student club and their membership has swelled from five to 22.
“We’ve applied for allocations from student senate,” said Emma Hart, senior in psychology and president of the Painted Pirates. “The supplies can get pretty expensive for a big group, with all that acrylic paint. If people had to pay for their own, they didn’t want to participate, so I ended up spending a lot of my own money on supplies.”
Hart said anyone who wants to be a part of Painted Pirates on game day gathers to paint their bodies in black, red and yellow an hour before the first kick.
“Basically, anything that makes you feel Pirate-y is good to wear to the game,” said Hart.
Many of the Painted Pirates paint their favorite player’s number on their body, and place war streaks under their eyes. Some of them also wear bandannas, ribbons, Park-branded clothing, and pirate-themed apparel to the games.
“What I really love about Painted Pirates is that we turn it into a whole student section at the game,” said Hart. “People sit with us when they get there, and cheer with us, and it feels so great.”
She says it’s a big change from previous years.
“Park has struggled with pride at the games for a long time,” said Hart. “Zach Towers, one of the founders, made me promise when he graduated that I wouldn’t let it die. I hope after I graduate, it’ll live on for a few more years, too.”
One of the landmarks of the Painted Pirates has always been the beat of the tribal drums. At home games, the drums seem to be a call to action that can be heard far beyond the reach of the fan’s voices.
“I had been playing drums for about two years when I found out Student Life had djembe drums,” said Richard Ashley, alumni in communication arts and founding member of the Painted Pirates. “We just put two and two together.”
This year, they’ve added pounding on plastic buckets to their sound.
“I think it’s intimidating to the other teams,” said Hart. “We have these drums, and our unique cheer, and the other teams don’t understand it.”
The unique cheer was invented by the founding members, Hart said, and it goes like this: “Go Park go! With a piece of rope and a mango seed, we’re going to (clap) the goalie!”
“It’s just made up,” said Hart. “It’s nonsense. But it’s also pushing the line – I mean, we’re going to clap the goalie!”
The other cheers have been adapted from classic cheers and chants, and ideas from fans.
“One of our classic ones is the goal chant,” said Hart. “We just say, ‘It’s a goal, it’s a goal!’ over and over, and then – ‘we want another one, just like the other one, another one, another one!’ We got to do that one 15 times in one day last week, Jon LaHue’s voice was so sore after that because he led the cheer each time.”
One of the historical events remembered by many Painted Pirates was last year’s away game at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo. Students packed a “spirit bus,” and practiced their cheers on the way.
“Even though we lost, even though they were less than hospitable, we still had more fans at that game with their chests painted than there were Jewell fans in the whole stadium,” said Zachary Towers, alumni in psychology and founding member of the Painted Pirates.
The sense of community doesn’t end when the game is over, though. Hart says the students like to go to the cafeteria together afterward to get much-needed rest and refuel.
“From the start of painting to the end of the men’s game is probably six or seven hours,” said Hart.
The Painted Pirates never take a lunch break between games, Hart said.
“It’d be really cool if Sodexo would grill out near the field on game day,” said Hart. “I think it’d encourage students to stay for the game and it’d be so much fun.”
All students are welcome to join the Painted Pirates. To be a part of the group, even just for one game, get in touch with Hart at emma.hart@park.edu, join the Facebook group, or talk to anyone who is painted at the games.
“Go to the soccer games and sit in the student section, not the comfortable chairs,” said Ashley. “Don't watch the game, be a part of it. Listen to the chants and yell ‘til you can't use your voice anymore. If your hands hurt from clapping or playing drums, your voice is gone and you have a lobster-red sunburn, then you can say you have fully enjoyed the Painted Pirates.”