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LOS ALAMITOS, CA — Congratulations, Los Alamitos High School Locos! We were chosen to compete in the Student Section of the Year Tournament as the number one seed, hosted by the one and only OC Student Section Organization!
What is the OC Student Section Organization?
OC Student Sections is an organization that pursues the union of school communities through student spirit and respect for other schools. According to their website, their mission statement is to “[unite] the community one student section at a time.”
“Myself and our CEO Chris Holt never focused on making a profit out of this,” said Jered Baloloy, the chief operating officer of OCSS, “but instead ensuring that we can create a deep impact on students within our community.”
Currently, OCSS is planning many innovative ways to improve student sections at smaller schools and adding an OCSS Hype Squad. The squad is in charge of visiting schools and covering student sections in their FNL spotlight series.
“I believe recognizing outstanding student sections is so important because it recognizes the dedication and work behind the scenes of students supporting the sports at their schools. Student sections are more than a group of students cheering in the stands; they’re the heartbeat of the school,” Baloloy said.
The organization started small as a student section highlight page. It gained popularity fairly quickly due to its common interest with students and others who enjoyed seeing students’ spirit.
“OC Student Sections has grown to become a leading high school student section organization, not only covering student sections through friendly competition and challenges, but furthermore, providing opportunities for students to engage with their communities and learn essential business skills,” said Chris Holt, the CEO of OCSS.
How does the tournament work?
32 student sections from their respective districts in Orange County are chosen to compete to win the title of 2023-2024 OCSS Student Section of the Year, which results in an award and a championship banner. The competition is split into two conferences, PCH and Juice, with a total of five rounds. Each conference has 16 schools competing against each other. The Los Alamitos Locos participated in the PCH conference alongside many other schools like the Tesoro Titan Army, Troy Warzone, La Habra Highlander Huddle, Mission Viejo Inferno, and many more.
How have the Locos been doing?
The first round of the Juice and PCH took place on May 6. Thankfully, the Los Al Locos prevailed and advanced to the next round against the Crean Lutheran Blue Zone. The number of schools left after the first round was eight in each conference, which brought us up against the Capo Valley Cage in round two.
The second round outcomes were decided the day after, and the Locos won against Capo Valley cage by 86 votes. Then the voting took a sharp turn and we unfortunately lost the third round of the tournament by 301 votes against the Servite Asylum.
“I felt disappointed in losing the tournament. I thought we would win because our student section is very outgoing, loud, and fun,” said Emma Foden, a Los Al freshman.
However, despite the loss, Los Al displayed commendable effort to win the tournament and will continue to present passionate spirit in hopes of taking home the OCSS crown next year.
I’m confident that another student section title will come to the Locos next year, and I hope to see these students continue to inspire other student sections around Orange County.”
— Jered Baloloy, COO of OCSS
Jaya Eapen • May 21, 2024 at 6:52 pm
This article is so informative Kalea! I’ve always wondered what the OC Student Section was! It’s so cool that you got quotes from the chief operating officer of the OCSS!