Many students look forward every summer for the start of the school year and, more importantly, the start of football season and the school spirit and union that comes out of it.

Without the FanMan to cultivate the enthusiasm of the fans, the student section at every football game would be in disarray and potentially incapable of supporting the team properly.

Alex Steber, senior here at NDA and this year’s FanMan, takes this job very seriously.

Steber has wanted to be FanMan since he learned about the job freshman year, although you wouldn’t be able to tell by his preparation for the election.

“I wrote the speech the class period before I was due to present it, and I didn’t make any signs,” Steber confessed. “There wasn’t much preparation to be honest. I didn’t run a very good campaign.”

The student body appeared to disagree. Steber’s name was announced as the 2016-2017 NDA FanMan.

“Gratefulness,” said Steber in recollection of his name being broadcast over the PA system with  the other winners.

Alex was a little more prepared, however, for the Triton’s first game against De Pere two weeks ago. He kicked off the celebration with a rap sung over the loudspeaker and hasn’t slowed down since.

“The first game I had a tailgate that was over seven hours long to try and pump up the students,”he said. “We had food, played some football, some cornhole, and other pretty good stuff. Good, clean fun.”

Crowd spirit is not a solitary effort.

“I wanted the crowd to be decent, and I was a little disappointed to be honest.” Alex admitted. “I’m making it my own personal mission to have the best student section in Wisconsin.”

Although Alex’s reign as the FanMan is just beginning, he already has advice to give to younger students who are considering running in the future. “It’s a big commitment, so be ready to take the time to do the job right.”

Steber also encourages everyone to attend as many games and events as they can to help support the school.

“The more people who come the better, and most people have a lot of fun at the games,” he said.