In the bleachers of the Washington High School student section on Aug. 18, an unknowing crowd of students cheered for the WHS football team for the last time under the name of Blue Jay 6th Man. The next day the WHS student section tweeted several tweets about making changes and released a poll asking for their followers to vote for either a new name or if they should keep the existing name Blue Jay 6th Man. After the results of the Twitter poll came in, 51 percent of the 321 voters voted for the name to stay the same, making it the clear winner by 22 percent.

However, on the Sunday after the poll results were in, seniors Jake Jinkerson, Cason Suggs, Zachary Harms and Jonathan Amlong, the student section leaders for the 2017-2018 school year, released a video on Twitter announcing the new name change to The Flock using #flocknation.

“It was my idea to rename the 6th man because we wanted a more inclusive name,” Harms said. “The Flock represents every sport from football to swimming, not just basketball anymore.”

In a basketball game, only five players are on the court while the sixth man is on the sidelines pumping up their teammates— this is where Blue Jay 6th Man got its name.

“This year we [the student section leaders] want everyone to get more involved, and we think a name change will help that,” Suggs said.

The leaders of the student section hope that the new name will re-energize the WHS crowd and draw more students to support the athletes.

“The Flock hopes to make this the most exciting and best year for the WHS student section,” Amlong said. “[We] want to give the Washington athletes the most support they’ve ever had.”

However, some former and current students voiced their displeasure for the name change via Twitter questioning the point of having a Twitter poll when they poll results were not the considering factor.

“I didn’t really see the point of the Twitter poll if they weren’t going to do what the people wanted,” junior Kade Uetz said. “I’m fine with the change. [I] just don’t like that they [didn’t] choose what the people [wanted].”

While the leaders took into evaluation the results of the Twitter poll, they made an executive decision for what they felt would better the student section.

“The poll was just for public opinion,” Amlong said. “Current students weren’t the only ones voting, so [it was] not a final decision maker.”

Although the name has changed, the spirit and crowd involvement The Flock will bring to sports games will be just as good, if not better, than previous years.

“Our name isn’t the only thing that will be different,” said Jinkerson. “The Flock plans on being more active on campus and throughout every sports game—not just basketball and football like in years past.”