SuperBland? Students and coaches question if the new pep club app can boost school spirit

Users of the new “SuperFan” Pep Club app announced on Aug. 14 can now check into school events — from football games to choir concerts — to earn points to compete on leaderboards and redeem prizes funded by Pep Club. While the platform intends to boost school spirit, students and coaches question whether the platform is too unpolished and gimmicky to catch on.

In an Instagram poll of 236 people taken on Aug 19, only 36% of responders had logged into the new app. Those who hadn’t cited glitches in the login stage, as well as confusion about what usernames and information should be used to sign up. Sophomore Owen Williams was able to sign up, but finds the menu clunky and unfinished.

“I don’t see myself using this app,” Williams said. “It’s really laggy and buggy, it’s hard to navigate around and the rewards tab is empty.”

The app’s events and prize systems are managed by the Pep Executives — every event must be manually entered and assigned a point value and description. According to Pep Exec and senior Porter Stein, the prize system — including prizes like student store gift cards, stickers and VIP East vs. Rockhurst game tickets — will be up before sports events start next week.

Students will be awarded more points for attending events with fewer spectators, like cross country meets and tennis matches, than they will for more popular events, like basketball, football or soccer games. Non-athletic events like orchestra concerts and theater performances will also be on the app to encourage everyone to participate.

“Even if you’re not a big sports fan or you’re not in theater, you’ll still be able to get points for going to the Lancer pancake breakfast,” Stein said. “That’s something as simple as showing up, eating good food and supporting the Lancer Dancers. So we’re going to have so many different things that there really will be something for everyone to get involved with the app.”

Tennis coach Andrew Gibbs worries that the “gamified” nature of the app could cause new fans to check into games and immediately leave or become disrespectful spectators.

“I think one of the challenges in a sport like tennis is that expectations for fans aren’t always made clear as far as the appropriate behaviors,” Gibbs said. “Not cheering during points, not applauding errors. And so having fans at a tennis event, there’s going to need to be some education that has to happen, and I’m not sure we’re ready to handle that well.”

Junior Eli Moon, who was initially “bewildered” during the unveiling of the app, has recently changed his opinion after seeing content start to trickle in — 11 events are currently posted for the coming weeks. He plans on redeeming points at all the football games — since he’ll be there for marching band anyways.

“I honestly used to really dislike it, but after they’ve been doing stuff and adding stuff to it, it kind of won me over,” Moon said. “I still don’t know what the prizes are, but I’ll still readily rack up my point total, because that’s just fun.”