By Ella Harvey
When I first tried to interview the newly appointed Ultras, Anthony Chico and Grace Schmidt, Grace didn’t answer the call, and Chico left school early for his free period to play golf. If I didn’t already know how much they love celebrating Lovett, I would have had some concerns about their futures as Lion promoters. Then again, Chico did try to talk to me from the golf course, and it wasn’t his fault that he didn’t have great phone reception.
So we postponed.
The next morning, when I got hold of both of them, we talked about their summers and the upcoming year as Ultras.
Just in case you don’t know what Ultras are, they are two elected seniors at Lovett who essentially have the biggest school spirit. They show up to as many sports events as possible, and normally have crazy on-theme costumes. They are also in charge of promoting student attendance at games.
Throughout the summer, both of them already knew that they were the Ultras because they originally found out in May. “I was in my bed, and [Ishan Desai] told me to be at morning meeting on Tuesday,” Chico explained.
Grace, however, had less time to mentally prepare. “Chico sat behind me in morning meeting the day in May the new Ultras were announced, and he told me [she got the role of Ultra], and I was like, ‘What?’, I had no idea,” she explained.
Interestingly, they do not have to do much outside of school prep, besides deciding themes, buying their outfits, and planning the occasional pep rally. Grace used to think as an underclassman that this role would be a huge production and wouldn’t fit her schedule as a once-upon-a-time three-sport athlete; however, when she reached junior year, she realized, “Wait, this is something I can pursue.”
This summer, Grace and Chico had very different experiences. Chico went to Sea Island and “played golf like every day,” which honestly was very unsurprising given how he had originally answered the phone on a golf cart. Grace did an internship for June and then went with her family to “Switzerland, France, and Italy for my brother’s senior trip.”
But her mind couldn’t completely let go of Lovett. Grace had a nightmare over the summer about showing up to the Battle of Buckhead in only a white shirt. “Everyone called me the worst Ultra to ever exist. When I woke up, I was so relieved it was just a dream,” she exclaimed.
But that did not seem to hinder her excitement. Now that the school year has started back up, they collectively decided they are most excited to cheer for football, with Chico stating, “Tomorrow, the Battle of Buckhead is going to be amazing.”
Their foreshadowing was top-notch because LOVETT WON AGAINST WESTMINSTER!! (31-12). And thankfully for Grace, she showed up to BOB in a gigantic inflatable white suit and a change of white clothes in case she got too hot in the costume.
Along with Westminster, they are excited for games like HIES and Pace, but also want to emphasize the importance of not just football but other sports as well, and of course, cheering very loudly. They specifically targeted the need for the incoming freshmen to be much more hype. They believe that “no one will think you are cool for not cheering; it is quite the opposite,” Chico explained, with Grace quickly agreeing.
Overall, they’re here to make sure that the sports community is being promoted to its fullest potential, so if that means getting seniors to energize (some might say troll) the freshmen at the Battle of Buckhead with bullhorns, that is what they will do.
To conclude my interview with the Ultras, I asked them if they would be willing to give a hint of an upcoming football game theme. Their response was, “Hopefully, HIES will be really fun.” Make of that what you will, because I have no clue.
