With weekdays filled to the brim with activities and homework, weekends scheduled with football games, and September days dwindling in number, school is firmly back in session at Nazareth Academy. And as Nazareth commences the start of a new school year, so do the Freddie’s Fanatics. As the student section for Naz, the Freddie’s Fanatics is a spirited and energetic group of students that cheers on all school sporting events and supports their fellow classmates.

Moderated by Naz teachers Mrs. O’Malley and Ms. Mineo, this year’s Freddie’s Fanatics have an assortment of fun activities and themes planned, such as a Pink Out, the beloved America and Neon themes, and fan buses to Friday night away games. In order to smoothly facilitate these important events, the Freddie’s Fanatics have a group of outstanding student leaders. Proud of their performance thus far in the season, Mrs. O’Malley stated that, “the leaders are very active and very positive…which makes it a very positive and fun experience for the rest of the student body.” This year’s Freddie’s Fanatics leaders are the five seniors Addie Doyle, Madi Lozanoski, Grant Pomatto, Brady Ryan, and Sydney Stancik.

Addie Doyle, a tri-sport athlete, is actively involved here at Nazareth. When she is not on the tennis courts, basketball court, or soccer field, Addie can be found participating in Math Club and Youth Initiative and serving as both Treasurer of Senior Board and Co-President of the service team. In her free time, she also enjoys scuba diving. As the fourth child in a family of five, all of whom have attended Nazareth, Addie has great sense of pride and spirit for Naz. Her favorite part of high school has been cheering with the Freddie’s Fanatics, and she is looking forward to helping “other students have the great experience [she] was lucky enough to have.” This year in particular, Addie is looking forward to a triumphant football season and the future basketball games, especially the match against Benet.

Madi Lozanoski is also a Freddie’s Fanatics leader heavily involved in a variety of activities inside and outside of Nazareth. She is currently a Student Council Co-President and member of the Roadrunner Club, Model UN, the service team, and the tennis team. Outside of school, Madi participates in a year-round travel lacrosse team and various leadership and service organizations. Last year, Madi also played an integral role as founder of Nazareth’s Lights Out For Cancer event. This charitable event was a tremendous success that raised a great amount of money for cancer research. Additionally, Madi is also proud of her unique talent- she can make sounds like the iconic Perry the Platypus from Disney’s Phineas and Ferb. In regards to the Freddie’s Fanatics, Madi is excited to follow in the footsteps of Dom and Eddie, the two charismatic leaders to the student section when she was a freshman. She hopes to make the games just as fun and spirited as they did, and her goal is to “expand Freddie’s Fanatics to every sport and [to] be a strong source of spirit for all of them.”

Grant Pomatto is another senior passionate about all things Nazareth. At school, he is an active participant in the basketball and baseball teams and a member of the Roadrunner Club, The Announcer, and Aviation Club in addition to leading the Freddie’s Fanatics. Additionally, Grant is happy to help at his church and is involved in his church’s service projects. In his free time, he is a fan of exploring the great outdoors and loves reading books, with his favorite book being Harry Potter. Grant is proud to play a prominent role in this year’s student section and admires “the commitment everybody puts forth to the Freddie’s Fanatics.” He is especially eager to see this dedication and spirit shine during the Homecoming game against Joliet Catholic and encourages everyone to attend.

Brady Ryan is a senior fully dedicated to the Freddie’s Fanatics. With this club being his primary extracurricular focus here at Nazareth, Brady makes sure that the games are filled with much spirit and excitement. Brady is proud of his outgoing personality and puts it to good use in welcoming all students, upper and underclassmen, to all Nazareth sporting events. This outstanding and animated spirit is clearly evinced by the weekly pictures of Brady at the games, which he welcomes Naz students to view on his Facebook and Twitter pages. He is also thrilled to acknowledge that he does not wear cargos, unlike his friend Billy Bahl. His favorite aspect of leading the Freddie’s Fanatics is seeing the unity of all the fans present and being able to “just look back with everybody following [him] with the banana [cheer].” Brady is eagerly anticipating the banana cheer at one game in particular, the Neon-themed Friday night rivalry game against Benet.

Sydney Stancik is the fifth leader of the Freddie’s Fanatics and also extremely involved in a multitude of great activities at Nazareth. She is a member of The Announcer’s editing staff, Model UN, and Roadrunner Club in addition to her involvement in various campus ministry happenings. Along with Madi, Sydney is also a Student Council Co-President who is working hard to bring this year’s Homecoming theme of Friday Night Lights to life. She is looking forward to studying economics and political science in college next year, and admits that she is a closet fan of political satire and shows like The Daily Show and Real Time with Bill Maher. For the Freddie’s Fanatics this year, Sydney is looking forward to “creating our own traditions and mixing it up and taking it upon ourselves to try to start something new.” Sydney was especially proud this year’s new “Navy Out.” In lieu on the traditional “Black Hole” of years past, this year was the first time Nazareth’s “Sea of Galilee” made an appearance. While enjoying all of these new great traditions, Sydney and Grant would like to remind the Naz community of one thing: “Billy wears cargos.”

Overall, this year’s Freddie’s Fanatics will surely live up to it’s reputation as one of the best fan sections in the ESCC. They look forward to spreading their enthusiasm and spirit to all sports, such as volleyball, soccer, and basketball, later this year, and are currently enjoying the tremendous season the Roadrunner Football is having. Each of the leaders of the Freddie’s Fanatics encourages all Naz students to attend all sporting events and to experience the spirited atmosphere for themselves. After participating in the ESCC’s best student section under the leadership of Doyle, Lozanoski, Pomatto, Ryan, and Stancik, your heart will truly be chanting Naz Forever.