Connecticut High School Student Athletes Sound off About the National Anthem

The National Anthem.

It's been a tradition at sporting event for about a century and a source of potential protest since 1968, when Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood at attention during the Anthem in the 1968 Olympics, but in a Black Power salute.

The latest Anthem-related protest was not an athlete in a salute, but sitting down in the form of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's seeming new pre-game ritual.

Last week, East Catholic students and athletes responded to Kaepernick by sending a clear message about their habits before football games last week.

They stand for the National Anthem.

And just in time for Sunday's 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a student-run media club made a video showing players holding signs with the words to the "Star Spangled Banner" while standing for the song.

The video is called, "Rise for the Anthem."

The students said that they wanted, "to show the world that we respect our country, our freedom and our National Anthem."

Benjamin Ockert, a student at East Catholic, a member of Media East and the creator of the video, said the effort was consistent with East Catholic's lifestyle.

"I made this video to show the values that East Catholic and its community share and maintain," he said. "We take pride in our faith-based environment and all that we embody and this video provides a glimpse into what we at East Catholic stand for. The fact is, we stand to honor our country every single morning."

The natural follow-up was asking high school student-athletes that they thought of the Anthem.

Julia Klein, a senior from West Hartford and a Northwest Catholic captain of field hockey and lacrosse, said, “I definitely think showing respect is a big thing. You definitely show unity with your team, and if you’re going to make a public showing of that, you need to make sure everybody’s on board.

She added, "You can’t do it just yourself because I think that’s a big disrespect thing. I think there are certain ways you can stand up for what you believe in and show how if you disagree with something, make sure you do it at the right place at the right time and that all the people you’re with are aware you’re doing it so you’re not alone and making a bigger deal out of it than it needs to be.”

Megan Lapponese, a senior from Enfield High School and field hockey, basketball and track athlete said, “It hurts me and I feel like it hurts a lot of people when everyone’s not respectful standing up. Personally, I have family members that have served in the Army, and by me and my team standing up and participating for the anthem, it’s showing respect for them.”

Luois DeLoreto, the principal of E.O. Smith High School in Mansfield, said it was not something he wanted to get his students in the middle of. He had a meeting with athletic department officials and the consensus was to discourage Panther student-athletes from commenting on the issue.

"We did not want to put the kids into a position like that," he said of a potential Anthem controversy. "There are different opinions on this and we did not want to let something like this distract what what the kids do in school and in the field."

Two seniors at Rockville High School in Vernon, cross country and track athlete Maddy Hearnes and soccer and softball player Sarah Silver said standing up during the anthem is a sign of respect.

And it should the protocol, they said.

"My dad is a veteran and it is very important to me to honor that," Silver said. "It is also a matter of respecting our freedom."

Hearnes said the Anthem is "a big part of American sports."

"It is also a huge part of American culture," she added. "I think it goes hand-in-hand with what we stand for, but there are other ways to protest. We should respect the National Anthem."

Photo and Video Credit: Benjamin Ockert/ECHS, Tim Jensen (hockey)