I recently got a note from a 1970 graduate of (old) Classen that, among other things, said that the four pep clubs that had been there for years were "outlawed" during his time there. That got me noticing that in current TV coverage of high-school sports events, the uniformed pep groups are nowhere to be seen -- and the same was true when I attended events at Putnam City while my grandchildren were students there.

Are there any high school pep clubs in the Oklahoma City area any more? And if not, what happened to them? I've done some internet searching, with no results. Did school officials actually ban such organizations, and if they did, when and why?

This is a part of OKC history that's begging to be examined...

I recently got a note from a 1970 graduate of (old) Classen that, among other things, said that the four pep clubs that had been there for years were "outlawed" during his time there. That got me noticing that in current TV coverage of high-school sports events, the uniformed pep groups are nowhere to be seen -- and the same was true when I attended events at Putnam City while my grandchildren were students there.

Are there any high school pep clubs in the Oklahoma City area any more? And if not, what happened to them? I've done some internet searching, with no results. Did school officials actually ban such organizations, and if they did, when and why?

This is a part of OKC history that's begging to be examined...

I went to a football game a couple years ago and was surprised as you were. NO pep club but 6 or more cheerleaders. I am not sure what happened to the girls but the bands are gone "to save money"

Thanks for the confirmation. PC at least still had its bands; both my grandkids participated in them.

Wonder if the pep clubs were abolished in the name of diversity, since membership in them was voluntary in my time (I didn't belong to one, but my wife did).

Thanks for the confirmation. PC at least still had its bands; both my grandkids participated in them.

Wonder if the pep clubs were abolished in the name of diversity, since membership in them was voluntary in my time (I didn't belong to one, but my wife did).

I suspect most dried up and vanished from lack of interest. When I was in HS at NWC (graduated in '71), there were two pep clubs, Cygnets and Coronets, both pretty good sized. Last time I was there (in 1990), it appeared both had disbanded.

My middle son graduated from NWC a few years after you and he remembers that there were two girls' pep clubs but does not recall any for the boys. Thanks for providing the names!

Pep clubs pretty much ended in the mid 80's.

I graduated from Putnam City in '78 and ours was massive... Close to 1,000 girls. Even bigger when my sister graduated in '72.

They gradually dwindled in popularity because the girls didn't want to be separated from the rest of the crowd -- especially the boys. Now, all the students sit together and only the band is really separate.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/pepclub1.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/pepclub2.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/pepclub3.jpg

I graduated in 1990 and I can tell you that Pep Clubs were on the way out by then for sure. No one really wanted to be a part of them that I remember. None of the 'in crowd' at least.

When I graduated from (old) Classen in '48, the boys' pep clubs seemed to be even more of a social force than those for the girls. Did PC have any boys' pep clubs, or just the one huge one for the girls? And do you remember its name?

I'm an editor for "The New Classen Life" which is the alumni association's magazine, and I'm thinking of doing an article about the decline of the pep clubs in general at all of the metro area schools. I've got some detail on what happened to those at Northwest and a bit less about Central, but nothing like the details you've given me about PC -- where both of my OKC grandchildren were active in the band.

And I have nothing at all about Capitol Hill, Grant, or Southeast, not to mention the other highschools in the metro -- input from one and all will be quite welcome because I want to cover the whole area, not just the schools in the northwest!

At Putnam City, there was an informal Boy's group called the Boys Rooting Association (B.R.A.: We Support the Pirates!).

The girl's club was the Princess Pirate Pep Club. Sophomores had to go through a pledgeship where they had to wear ridiculous costumes to school and collect a minimum number of signatures from members. They were often made to do embarrassing stunts before the members would sign. And even then, all sophomore year they work the black uniforms while junior and senior members wore orange.

They were required to attend all home games and took buses to most of those that were away. They also had to check in and check out just to go to the bathroom, as they didn't want them sneaking up into the stands to be with everyone else. (No wonder why these things went out of favor!)

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/pepclub4.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/pepclub5.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/pepclub6.jpg

Here is an old video from my senior year at PC. In the first few minutes you see quite a bit of the pep club (and BTW, the quarterback shown on a lot of that footage and getting the presentation in the gym is Kelly Phelps, who went on to play at OU):

http://youtu.be/mkYZ4DyAT-M

Do you mind if I quote you by name in the article?

My middle son graduated from NWC a few years after you and he remembers that there were two girls' pep clubs but does not recall any for the boys. Thanks for providing the names!

You're welcome. There were two guy's pep clubs at NWC, the Lancers and Falcons, but they disbanded just before I started there in the '67-68 school year. They actually had to rewrite part of the school fight song my freshman year, because it mentioned the four pep clubs. During part of my years at Northwest, there was an informal guy's group called 'The Section,' basically a bunch of guys in white tees and jeans who chanted stuff in unison. It was on the wane by the time I graduated.

Do you mind if I quote you by name in the article?

Not at all.

I graduated from Northwest Classen High School in 1969 and am still proud that I was a member of the Coronet Pep Club. I went to all the games and it was lots of fun.

I graduated from Northwest Classen High School in 1969 and am still proud that I was a member of the Coronet Pep Club. I went to all the games and it was lots of fun.

One group wore purple sweaters and the other wore yellow; I never could keep straight which was which.

Pep clubs? As someone said, they probably died due to cultural shift and lack of interest. I graduated in the late 90's and I can tell you it would have been seen as EXTREMELY LAME. I only knew what it was from history and old movies. If you explained it to today's youth, it would be off the charts lame. Look at how culture has changed, you have 7 and 8 year olds now committing murder, having sex and wearing makeup. Not saying it's right or I support it, but it is our society unfortunately.

Pep clubs? As someone said, they probably died due to cultural shift and lack of interest. I graduated in the late 90's and I can tell you it would have been seen as EXTREMELY LAME. I only knew what it was from history and old movies. If you explained it to today's youth, it would be off the charts lame. Look at how culture has changed, you have 7 and 8 year olds now committing murder, having sex and wearing makeup. Not saying it's right or I support it, but it is our society unfortunately.

metro, you're absolutely right that it just reflects current times. When I was in highschool in the early 60's any girl who was not in the pep club was very out of the mainstream and a little unusual. Next to the cheerleaders, being a pep club officer was the biggest thing for them. Kids now are really not into any kind of conformity that a pep club would require.

One group wore purple sweaters and the other wore yellow; I never could keep straight which was which.
The Coronet Pep Club wore the gold sweaters and the Cygnet Pep Club wore the purple ones.

I graduated from SE in '68. SE was a Jr.-Sr. High when I started in the fall of '62. My class was the last class to go there all 6 years (Webster Jr. High was opened in the mid-60's). Some of my best school memories was being a Jr. High and Sr. High cheerleader during the 60's. Our pep clubs were great and were a big part of promoting school spirit amongst the school body. One of my former classmates is the current wrestling coach at SE. I promoted an "Alumni Night" for one of the home matches earlier this year. I was very surprised that there was no band, no cheerleaders, and not even a recorded playing of the school song!!! My first thought was that maybe there wasn't much student support for wrestling matches. The head basketball coach was there that night and I asked him if basketball games were any different..... did they have the band, cheerleaders and more students show up for the games? His answer surprised me.... he said they show up if they feel like it. Some games have no band, no cheerleaders, etc. I found this very sad for the students attending there. I do realized that the current SE High School is NOT the same SE High School I attended in the 60's.... it is currently a Specialty School of Technology. I know I'm "old school".... but dang it, if they're going to have sports, they need to have student support and school spirit!! Just looking at the Putnam City pictures that Pete posted brought back happy memories to me that are long going and left me wondering if Pep Clubs will ever be re-cycled in future years.

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Our pep club at grant was HUGE and the girls were honored to be in it, my wife was in pep club and said she had a great time and made some awesome friends there. It is a shame they are now gone.