Meet the women leading Michigan’s student sections

But Lebenthal’s experience over the past few years hasn’t been without its challenges. She’s come to realize an unfortunate reality of being a woman in sports: There’s a higher level of criticism and questioning, regarding both leadership capabilities and intentions as a fan. 

On the former, Lebenthal explained that some male fans are more hesitant to listen to women. Despite her vast experience and leadership role, she sometimes felt like she needed to ask men in the student section to make important announcements so everyone would pay attention.

And even if everyone listened, some people would still doubt her motives.

“There is a bit of a frustrating and upsetting stereotype around women in sports, particularly women in hockey, that they’re there for the wrong reasons,” Lebenthal said. “I’ve had to deal with (it), I’ve had people say things and do things, so I’ve just made it a mission to prove that that’s not what I’m here for. … It sucks being called a ‘puck bunny.’ It does.”

Burdened with the unwarranted responsibility of proving herself, Lebenthal has leaned on the women around her for support — one of whom is Skylar Reynolds, another woman heavily involved in the Children of Yost. Together with the community of female hockey fans at Michigan, Lebenthal and Reynolds have contributed to an increasingly positive culture in spite of the lingering obstacles.

“Within the student section, I do feel like it’s very inclusive,” Reynolds told The Daily. “… But there is sometimes a stigma of female sports fans of male sports, because people question why you like it and if you just genuinely like the game.”

Similar to Lebenthal, Reynolds’ childhood wasn’t necessarily defined by sports. But given that her middle name, MacKenzie, serves as an homage to her parents’ favorite Detroit Red Wings player, Darren McCarty — whose nickname was ‘DMac’ — perhaps it shouldn’t come as a shock that she developed such an affinity for hockey.

Reynolds got involved in theater at a young age, drawn to the performing arts and the community that came with them. In middle school, she combined her growing interest in sports with her passion for performing when she began singing the national anthem at sports games. For as long as she can remember, the energy and spirit of both sports and theater deeply resonated with her.

When Reynolds decided to attend Michigan, fulfilling a lifelong goal, she could hardly believe that she’d get to experience game days in Ann Arbor as a student. She was already bought into the football scene, but — just like Lebenthal — her parents suggested that she consider purchasing hockey tickets, too. She obliged despite having never been to a hockey game in person before, and once she stepped foot in Yost Ice Arena, she was hooked.

“There’s something different with hockey, with how much action there is, and being able to see everything, and just the atmosphere that the Children of Yost brought,” Reynolds said. “It was something so special to me. I am a big community-driven person, especially in theater and stuff, so I felt like I fit that right away. And I’m loud, I was yelling, even if I didn’t necessarily know right away what I was yelling for.”

Now a senior studying molecular, cellular, developmental biology with plans to get her Master’s degree in movement science before pursuing medical school, Reynolds has been to 180 Michigan sporting events. Many of those were hockey games, as she became more and more involved with the Children of Yost over time, but her involvement doesn’t end there.

During her junior year, Reynolds led the soccer student section, also known as the Ultras. She has also been a big supporter of gymnastics, organizing big heads on Senior Night and encouraging students to get loud, despite the sport not having a formal student section. Through it all, when Reynolds reflects on her experience as a sports fan, she always goes back to the community and impact.

“Having something so strong to be a part of, with the traditions and how much people care and show up and get to represent their school like that — we as a student section, me as a fan — to represent Michigan like that is just so incredible,” Reynolds said. “Creating that home-field advantage, home-ice advantage, you know you’re making a difference.”

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There’s no shortage of major Michigan basketball moments that stick out in Emily Vandenbossche’s memory, from March Madness runs to game-winning threes. But there’s also a handful of seemingly smaller moments that come to mind when she reflects on the past few years.

As the Diversity in Sports Chair and Women’s Basketball Superfan for the Michigan basketball student section, known as the Maize Rage, Vandenbossche has seen the impact of a full and rowdy student section firsthand. She specifically remembers one women’s basketball game against a smaller nonconference team, in which she and the Maize Rage successfully executed a fake shot clock. They started counting down from 10 at the 20-second mark, and the opposing team fell for it.

It might not be a moment for the highlight reels or record books, but it goes to show the real impact of students in the stands.

Growing up as a competitive soccer player, Vandenbossche started to notice disparities between the resources available to boys’ and girls’ teams. Her high school soccer team didn’t always get a bus to road games, forcing her and her teammates to drive themselves hours away. That sort of experience gave her a thorough understanding of the challenges that women’s teams can face, inspiring her to get involved in women’s sports at Michigan.

“Basically (my) role is growing women’s basketball,” Vandenbossche told The Daily. “Growing support, getting people to games, and just trying to elevate the student perception of women’s basketball and trying to get more people in the stands, because it really impacts the games.”

Vandenbossche’s role includes lots of work on the Maize Rage social media platforms, and her goal is to elevate women’s basketball content to the same level as men’s. As a senior studying sport management, she hopes to turn her long standing passion for sports into a career after graduation.

And when it comes to Maize Rage executive board members, Vandenbossche is certainly not the only one with career aspirations in the sports world. Jacie Goodman, currently a junior and the Maize Rage’s Vice President, is also studying sport management with a minor in business.

Goodman comes from a sports family, fostering her early interest in both playing and watching. She got involved in a number of competitive team sports as a kid, but as her opponents grew taller than her and she started getting hurt, her mom decided she should probably switch to something non-contact. Goodman chose golf, picking up the sport at 10 years old and still playing for fun to this day.

But just like Lebenthal, Reynolds and Vandenbossche, Goodman’s journey as a sports fan hasn’t always been easy.

“Growing up, when I was a Patriots fan, there was this kid who was a Jets fan, and he was like, ‘What do you know? You’re a girl, you don’t know football.’ I was like, ‘I know that the Patriots are better than the Jets,’ ” Goodman said with a laugh. “… But that’s just like, being doubted (like) that ticks me off.”

Once again, Goodman isn’t alone in that experience. Emma Mellott, a senior studying elementary education and the Maize Rage’s Social Chair, also knows the feeling all too well.

“I used to work at Rally House, which sells a lot of college and team gear,” Mellott told The Daily. “And whenever (customers) had a question about something, they would always go to my male managers and (my managers) would be like, ‘Dude, Emma knows more than me. Like, I know I’m a man, but she is the person that you ask.’ ”

Mellott added that even in her role with the Maize Rage, she sometimes feels like members of the basketball community don’t consider her as much of a leader as the male executive board members. It’s an angering and deflating feeling that can seem unavoidable, but Mellott still takes immense pride in her involvement with Michigan basketball.

“We definitely have an impact on the game, and it means a lot to me to be a part of that,” Mellott said. “Just because I grew up watching Michigan basketball, Michigan basketball was my favorite sport growing up, I would watch all the March Madness games. And so being able to be a part of that, and to know that I’m helping my team in some way — even if it’s very little — definitely means a lot to me.”

It’s not just basketball that means a lot to Mellott, too. As a freshman, she set herself a goal to attend at least one game of every varsity sport at Michigan. Four years later, she’s only missing one — outdoor track and field, simply because she didn’t realize outdoor and indoor were listed as two separate sports.

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If you’ve ever been to a Michigan hockey, men’s basketball or women’s basketball home game, chances are you’ve probably crossed paths with at least one of these women.

They’ve dedicated countless hours to supporting the Wolverines throughout their college careers, building their own communities while shaping an environment conducive to winning. They each have their own unique sports stories, too, both as players and fans. And through all the ups and downs, all the extra criticism and questioning that they’ve faced as women, you can still count on them to always show up.