Before kick-off of each home game, a different person is recognized with the honor of being the 12th Man.

The 12th man represents someone from the West community that has made an impact on the school.

“It was something Coach Callaghan and Gill approached me about,” athletic director Don Perkins said. “We decided that since throughout our history we’ve had some great fans, we should recognize them.”

The idea was adapted from collegiate and professional football teams including the Texas A&M Aggies and the Seattle Seahawks.

“We thought that since we have the greatest fans in high school football that we should adopt the traditions,” Perkins said.

Chris Bowman, also known as Superfan, was the first person to be recognized with the title of 12th man. The second person to be recognized was Kevin Crow, who passed away over the summer. Crow was the father of 4 West graduates and an active parent in each of his children’s sport teams.

“I take input from Callaghan and administrators and we come up with a person,” Perkins said.

Perkins hopes to get the student body involved in the process of selecting a 12th man. He would like to have the seniors elect someone within their class to be honored the night of the homecoming football game.