Whether it’s game time or you just need to get motivated, everyone tunes in to their favorite song to be pumped up and ready to go. I don’t know about you, but the songs that energize me most typically have words—and I’m guessing that yours do, too.

At the start of the 2008-2009 school year, the Central Coast Section (CCS) made it an official rule that all teams cannot play any warm-up music with lyrics. This greatly limits the variety of songs that all CCS teams, especially indoor sports teams including volleyball, basketball and more, can play before their games. Penalties range from a deduction of points to a complete forfeit.

As both a volleyball and basketball player, I have experienced first-hand how music without lyrics hurts both our energy as a team and the crowd’s energy before a game.

Some songs were even written explicitly for sports teams, and are meant to pump athletes up. For example, “Remember the Name” by Fort Minor used to be played on the speakers during warm-ups for every basketball game last year, but can no longer be used. Lyrics combine with the beat to help motivate and energize athletes to give it all that they have.

While I can see why CCS and the administration have to defend their reputations’, eliminating all songs with lyrics is taking it too far.

Entire families, including younger kids, often attend sports events. Because of this, it is understandable why explicit songs are out of the question. However, there is absolutely no reason why clean songs should also be banned. Having pump-up songs is a tradition and always stirs up not only the players but also the home crowd.

While warm-up songs are still allowed, they are just not the same without lyrics. Also, adequate pump-up songs without words are just plain difficult to find. Lyrics are a huge part of what gets the adrenaline flowing, and without them it’s almost impossible to reach the same degree as before. Classical music, techno and jazz are just a few genres that feature music without lyrics; it’s obvious that they won’t be able to create the same affect as rock or hip-hop.

There is a very simple solution to this issue of lyrics in warm-up music. What CCS should allow, is the option for teams to preview the song for the coaches and administration first. They should use their own sound judgement to determine whether the music is appropriate or not. This is a simple yet sensible solution.

The whole Gunn community would only benefit from bringing back songs with lyrics as it pumps up the athletes and gets the fans excited before game time. As Rihanna says, “please don’t stop the music!”