The Harvester PRIDE Crew is back out on the streets, in driveways, and in the stands for their third year in operation to help spread a little Pampa Pride throughout the community in support of students and Pampa High School Athletics. The Crew was founded by sponsor Matt Rains and his wife, having both grown up in Pampa as self-proclaimed “diehard Harvesters,” who felt they saw a need for an opportunity to get more kids involved in something within the Pampa Independent School District (PISD).
“As far as I’m concerned, you can never have enough support for your school and community, so that’s kind of what hatched the idea of the PRIDE Crew,” Rains said. “Our mission is to lead, grow, and inspire the Harvester spirit in our schools and community.”
Rains took it to the superintendent and athletic director, who were immediately supportive and wanted to see the Crew come to fruition, but as school funds are almost always short, they could not commit ISD funds to the endeavor. Rains said they were fine with that - Pampa is a generous community when the youth are involved. So now, every summer, they begin to raise funds to support the next year’s Crew, and to spend every dime they can on the students and improving the atmosphere of Harvester Stadium during the games. They use the money to outfit Pampa’s kids because they want them to feel good about themselves when they’re out on the field, then they move on to improvements to the field itself. Last year, they purchased a giant swayback “P” flag, which Rains estimates is about 9 feet by 12 feet, that now flies underneath the Texas and US flags at every game. They’ve added a giant banner that’s hung between two poles that the football players run underneath at the beginning of every game upon exiting the giant inflatable helmet. They provide the smoke effects for the Harvesters’ stylish entrance and have purchased five big flags that spell “Pride” that students run across the endzone with every time the team scores a touchdown. This year, they’d like to purchase a banner that says “We are Harvesters” to run along the home-side stands.
“We try to dress the stadium up. Every year we try to purchase things that we believe will enhance the atmosphere of the football field during the game,” Rains said.
During the game, the Crew usually has around 15 kids that are on the actual track with cowbells to make as much noise as possible to distract the other team and cheer the Harvesters on. They go to every away game, too. And, on Thursday nights before home games, the Crew heads to the stadium to put out ribbons up and down the street and around the field so that when everyone wakes up on Friday morning, the grounds look neat and ready to go for game day.
“Outside of dressing ourselves, giving kids uniforms and such, we just try to spend every dime that we can to just make Harvester Stadium a neat place for the kids and our athletes to participate,” Rains said.
They take their name from the acronym the athletic department coined to help instill the values of sportsmanship and service in their students, which stands for Perfect effort, Relentless attack, Integrity, Discipline, and sElfless. The second E is highlighted in “selfless” to represent the “I am second.” At its heart, the Harvester PRIDE Crew is a school spirit organization and a way to get students who may not be involved in a sport or a club involved in the community. The kids often help with pep rallies when the cheerleaders ask for help with skits or dances. Last year, the Crew worked Celebration of Lights helping to man the welcome station. Rains said they’ve gotten a lot of attention from community members of other towns that will tell them they wish they had something like Harvester PRIDE Crew.
“I got a message from someone associated with Amarillo High just last week saying how they thought what we were doing was so neat,” Rains said. “I can tell you just from doing it for three years, I don’t think there’s any other school in the panhandle that does what we do and has what we have.”
But it takes work to raise all of those funds for the students. They’re currently selling flag kits for $90 that ‘allow you to proudly fly your flag right by the curb.’ The kit consists of a 3x5 PAMPA PRIDE flag, a tangle-resistant spinning metal pole, and a semi-permanent yard stake that is flush with the ground and always ready for the flag. For those interested in flag service, they’ll store your flag year-round, place it out every Thursday evening and pick it up every Sunday evening during football season for $150. For $30, you can pick up a Harvester PRIDE gameday cowbell, which comes emblazoned with that classic Pampa “P” decal. And of course, there’s the “P” that can be painted in your driveway for $40.
“We joke that the driveway P is world famous,” Rains said. “We use a big stencil. And we partner with a local business that makes a big metal P that you can put in your garden or yard.”
If none of that strikes your fancy, and you’re not in the market for merchandise, you can become a sponsor for the 2023-2024 season. A donation of $100 or more will earn your company or family name a spot on their gameday t-shirts the kids wear to each game. PRIDE-level sponsors have their company logos prominently displayed on all of the Crew’s gear for the entire season. To become a sponsor, purchase merchandise, or for more information on how to get involved, contact Rains at 806-470-1191.
“Thank you for making the PRIDE Crew possible,” the Crew said on their Facebook page. “Let’s make the RIOT louder than ever.”
