S O G! S O G! S O G! The chant reverberates off the walls of the gym as everyone yells and pounds their feet during the pep rally. I lean over to my friend and nervously whisper, “What does sog mean?” Like many new students at Robinson, it was a rite of passage to learn that SOG stands for South of Gandy- and to understand why it matters.
To many in the Robinson community, SOG represents more than just being on the other side of a road. It represents identity, pride and community. Robinson is the smallest high school in Hillsborough County, but rather than weakening the school’s spirit, it bands us closer together, creating a culture of camaraderie and tenacity.
“What I love [about Robinson] is that we’re a small school, but we’re scrappy. The SOG culture comes from these military and working-class communities that are just really proud of this area of Tampa, and they love calling it SOG,” IB Physics teacher and participant of the SOG community since 1981, Manuel Montero said.
The areas surrounding Robinson can be characterized by a blend of long-standing local staples and steady growth. Neighborhoods throughout the SOG area feature locally owned restaurants and businesses, close ties to MacDill Air Force Base and increasing residential development. While the area maintains a strong sense of community and neighborhood identity, it is also gaining attention as one of South Tampa’s fastest-changing and increasingly desirable places to live.
“There’s so much overbuilding, destroying our coast, it’s too much change. The Gandy Marina and Inner Bay are gonna go crazy now. They’re going to have a small midtown going like by Inner Bay, by the Green Store, which is a staple of SOG. With all the apartments going up, it really never used to flood like that. Water has to go somewhere when you build, and it’s not going anywhere,” 25-year SOG resident and wrestling coach, Tommy Montero said.
New apartment complexes now line roads like Manhattan and Westshore, signaling how quickly the area is evolving. However, as the area around Robinson evolves, Robinson refuses to be left behind, undergoing a $58.1 million, two-year campus revitalization in March 2024.
Some reflect, however, that as Robinson changes, so does the mindset.
“I’m fourth-generation SOG. My family’s been here since 50 years before Robinson existed. SOG is working class, SOG is getting things done that need to get done, not complaining. SOG is the belief that hard work pays off. Now, it’s no longer just working class, and many of those values that I grew up on no longer are held by everyone here,” 22-year SOG resident and IB Psychology teacher Donald Pippin said.
Despite these changes, many Robinson alumni return as teachers and coaches, helping preserve the culture they experienced as students.
“I feel like there’s a lot of diversity here, not only as a teacher here, but when I was here as a student, there’s also a sense of community. It’s a smaller setting, so people are able to feel more connected and also be willing to be vulnerable so they can make authentic connections here. Robinson feels like a family,” Robinson alumna and IB Spanish teacher Sierra Espejo said.
Part of being SOG also means extending this sense of community to others with open arms, which 24-year SOG resident and IB Math teacher Joshua Saunders commented on.
“Loyalty is a pretty big part of it [Robinson identity], and I think that’s neat. It’s interesting to watch the North of Gandy kids, when they come down here, they immediately are kind of accepted into the group. Like, there’s no difference between people who necessarily live South of Gandy or those who commute further to come to Robinson. Everybody can just feel like ‘we’re in this together’,” Saunders said.
So when SOG echoes through the gym it means more than just stating where we live. It represents tradition, pride and a community that stands together. Robinson may be small in size, but it has never been small in spirit.
