5

A pep rally is a gathering of people to show support for a sports team.
I cannot find any references to what the term can be translated to in Spanish. Any suggestions?

Improve this question
2
  • 1
    fonsi, where will you be using this translation? Is it for a high school newsletter, or what? Thanks. This context will be useful to choose the right sort of translation.
    – aparente001
    Aug 30, 2019 at 22:00
  • If it's purely an American thing, wouldn't it make more sense to call it by name, e.g. "pep rally" and then give a short description? Por ejemplo: "Las hinchas Americanas se quedan para tener un pep rally, una reunión antes de un partido donde se le animan a su equipo antes de se arranca". That's how I see it done in news articles where direct translations don't work. It's a cultural thing, so the meaning behind a pep rally might be lost in translation.
    – matthiasdenu
    Sep 2, 2019 at 22:34

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
5

This is a tough one, as pep rallies are an American Thing™ and thus we don't have a word for it.

The most similar term that I can think of is "previa". This term, short for "concentración previa", is used to talk about the events happening before a sports match, including when e.g. soccer fans gather to show their support for/to the team.
Examples of use:

Vigo fue una fiesta en la previa al partido
La selección sintoniza con los aficionados en la previa del choque contra Bosnia y Herzegovina

Another option may be "concentración de apoyo". In English, a rally can be a gathering (→ concentración) of people; and a pep rally is done to cheer and show support (→ apoyo) to the sports team. Hence concentración de apoyo.
However, this term is also used for any kind of support rally, be it for a sports team or for wounded soldiers or what have you, so I'd stick with previa as it is almost always restricted to sports events.

Improve this answer
1
  • I thing "concentración de apoyo" is more specific for what @fonsi is looking for, specifying the event of showing support. "Previa" is also a good answer, but I think it encompasses mor items than only the support.
    – R18
    Jul 22, 2022 at 6:34
3

According to the Cambridge Dictionary

pep rally

a gathering of people who want to show their support and enthusiasm, especially for a sports team before a game

I've highlighted some relevant words:
- a gathering of people
- support
- sports team
- before

I'm no football fan but in the news when the supporters of a team gather before a match, they call it a concentración de aficionados where concentración is the noun derived from the verb concentrar

Congregar un número generalmente grande de personas para que patenticen una actitud determinada

You can easily translate the above sentence to

a gathering of people who want to show a specific attitude

Being enthusiasm a kind of specific attitude, you got an almost perfect match. At least, theoretically.

Another point that sustains my suggestion is the term motorbike rally. The best translation for that in Spanish is concentración de moteros, a gathering of people who want to show their support and enthusiasm for motorbikes. If you replace motorbikes by sports, you got "concentración de aficionados".

I have compared the results offered by Google Images for both words and they don't exactly represent the same thing. pep rally seems to imply an amateur [high school, university] sense and some sort of motivational talk. Those implications are not present in concentración de aficionados but I don't know if another more specific word exists.

Improve this answer
4
  • "Concentración de aficionados" isn't a bad idea. To comment on the term -- I think you've got the basic idea. In the high school setting, it's mostly about "school spirit," or participatory circus, if you will. The football theme is kind of an excuse to hold a pep rally. It happens in the fall. Students are encouraged to wear a shirt of a certain color and perhaps decorate the shirt. After approximately a month of classes, on one of the last good weather days of the year, everybody gets to take some time off academics and go outside and whoop it up. It's a bonding thing, I think.
    – aparente001
    Aug 29, 2019 at 19:36
  • @aparente001 Well, thanks for the explanation. I think that such kind of bonding celebration does not exist in Spain. At least in my university when I was a student there almost two decades ago. We got no color nor mascot and we don't care very much for the university sport teams. I don't know if those things have changed.
    – RubioRic
    Aug 30, 2019 at 5:58
  • I'm not surprised to hear that. The pep rally is primarily a feature of high schools in the US. But look. There are many, many monolingual Spanish speaking parents of high school students in the US, and enlightened school administrators in schools with such parents will do the right thing and send home bilingual newsletters. It was my guess that that was why OP was requesting a translation. This type of translation would be a bit different from a highly precise translation for the United Nations! It would be more of a functional translation, maybe a hybrid of Sp and Eng.
    – aparente001
    Aug 30, 2019 at 21:59
  • @aparente001 I think that you should edit your answer adding the extra information that you have been writing in these comments.
    – RubioRic
    Sep 2, 2019 at 7:04
1

"Pep rally" in Spanish is reunión de ánimo.

Improve this answer
0

That's a tough one!

First, I'll explain what I know about how the term is used in high schools in the US. It's mostly about "school spirit," or participatory circus, if you will. The football theme is kind of an excuse to hold a pep rally. It happens in the fall. Students are encouraged to wear a shirt of a certain color and perhaps decorate the shirt. After approximately a month of classes, on one of the last good weather days of the year, everybody gets to take some time off academics and go outside and whoop it up during the school day. It's a bonding thing, I think. In the late afternoon or evening there is a football game but not all students and teachers attend.

Now, a note about what I think the translation might be intended for. There are many monolingual Spanish speaking parents of high school students in the US, and enlightened school administrators in schools with such parents will do the right thing and send home bilingual newsletters. It was my guess that that is why OP was requested a translation. This type of translation would be less rigorous than what would be used in the United Nations. For a parent newsletter one would need more of a functional translation, in fact, maybe a hybrid of Spanish and English.

Linguee.com offers:

  • mitin de pep

  • rally

  • acontecimiento de estilo reunión de la energía

My own idea would be

  • rally (una especie de mitin para animar al estudiantado)
Improve this answer
9
  • 1
    I don't understand your suggestion. Are you suggesting traslating "pep rally" (UK) to "rally" (ES)? According to the DRAE, rally is "competición deportiva de automóviles o motocicletas" and that's not what "pep rally" means.
    – RubioRic
    Aug 28, 2019 at 7:10
  • @RubioRic - I didn't think they did pep rallies in the UK. But I'm not an expert on UK culture! Do they?
    – aparente001
    Aug 29, 2019 at 19:33
  • Sorry, my bad. I mean EN but I don't know, maybe they do. I'm no expert either. ;-P
    – RubioRic
    Aug 29, 2019 at 20:42
  • 1
    As far as I know pep rally is not used in the UK @RubioRic.
    – mdewey
    Sep 2, 2019 at 12:05
  • 1
    @mdewey Well, I think that it's clear now. They don't have pep rallies in the United Kingdom.
    – RubioRic
    Sep 2, 2019 at 12:24

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.