The bright Friday Night Lights are shining on the field, with loud chants and crazy cheers coming from both sides of the stadium. High school football is a big part of many lives, with the eccentric atmosphere, competitive drive, and the rush of adrenaline on the field.
The feeling of unity and pride from a school, whether the team won or lost carries a huge impact amongst students, faculty, and parents. However, not everyone always has the time to attend these games due to other priorities in mind. Sara Lim, senior at Sonora High School explained, “I have never been to a football game. Girl’s golf season is the same season as football and I come home super late with a lot of homework.”

Many people like Lim have extracurricular activities of their own and would be interested in attending football games if they had more free time. Lim stated, “I would definitely want to go to one game before graduation. A lot of my friends go, and they say it’s a super friendly atmosphere. I think I’d definitely enjoy the spirit and high school experience with friends.”

In addition, some students have lost their motives to bring spirit attend football games, primarily because of their school’s continuous losing streak. Troy High School Junior, Ryan Chung described his high school football game experience as, “I used to go a lot my freshman year but then everyone just stopped because a lot of the good players left for college and I had busier classes. However, even if I wasn’t as busy, I would still not go to our games, because crowds turn up a lot less with not as much hype. We lose badly and it’s never even a close game.”

When interviewed, Chung reflected, “We came in so strong during my freshmen year and even in my sophomore year our spirit was still good, even when our team lost. However, this year, our hype officially died, but I still go to my friend’s school’s football games and they are super fun to watch.”

For others, even with all the losses, it was the heart-warming social element and genuine interest in the sport that allowed for great experiences on the bleachers. Free-lance sports reporter Travis Mewhirther looked back at his high school days and said, “I just love everything about it. Growing up, everyone went, even with the terrible team losing every single game from 1976 till my junior year. Even with an 83-0 loss, we still had 4000 people attend.”

When asked why so many people attended even with zero wins in sight, Mewhirther explained, “Many people went to have fun as a social event. Just to hang out with friends, the concessions. I grew up in a farm town and many people had nothing to do on Friday nights. At first, I went to watch my older brother play, then after I went to socialize and watch my best friends play.”

High school football games not only provide a competitive atmosphere but also allows others to create memories that they remember for a long time. Mewhirther described, “My most memorable experience at a high school game was when I won the ‘most spirited award’. My friend Eric and I would do full on body paint, even at away games when it was snowing at 20 degrees. It was miserable, but it was still fun.”

<Aaron Kim/Los Altos HS 10th>