Friday night: the stands are packed, the lights are on, and the crowd is roaring. The players sprint down from the locker rooms, passing their friends and family as they race onto the field. The clock starts and the whistle blows.
Sports are not just about exercise and entertainment, they are also about community, and there is no better way to build community than to go to sports games and support your team. This coming fall, Witter Field will finally be back and fully operational. Coming off of a year without home games until this February, our school was robbed of the opportunity to show our support for our athletes by being in attendance of their games for most of the year. However, with Witter back, our school will finally have the opportunity to make up for the last few seasons and show our support. To create stronger unity, better school spirit, and to support our student body, one of the most important things we can do as students in 2024 is to take full advantage of Witter’s remodel and go to sports games.
According to the Piedmont Unified School District’s website, 70 percent of Piedmont High Students participate in athletics. Whether they are there for a 4 p.m. practice or a seven o’clock game, the field is constantly occupied by our athletes. Students spend hours putting blood, sweat, and tears on the field preparing for games. Because of the amount of time sports take and the physical exertion they require, suiting up in a purple uniform and “protecting the P” is one of the proudest things a student can do. From personal experience, some of the proudest and most satisfying moments of my high school career were created in front of our home crowd on the soccer and lacrosse field, being egged on by my classmates to clear a cross or scoop a ground ball. However, like hundreds of other Piedmonters, I was unable to enjoy these moments of pride because boy’s soccer only had three home games, as opposed to 12 the year before, according to maxpreps. But, with Witter’s reopening, we have the opportunity to band together and support each other, creating more beautiful moments. where we show appreciation for our classmate’s effort.
With canceled football seasons and a field under construction, the tradition of Friday night football games has been consistently interrupted for nearly two years. In 2022, the season was canceled due to low numbers, and this year, the team played exclusively away games. It is time for those days to return. The way that at every home game, Witter’s home stands were packed to the brim with students cheering and jeering was not only special, but really fun. Chanting in solidarity, shoulder to shoulder with one’s classmates is simply so much fun. The collective support and buy-in to the spectacle is akin to a rally, just with entertainment and sports. Not to mention, watching Piedmont students dribble, dodge, pass, and score against their opponents is entertaining even without the community aspect.
Even with all the entertainment, solidarity, and support that can come with sports games, some still choose not to attend. There are a thousand reasons and excuses someone can make to skip a game, and that is fair. Not everyone has to go to every single game, but attending as many as possible is very important. Rather than staying home, scrolling through Instagram, step outside and go see a game; they are great social events and are really not that long. Stop by for a few minutes, catch the fourth quarter, or pop in for a kick off. Daily attendance is not necessarily important, but when homework is low and free time is high, get out to a game and support your classmates. Each sport has a home game nearly every week, so show up. For example, girls flag football has five home games between Sept. 17 and Oct. 24, according to piedmont athletics.
As spring sports wrap up and the field closes for the summer, do not forget that fall sports are just around the corner. Friday night football will be back after nearly two years, and girls volleyball has a lot of home games, so get to the stadium or gym, put on your purple and white, and GO HIGHLANDERS!!!
