Everyone has seen at least one of the typical high school movies. In these movies the quarterback of the football team rules the school and all of the girls drool over him and his teammates so it only makes sense that the high school football players would be treated like that in real life.
This season, the BHS football team went 6-4 in the regular season and lost to Blue Valley Southwest in the first round of playoffs. That’s not a terrible season by any means, but why should they get video clips of highlights on the announcements and a full explanation of when and where their game will be and who their opponent is every week? No other fall sports team got that on a regular basis.
The BHS girls cross country team won the state title for the fifth year in a row. That’s an incredible task and what did they get on the announcements the next week? The student simply saying, “Congrats to the girls cross country team for winning the state title for the fifth year in a row.” It was the same recognition they got for a normal meet and, needless to say, the state meet is not a normal meet and winning it is most certainly not normal. Winning the state title on Saturday, Oct. 29, seemed to be overshadowed by the fact that the first round of football playoffs for BHS football was Tuesday, Nov. 1. It seems that there needs to be some re-evaluating done when a state championship is barely recognized because a team made it to the first round of playoffs.
Another team that seemed to get the cold shoulder was the BHS soccer team. The boys went 12-3-1 in the regular season, which is the best record the program has ever had. The team was also Regional Champions, another first for the team. They made it to the State Quarterfinals, which is the top eight teams in the state. They played Rose Hill on Monday, Oct. 31, and once again the fact that the football team was playing in their first round of playoffs the next day overshadowed the soccer team’s accomplishment. Unfortunately, the soccer team’s season came to an end that Monday night in a 3-0 loss against Rose Hill, but did they get any sympathy the next day? No because all that anyone could seem to talk about the the football game that night. However, the football team lost that night, failing to advance past the first round of playoffs and the day after the game they got tons of sympathy and a good portion of the student body was crushed that the beloved football season was over.
Attending Friday night football games is a big part of most high schoolers’ social lives and many great memories are made, but people need to realize that it’s not the only sport taking place, especially when we have teams who are having record-breaking seasons and winning the state title. The football games are a fun atmosphere because they take place at Liston Stadium. They get to play under the lights and on a fairly new turf field, and at 7 p.m. which is late enough so kids with practices can attend as well as parents who work full time. However, our varsity soccer team gets to play on a grass field, the same field they practice on every day so it experiences a lot of wear and tear, and there are no lights so they have to play at 4 p.m. so they are done before it is dark. Playing at 4 p.m. makes it nearly impossible for students who have practices and parents who work to attend the games therefore they have poor turnouts compared to the football games.
It seems like there needs to be some re-evaluating done and that we need to make more of an effort to make all of our sports teams feel equally appreciated.