Friday Night Lights

I guess you would call it a "Dodger" crowd. Parents and fans were trickling into our home game last Friday up until half time and by the time everyone arrived we had a pretty good sized gathering. There is something very communal about a Friday night football game: parents, grandparents, former students and parents, middle schoolers (there more for the socializing than the game), volunteers grilling hot dogs and hamburgers, pep band music playing in the background, cheerleaders and dancers. Friday night football is a great slice of Americana. And when we win the spirit of the evening is even richer.

While I love our theater events and our music performances, it is hard to capture the energy you feel when your team scores and the fight song is played. (And by the way, I continue my decade old battle that fans should stand and at least clap along when the pep band plays the fight song.) Maybe its the coach in me (or perhaps the frustrated athlete)but watching our coaches and athletes come roaring back from a big deficit always inspires pride.

Friday night football games are one of the places strangers to Faith can get a feel for what our community is like. That's why we pay some attention to the way our students come dressed to the games and how they comport themselves while they are there. Those who mill about the sidelines or sit in the student section represent our school even when not wearing the maroon and gold. And it's also why we have high expectations about our fans behavior, expectations that were clearly met at Friday's game, thank you very much!

So I encourage you, even if you are not the parent of a dancer, cheerleader, pep bander or footballer to make some time to attend one of our games. As summer's heat gives way to fall's cooler temps, there are few things as enjoyable as Friday Night Lights. (But watching tennis, volleyball, soccer or cross country makes for a good time too!)