There’s nothing like it: what happens in America on Friday nights each Fall. It’s high school football. But make no mistake about it, there’s a before and after to those Fridays.
Every fall in towns across America nearly 12,000 students are engaged. The sun sets. Lights come on. Communities gather. It’s Friday night high school football.
It all started with a simple game of catch and in pick-up teams with friends.
For players, the road leading to Friday Night started on sandlots, small patches of grass down the street, in fields just across the street from where they live, and in backyards.
No matter how they started, these kids developed a love for the game. They learned what it means to be a team player and how to develop in the fundamentals of the game.
That learning was taken to the field on Friday nights.
Courtesy: WNDU 16
You and your teammates exit the locker room. Enter the tunnel.
You see the lights. Hear the crowd. The cheer gets louder as you move closer to the field.
Emotions run high as you grasp the hand of a teammate and walk together toward the field.
While you know this is something special, you also know what it took to get here. You practiced every day, sometimes in blistering heat and sometimes in freezing cold. You did this with your teammates, your friends.
You win. You lose. And the bonds grow stronger.
Those bonds remain strong long after Friday nights end. But life circumstances also mean that one-time teammates go their own ways. But the brotherhood never ceases. Many will re-engage eventually, sharing stories, talking about experiences, seeking advice, and renewing friendships.
It all started with pigskin, pads, turf, and Friday Nights.
