I Loved High School Football

High School football has started again.  I've been watching the Des Moines Register's site as they rank the Iowa schools and talk about what is going to happen and I am thrust back to the days where I lived for Friday nights!

I played in the marching band so all of the home games were fun, hanging out in the band section with all my friends.  We whined a lot in early September because of our awful wool uniforms, but by the time mid-October rolled around we weren't rushing quite as quickly to change since we finally appreciated the additional warmth.  I do remember huddling under blankets with as many friends as possible watching the last half of the game after we'd gotten back into our street clothes.

My friends were out on the field, my friends were in the stands with me and those evenings were some of the greatest fun I had in high school.  Mom didn't miss too many of the games ... her kids were in the stands and on the field as well.  She and I drove to nearly every one of the away games just to be a part of the excitement of Sigourney High School football.  If the band went on a bus, she'd drive and I could choose to go home with her or my friends - she didn't care, she just wanted to be where her kids were so that she could cheer them on.

Home games meant a sock hop at the high school after the game - we were pretty spoiled, too.  Double Trouble - more friends from high school were a great cover band and we didn't have to put up with too many DJ/album nights, it was generally live music.  No one was ever ready to head home after the game, so the cafeteria was filled with friends and dancing.

Friday nights seemed to last forever ... from dressing in our uniforms, pre-game, playing in the stands for the first half, half-time, changing out and watching the end of the game and then finally the sock hop.  The evening was glorious fun.

Every fall as the weather turns cool, I go back to those nights in the bleachers at the high school with my friends.  I recall the excitement of the plays on the field, watching parents go from joy to pain and back to joy as they watched their kids play ball.  We saw our teachers and administration outside their normal environment, with their families and friends and realized that they were as normal as the rest of us.  We had something that we could all stand together for.  We were there to support a team, to support an idea, to have some fun.

It's High School football season ... and I hope that  kids today will also walk away with memories that last a lifetime.