School Spirit (11-09-09)

A wonderful thing occurred this week. Our town broke out with a heavy dose of school spirit.

Perhaps you have heard that our high school football boys made the playoffs for the first time since…well ever. I used to think that the streak extended back to the history of the high school in 1922, but this week I learned that it only dates back to 1969 when the playoff system was put in place. Anyway, a football playoff game was a historic event for Hill City, and I was impressed with how much school spirit I witnessed.

It began around 2:00 o’clock on Tuesday, when the entire K-6 student body lined both sides of fourth street (Highway 283) to wish the boys well as they drove past. The kids had been making posters and banners all morning, and they were ready. There was an electric buzz in the air of anticipation as we waited for the Ringneck bus to turn the corner at Hill Street. The sun was shining and wind was calm and the kids were thrilled to be outside, part of something exciting. I don’t know how many of them knew the history of the event, but they knew that this was something special. You could feel the sense of oneness as they waited with a common cause.

Then we saw not the bus, but the chief of police’s pickup, turning the corner with lights flashing. He was driving slowly, as if he were leading a parade. Then a cheer rose in the air as the Ringneck Express slowly came in sight, turned onto the highway, and made its way toward us.

Everyone waved their signs and shook their banners. Someone started chanting “RING-NECKS! RING-NECKS” and soon one whole side of the street was screaming in unison. Through the tinted windows of the bus, we couldn’t see the faces of the players, but we could see them wave. The bus sped up a little, caught the green light at the intersection, turned east, and was gone.

But what I saw next is something I’ll always remember. Behind the Ringneck bus was a parade or sorts. Vehicle after vehicle, loaded with loyal fans ready to make the two-and-a-half-hour trip slowly passed up by. They honked and waved and mostly they smiled. Cars, and trucks and mini-vans. They kept coming and coming and I realized why the police had decided to provide an escort to this incredible Ringneck caravan.

The next day, I heard many kids talking about the game they had listened to on the Internet. This included my son, a fourth grader who usually dislikes watching or listening to sports - he’d rather be a participant than a spectator. For a while anyway, he was as captivated as we all were.

While our opponent Tuesday night had been there before, had played in countless post season contests, and even won a state title or two, we were there for the first time. No one on our team, other than the head coach, had ever competed in a football match of such high stakes. We didn’t know what to expect, and our inexperience showed.

But regardless of the outcome, our boys learned. They learned more about how a champion team plays and how that for long periods of the game, they could play with the experienced team.

When it was over, we left with our heads held high and our eyes to the future. We now can call ourselves a playoff team. We now have experienced players to lead us into next season. Yes the season might have ended that night, but our dreams for this team have only just begun.

We just had to get the first one under our belts. The best part of the entire experience was the way our town came together to support the team. It was an awesome display of school spirit, and is something that I will never forget.