Friday nights are traditionally the stage for high school football games all around the country. This is one tradition that Andover lacks. In small towns across the nation, Friday night games are not just sporting events but events for the entire community. These games provide an opportunity for schools to improve sprit and morale, as well as providing the town with entertainment on an otherwise dull night. I understand that Saturday afternoon games have been a long-standing custom in the New England prep school league, but this custom is outdated. Games used to be played during Saturday afternoons due to lack of lighting around the field, but currently most stadiums in the league are equipped to handle night games. Another reason for the Saturday games was the distance between schools, but improvements in transportation since the league’s founding have made this only a minor problem. Today, the maximum travel time between two schools is no more then two and a half hours, allowing more than enough time for a seven-thirty or eight o’clock kickoff. The Saturday afternoon system is based on circumstances that no longer affect school, and it is time that they are changed. The change from Saturday afternoon games to Friday night will benefit the school in a multitude of ways. First off, the attendance of all sporting events would increase sensationally. Most Andover students have the conflict of trying to decide which sporting event to watch on Saturday. A non-conflicting Friday night football game would add well over one hundred fans to the sporting events of Saturday. Due to conflicting schedules, there are also several varsity athletes who have never seen a varsity football game and vice versa. With this new schedule, these athletes can attend each other’s games, boosting game attendance and school spirit. Friday night games would also make the weekends at Andover more complete. It’s hard for the Student Activities Board to plan two exciting nights of different activities per week for the entire year, and students are quite often subjected to one dull night a weekend. Friday nights are almost always unbearably boring. The Friday night games would relieve the Student Activities Board from having to plan as many fun Friday night activities and allow them to put more effort and money into Saturday night activities. Furthermore, fewer students would go home on the weekends if there were a home Friday night game, because both weekend nights would be exciting. This would increase school attendance during the weekends and make a more tight-knit community. And, obviously, weekend dances and other functions are much more fun when a lot of people are there. Making this change would be costless to the schools involved and greatly improve elements of school society. Not only would it provide the students with the opportunity of something to do, it will also positively affect the school community. Students will have the opportunity to support each other and cheer on their school without having to miss another activity in the process. Andover is more than ready to accept this long-standing tradition of high school football, and there is no reason why we should still play on Saturdays.
