Support your local athletes

With the fall high school sports season underway, Green River’s youth are giving it their all on the gridiron, in the pool, and on the courts.

Yet, as they play their hearts out, one thing that can give them that extra edge against their competitors is the backing of the home crowd those nights they’re playing here. In fact, those stands should be overflowing with green at any home sporting event. Hometown support can turn the tide of games and it gives the boys and girls the satisfaction of knowing their friends and neighbors have shown up to support them. For example, a team playing a heated game in an empty gym definitely won’t have the same experience as a team playing in front of a crowd, or even small group, of supporters.

I know some readers will scoff at the idea of going to a high school sporting event, but hear me out. For sports fans in general, those game offer a chance to watch pulse-pounding action a person would expect from a televised game, but live. Those moments of glory and heartbreak feel all the more real at a live game than they do broadcast on T.V. or radio. There’s also a certain amount of fun seeing the fans dressed in their Wolves colors, or watching the small girls excitedly wave their pompoms around as they watch the cheerleaders perform. The site of a home game is filled with energy and feeling the crowd react to the flow of a game is unique to a live game. Besides, hollering and cheering during a game is completely acceptable. Doing so in front of a T.V. at home can be, at times, awkward.

Regardless of how well the team performs, one of the biggest memories a person can have about an event is the setting that team played in. Years from now, when today’s high school athletes look back at the days they played for Green River High School, they’ll remember the support of everyone in the crowd more than the win-loss record. They’ll remember hitting the ball as residents watching them cheer them, or giving it their all in the pool to dozens of people screaming their name. Those are the memories student athletes should have of their time as a Green River Wolf.

The residents of the city should support those students and have a little fun doing so.