Northern’s athletes are hurt by the turf. The war over the ball turns to a war over the field.
by Emmry Grow, Outreach Coordinator
Cheers heard for miles. The vibrant green expanse stretches for yards—a sea of red floods the stands. Friday night lights illuminate the home field. All of Northern comes together to support the seniors. The players bring their all. The intense game has everyone biting their nails. The player’s spirit fills the air, adding to the exhilarating and electric atmosphere. As the players work hard on their home field- they have a war for the ball. But this year, there is a different type of war on the field.
During the first half of mostly all fall sports’ seasons, due to the extensive remodeling of the football field, Northern’s athletes’ games were played at away locations. The relocation has put a setback on players’ and fans’ spirit. Senior soccer player Jackson Goehle said, “The field relocation definitely hurts our crowd. There are far fewer people who come to away games.” Northern’s teams need to get the support they deserve, Since these schools that the teams are playing are farther away, less of the student body is showing up to support Northern players.
Being away from the home turf makes the players more aware of fan sections from rival teams. “We really just have to be prepared to play away and be prepared to play with other student sections yelling and screaming at us.” Senior running back, Tyler Brown said. Northern is filled with many hard-working athletes who interpret this situation differently. “My reaction to the field being closed was that of bewilderment and disappointment. How a professional contractor can mess up that badly, and the county being clueless until the season starts is beyond me. Either way, it’s a total letdown to not be able to watch football games, or enjoy my senior year,” said Goehle.
This event has affected each student differently. Some say it’s hard for them to adjust, and others are adjusting just fine. Senior football kicker Tyler Potts said, “It hasn’t been too bad other than making senior night on a Thursday and not the usual Friday, which is not the best. But we are living with it.” The athletes, however, have not let this stop them from bringing their all to the field and playing the best they can. Brown quoted, “If anything, it gets us more ready for our home game tonight. It really doesn’t matter to me because we won the games by 40-plus points. So we were ready no matter what.”
With this attitude, Northern’s sports teams have experienced many victories- despite the fact that the athletes can’t play on their home field. The players being adaptive to this issue shows team character and the support system displayed at Northern. The Sports Field relocation has put a twist on the start of the season. Nonetheless, players have been working through this challenge and are not letting this hiccup stop them from bringing home a win from opposing schools’ fields.