Which high school activity do you find the most exciting? If you’re a junior or senior and said football games, then we are very different. For the freshmen or sophomores who say football games, it’s understandable.

To me, football games becoming less exciting has nothing to do with the sport or the athletes. As a flag football player, I think it’s safe to say that I love the sport. High school football games, however, are not my ideal scene, but I haven’t always felt this way.

When I was a freshman I went to almost every home and away football game. I was always so excited to see friends from middle school who went to different high schools, match the theme with a creative outfit, cheer, and have fun at the game. Those Friday nights with games were what I would look forward to every week.

As a sophomore, I went to almost every home game, save a couple. I would still dress up on theme and cheer on our players, but I wouldn’t stay until the end of the game. While still exciting, football games wouldn’t give me that same joy I felt as a freshman.

Now as a junior in high school, I don’t enjoy football games nearly as much as I did when I was a freshman or sophomore. It’s still fun to get ready and cheer with my friends, but after a while it all just feels like a been-there-done-that experience. I used to go to games expecting something different to happen, but now I notice that it’s the same every time.

I know this can seem like an unpopular opinion, but there are others who share this feeling. “When we were freshmen it seemed like everyone went to football games. The seniors would do the parting the seas thing with the crowd and they would all run up and yell. Now every game we only do it once and nobody’s hype. We barely even do the third down cheer anymore, which was my favorite and now it seems like even the announcer is less hype,” junior Gabriella Guidorizzi said.

However, students, specifically seniors, can feel differently. There are students who argue that football games become more enjoyable as you age. Sometimes football games as an underclassman are boring because of your lack of freedom and familiarity, but when you become a senior, there are more activities you can participate in, such as barbeque club and being a letterman. These are the experiences that make football games so memorable for seniors, along with the fact that those are the last games they will ever attend as a high school student. It’s not just excitement and joy they feel at football games, but also nostalgia.

Yet, people still feel that only a select few seniors have the opportunity to participate in those activities, leaving the rest to have the same experience as when they were underclassmen. How I will feel about them during my senior year is still yet to be determined for me, so maybe I’ll even grow more fond of them than I was as a freshman.