Normally on Halloween, people run around in costumes, laugh with their friends, and make key memories to last them a lifetime. However, the Poway High Varsity Football team and cheerleaders will be describing their Halloween night as being on the field or sidelines working hard. People who regularly attend the football games will not show up because they are enjoying Halloween, therefore the stands will be practically empty. Not only will the stands be empty Thursday night, but the classrooms will be empty Friday morning when tons of students don’t bother to attend school the day after Halloween, while other students are forced to. We don’t get a chance to not go to school like most years because there is no personal growth day that friday. So this is going to be an unfair Halloween for many.

Now I am a strong believer in school spirit and participation in sports, however, it is not fair at all that our devoted athletes who are at practice almost every day after school can not enjoy their Halloween night like normal kids. Not only that but it’s also senior night and the last home football game. So while it may be just the last game of the season for freshman, sophomores, and juniors. This is the seniors’ last ever high school game so I believe they should’ve made sure to organize the game so it would be on a friday night that’s not a holiday.

Football and cheer aren’t the only sports that have games or some responsibility on Halloween night. girls’ field hockey also has an evening game when looking at the Poway High Website’s Athletic Calendar.

Also many years students have had the day off of school so students are able to spend more time with their peers the night before. Often the district schedules a professional growth day on the day after Halloween, but this year it’s the Monday before Halloween. It is Ridiculous that we have Monday off when most students would much prefer to have their Friday off that week. 

The reason for a Thursday game is because the league  is having trouble finding refs. While I know that it’s not always easy to find refs and people get busy there must be a way. It makes me wonder if there was even a real effort to find a ref for friday or to move the personal growth day.  The Freshman are the only team that usually plays on Thursday around 5 pm, so they can still enjoy most of their Thursday night. Friday night games are always saved for our Varsity players with the most attendance, and Friday afternoons for the JV crew, except for October 31st of course.

With all the sacrifices student-athletes have to make to balance their stress, social life, and academic life, and improve in their sports, you would think that the school could give a little back in return.  I know there is not a lot we can do about the game now that it is already in action, but I would like to see more improvements in the future. Such as better planning for the football games, so they don’t end up on busy nights. Especially prioritizing putting the very last football game on a friday. Also making sure that the growth day gets put on the day after halloween when the school schedule is being made. I would like for more thought to be put into the whole school year schedule to accommodate for the student-athletes of Poway High School.