30 years of high school football

by Debbie Bethel Gobel

It was 30 years ago this season that I first walked up into the stands of what was then known as Wildcat Stadium as an eighth grader dreaming of my high school years ahead. I was very unaware of how much the Friday night high school football game would come to mean for me over the next three decades. Little did I know that this was only an eighth graders preview of heartaches, heartbreaks, wins, losses, love and laughter for decades to come.

My freshman year at Creek I fell in love from a distance with a sophomore football player. That was the beginning for me, however, my Dad had planted the seed many years before by taking me to years of high school playoff games. I started off my freshman year by attending all the sophomore and varsity games - home and away. Football became my life, for it was his, too. I still remember my pride at seeing him play so well in his #41 or #42 Maroon and White jersey, hearing his name called out on the loud speaker when he'd done something brilliant like only he could do. I remember that flash of blonde hair glistening in the lights as he'd remove his helmet to wipe his brow. I remember his stance on the sidelines, the long firm thighs and the tight rear end that I loved to see in his football uniform. For him, it was all about winning. For me, it was all about him. Being there, supporting, cheering for and loving him.

The next two years got only better as he started off on JV and progressed to varsity. I'll never forget the 1st pep rally (we had one for every game!) when he got to wear his Maroon #41 jersey and sit in the bleachers with the Varsity football team. I was a sophomore, he was a junior. I waited through the school song, the fight song (Dixie was allowed back then!), the battle cries and the cheers until the moment I had longed for was arriving. The traditional Creek Varsity walk through with the cheerleaders and drill team on each side. The football players would walk one by one and wipe the back of our stuffed Willie the Wildcat (I believe it was really a Bob-cat.) for good luck before the game. There he was. My #41! My heart was in my throat, my face was flushed with pride and love, for I knew how proud this blonde haired young man was to be a part of the team. How hard he had worked for years to be doing this, and how grateful I was to just be a part of it by watching and supporting him, although he probably never knew I was even there.

I don't think I missed a single varsity game his junior or senior year. It helped that my younger sister was in the band, and my Dad, being such an avid football fan, made sure I got to go to every game. Back then, the school even provided school buses for student fans to attend away games for a very small fee. #41 was my world and football was his world so it truly became our world. His senior year he fell in love and my heart was broken, but it did not break our football world. I was still there in body and soul, supporting, cheering for, and loving him.

Then it was over. His senior year football season ended and he was in love. I never thought games would ever be the same again until my senior year, when I fell in love with the quarterback I had grown up with. Although we didn't date until football season was way over, I still got to go to all the games and support, cheer for and love my buddy, my friend I had known for years and years. Watching #10 play was just as wonderful as watching #41. And then, football season my senior year was over and I thought football would never be the same again. But, I was wrong.

Seven years later, after attending college and getting married, I was back in the stands of what is now called District Stadium watching my little brother play two years of varsity football at Creek. I was again able to watch #61 play his heart and soul out. I was again able to watch my little brother perform something he'd been working towards since the third grade when he played Pee-Wee football. I was there for him when he cried after losing their homecoming game. I was there for him when they won to jump up and down and support and cheer for and just love him. I was home. Then it was over, his senior season at Creek was complete and it was on to his games at SFA.

Now, here it is, 30 years ago exactly that I first walked into the bleachers of Wildcat Stadium and I am there again. This time my favorite colors are no longer Maroon and White, but Red and Black. My favorite mascot is no longer a Wildcat, but a Wolverine. My trips to the stadium are no longer driven by my love for a young man, but my love for my daughter who's on the Clear Brook Celebrity Drill Team. But, things still haven't changed. I still see those young men on that same field and thirty years hasn't made a difference. I see the young man my daughter loved, the one that called me "Mom". I see his heart full of pride in accomplishing something he'd always dreamed of, being a part of the team. I see him shouting with joy as he makes an awesome play that only he is so brilliantly capable of. I see his smiling face as he takes off his helmet to stand on the sidelines, awaiting his next play. I see her face as she looks at him on the sidelines, his firm thighs and "cute butt" in the football uniform she so loved to see him in. For him, it was all about winning, for her, it was all about him. Their world was football. Although they're no longer together, it makes no difference, for I'll still continue to watch #58, to be there to support him, to cheer for him and to love him as any mama would.

High School football is timeless. The boys still cry when they lose a game, their adrenalin still rushes with each and every win. There are still girls in the stands with broken hearts, huge crushes, and senior rings on a chain around their necks. Things could not be more the same.

This once unrequited lover, now full time mom, will still be in the stands the rest of this season and the next two years until my daughter's senior football season is over. I will watch her dance with the pride of a Mother's love for her only child. But, I will also be there like the last 30 years to support, cheer for, and love the High School Football Players.

Sports In The USA™ needs sports consultants for every state

Sports In The USA™ is searching for sports marketing consultants throughout the nation. The duties of sports consultants range from serving as local sports reporters to providing marketing services throughout the United States. For additional information and to discuss an affiliation with Sports In The USA™, drop us a note to info@sportsintheusa.com.