friday night fever...only in america?

[Matt Brown]

Yesterday was a very important day in small, rural town America. High School Football started. a reason for just about everybody in town to get out of their house, and mosey on down to the local high school football shrine to pay respects to kids they dont even know, hurl foul words at officals and kids from the other school (now, for a few hours, mortal foes, locked in a deathmatch) and drink beer.

In some schools, this really is life. Schools where there isnt enough money to buy textbooks plung down 6 hundred thousand buck football stadiums to fit 30000+ people.

I normally wouldnt go to these barbaric gladitoral battles, (not because I dont like football, and it is nice to see my pals from school, but the disgusting behavior of the adults who live thru their kids...or kids they dont even know is such a turn off I dont want to be there. That, and the odd racist remark I get hurled at me in the more rural communities I venture), but I am in the local band, and I am also the school sportswriter.

I am planing on doing an article on the youth football-crazed frenzy state america is in, but first, I have a question

Is there something like this is other parts of the world? In England, do schools plunk down half a million euro soccer stadiums, and have tens of thousands of screeming, drunk grown ups go into a frenzy over 15 year olds? Does this happen with Cricket in Austrialia? Or is this friday night fever one of those "only in america" things?

[Archangel (aka SoupDragon)]

I think it's an Only In America thing. I mean, everybody gets a little worked up when school children/teenagers play football (that's soccer ), rugby or cricket matches against each other, that's natural. But in my experience everybody is calm and civilised, and we certainly don't build any stadiums; generally any spectators have to stand by the side of the playing field.

[earlwood]

Are 'staduim' is only enough to hold about 1000and most of the time its half empty, then only half of a half when they middle schoolers play.

[Pumaman]

Do schools really have their own stadiums? I mean over here, as Archangel says, high school football games are just played in the school field, and spectators stand around the edge of the field to watch.

[Darth Mandarb]

I think the craze over highschool football is probably only an American thing, but I don't know 'cause I live in America.  So I can't speak for the rest of the world.  I've never understood why parents get so nutz over it.  Then again, I'm not yet a parent, so maybe someday it'll make sense to me!

The town I went to highschool in had a great football team and the school pretty much gave them whatever they wanted.  I played basketball and soccer and we got nothing but hand-me-down uniforms and had to practice (soccer) at an old facility 'cause the football players got all the field space after school.  It lead to some innerschool rivalries.

As far as the entire sporting world goes I don't think there's a crazier sport than Soccer (football) anywhere.  Those fans are nuts!  There was actually a war started over a soccer match between Honduras and Salvador in 1969.  Now that's devotion to your team

dm

[Matt Brown]

yeah pumaman, their own stadiums. our school is pretty small, and our little stadium seats about a 1000...maybe. but some of the schools in texas, or northen ohio have 30000 seat stadiums, with turf and indoor practice buildings, full time ushers, etc. its nuts

We have staduims for most sports. I've played in soccer stadiums about that big for high school, although my home field doesnt have any seats...so my family has to bring their own lawn chairs

I coach a middle school soccer team, and while I want them to win, I'm not crazy, and I dont swear at officals or kids. I think its b/c many american parents think their kids can go pro, and any mis-play is costing them a chance to play professionally. I suppose the rest of the world isnt so disallusioned

plus, they dont allow booze at kids games I bet

[Timosity]

In Australia, schools don't have stadiums, well not large ones, private schools have bigger ones and government schools just have a field or two, but The parents can be terrible.

When I was a kid I used to play hockey (field, not ice) and some kids parents would push there kids so hard, but the worst bit was the corruption in the selection of the rep teams, as the parents were selectors and their kids would always be first pick, it was impossible to get in the state side cause by the time you got near enough to that level, the kids from all the different areas parents always ended up on the selection committee, I'm sure this thing happens in all sports, also at the top level in pro sports (not their parents, but influential coaches etc)

There are some of the worlds biggest stadiums in Australia though, For instance, tonight there was a Game of Aussie Rules Football, in Sydney which had over 70,000 people, and the stadium still didn't look full, (it was also raining and Aussie Rules is not even the main winter sport in NSW) It was also broadcast Live on free to air TV.

Most of the private schools in Sydney play Rugby Union and Cricket, and they get large crowds, cause I think it might be part of the schools rules that the kids have to go and watch their teams play. glad I didn't go to private school.

But sport in general is huge in Australia, The Rugby World Cup is in October, I'm not a big fan, I prefer Rugby League, but still, it's gonna be the biggest event here since the Olympics, A good time to go out and party

[Sylpher]

There are a couple schools here with their own stadiums but they are used for more then just High school use..

I think it gets worse the smaller the town is you go too..It seems like the less people their are the more hate they have towards each other.

[Las Naranjas]

A few of the Rugby matches between elite private schools, like Kings and Joeys, get crowds of about 12000. But that's less about the sport per se than people showing how elite and upper class they are by having old boy member ship to a private school.

The GPS competition has one state school in it, Sydney Boys High, and they always get belted now because that school is academically selective, and the students tend to be working scholastically. Last year a few idiot old boys from the Menzies era said it was because there were too many asians, but they were ridiculed.

There is a relatively successful League schoolboys comp, dominated by the catholic schools (which shows a demographic difference between the codes) but it doesn't get huge crowds except when they're NRL curtain raisers. It's significance largely rests in the fact it's the breeding ground from which NRL scouts get new blood.

I can't speak for AFL in the southern states though.

Perhaps the obsession in the US may be due to the fact that the high school team is a team that sticks around, unlike NFL franchises. Clubs relocating rarely happens outside the US (here it only happened when Murdoch forced it, and he was attempting the same management structure he had in the US) so people have a team for life.

[Timosity]

It's Funny, Murdock couldn't get the superleague to work in Australia, cause the public didn't agree with it, what's also funny is an Aussie going over to America and stealing the FOX network, American's are such pushovers, don't push me, push a push-pop.

There is a relatively successful League schoolboys comp, dominated by the catholic schools (which shows a demographic difference between the codes)

Not Necessarily, cause Joey's is a catholic school, so is st. Ignatious, and they are big Union Schools, the league one's are the less upper class catholic schools (one's that aren't on the North shore or Eastern suburbs.)

Go the Canberra Raiders, they beat the Knights today, woohoo

[Las Naranjas]

I meant the Catholic schools that you don't pay for (or pay neglible amounts).

And Canberra should have been penalised for having shitty weather.

[Ali]

British schools also don't get sponsored by soft drinks companies, and we don't have our kids pledge allegiance...

Although British (Edit: not Welsh) kids still have to take part in one act of worship a day over here, so America is ahead of us on that front.

EDIT: I know lot of schools don't follow the rule too strictly, but I think it's still floating around the English education system somewhere.

I'm sorry if I've slandered the Welsh. I feel like Anne Robinson and the weakest link both at the same time.

[AGA]

Not in Wales, we don't. When I was in school (up until June this year) we had a maximum of one assembly a week, and that was voluntary...

[Pumaman]

Yeah, it used to be compulsory (it was when I was at school), but now they've relaxed the rules so it's up to each school whether it wants to have a religious assembly each day or not.

[DragonRose]

The most that happens for NA football in Ontario (I can't speak for the rest of Canada) is that we send the two best teams in the province to have one game in a professional stadium. I've never even heard of high school having a stadium.  I know a few high schools- and we're talking private academies, here- have their own ice rinks.  But you don't here about the next big high school athletes on the news or anything.

[Matt Brown]

dragonrose, yeah, we do that too. I've actually played a game of soccer in the columbus crew staduim, (the best soccer-only stadium in the US...yeah, even better then that new one in LA), and football and baseballs games at the local minor league baseball park. its quite a thrill.

[Evil]

I never watch the football games here... Its mostly a makeout session for me