High School Football Deserves Friday Night Emphasis

By Robert F. Kanaby, NFHS executive director, and Ron Laird, NFHS president

Autumn is characterized by changing leaves, chilled temperatures and brilliant colors that offer fleeting, picturesque landscapes. In many communities across the country, high school football on a crisp Friday evening is an indelible component of those scenes.

Similar to other interscholastic activities, high school football offers its participants unique educational opportunities. During those select few evenings, the student-athletes, pep bands and cheerleaders can showcase their talents on a grand stage.

The relevance of Friday night contests, however, has been substantially challenged in recent years. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) traditionally barred Friday evening telecasts of intercollegiate football games. However, in spring 2001, the NCAA Management Council issued a permissive statement granting its member institutions (and conferences) the discretion to schedule Friday contests.

Today, a viewer is likely to find one or more televised college games on Friday nights throughout the fall. At the conclusion of this season, more than 25 contests will have been broadcast on ESPN during a timeslot previously reserved for the high school community.

Indeed, it's not an extraordinary occurrence to witness an interscholastic football game on a Thursday or Saturday, particularly during a championship series or other selected dates such as homecoming. Many attendees would argue that the atmosphere and collective spirit of those events match or exceed the levels found on a typical Friday night.

Absent those rare circumstances, however, it is necessary to preserve Friday nights for high school football.

The long-term telecast of NCAA Division I football games on Friday nights threatens to dilute the unique atmosphere expected and enjoyed by both the participating high school student-athletes and the fans. A national broadcast of a University of Texas or Louisiana State University football game (both teams competed on ESPN's November 23rd slate), for example, may result in lower attendance at high school contests nationwide. An ancillary cost of these telecasts is the potential loss of revenue to the school districts, some of which rely heavily on funds generated by ticket sales to support other school programs.

The value of tradition cannot and should not be understated. Friday nights offer communities a traditional time and place to congregate and support their students. Attendance levels are undoubtedly higher when members of the community may assume that a particular activity or contest will be conducted at its regularly scheduled time. If high schools were forced to schedule their weekly contests around particular collegiate match-ups, a severe burden would be imposed on school resources and personnel.

In addition, the inherent benefits of a routine performance schedule cannot be understated and should not be ignored. For example, a "normal" week of preparation is likely to yield greater individual and team performances than an irregular and sporadic week of practice. Regularity in scheduling helps ensure fewer conflicts among the school's other programs, and encourages and better enables students to attend and support their classmates' activities and events.

The educational mission of interscholastic athletics is furthered when student-athletes are most engaged in their respective activities. In the case of high school football, Friday nights provide the optimal experience for the student-athletes, as well as for the administrators, coaches, fans and community involved with the game. The value of competition during this particular time is no different than a typical Saturday morning cross country meet or Thursday evening volleyball match.

Ultimately, each sport offers students "teachable moments" that are unique to the interscholastic experience. The preservation of high school football on Friday nights will help provide the environment most conducive to those teachable moments, and help perpetuate an important and longstanding American tradition.