North Atlanta students have no shortage of school spirit. Game days at North Atlanta’s home field, Henderson Stadium, excite students and rally them to the stands, decked out from head to toe in the game theme. Fans shout from the overcrowded student section to show their endless support for the Dubs football team. However, school spirit comes into question as students fall short in gathering for games beyond our home stadium and into the fields of our opponents. With students rarely in attendance to support the football team during away games, stands stay empty, and only a sad spur of parents and siblings remain to root for their boys. 

This year, with four games down, only two were won in front of an audience of jubilated students. The other two, while exciting wins for the Dub team, had few witnesses to their success. An exhilarating win against the tough opponents of North Forsyth and a 35-0 victory over New Manchester concluded without shouts and hoorays from the student section. Only a handful of students were present for the game against New Manchester, one of which being senior Ben Song who said, “It wasn’t very fun to be cheering the team on from a mostly empty bleacher. We only stayed till halftime,” he said. 

This football season, a new region for the football team means new teams replacing some of our oldest competitors. Schools such as St. Pius and Marist have risen as our greatest rivals rather than the former Westlake and Langston Hughes. North Atlanta students’ familiarity with these opposing student bodies drives the possibility of school spirit growth. Hopefully, this will excite rivalry in North Atlanta students and motivate them to assemble on the bleachers of our opponent school.  In some cases, it is the 45+ minute drive to away games that has discouraged students from supporting the Dubs on the road. However, as regions shift and opponents change, the duration of car rides is changing too, with more away games taking place closer to home. “I’m definitely going to the away game vs. Marist,” said junior Maggie Andreski. “I have a couple of friends that go to Marist, and with it being less than 20 minutes away, I am more than willing to make the trip to support the Dubs.”  

When game time kicks off and the players hit the field, students either show out or don’t show up at all. Maybe this year can be the year school spirit prevails over long car rides and the Dubs team regains its FNL fans, no matter where the stadium is located.