By: Camille Eckert

If you ask around the Winsor community, a majority, myself included, would say their favorite tradition is Under the Lights (UTL), a day where students show off their school spirit by dressing in red, performing their class cheers, and staying late to watch all of the fall sports teams compete. One of the many great parts of UTL is that it occurs at our home fields and courts, so students can come support their friends’ athletics. 

Unfortunately, outside of UTL, the Winsor community does not emphasize attending home games. Since most students take the bus, get picked up, or head straight to sports practices after school, often the student section of home games is sparse aside from a few stragglers who catch the last few minutes after their own respective sports commitments have concluded.  

These home games are important though, despite the lack of attendance. Throughout my time in high school sports, it feels as though more and more away games are getting scheduled and they occur on weekdays instead of weekends. Since we are in the Eastern Independent League, we play schools that are located up to 2 hours away from Winsor, and these long treks are dreaded as a student athlete. Not only do you show up to the game with diminished energy, but there is also stress about your schoolwork due in the upcoming days. 

Both Varsity and JV Volleyball recently had five games in seven days, with four being away games. Last Saturday, we traveled to Portsmouth Abbey in Rhode Island and spent eight hours of our day, the majority of which was on the bus. Varsity Volleyball Captain Karla Sahin ’24 remarks, “The volleyball team has certainly seen the long term effects of having so few home games. We rarely see support from our own sidelines and it does take a toll on our academics because of the exhausting bus rides.” Recently, Varsity Soccer traveled to Portsmouth Abbey in Rhode Island on a Tuesday and didn’t get home until 9:00 p.m. that night. Varsity Soccer Captain Ciara Leonard ’24 said that this planning was very inconvenient, “We had an early dismissal and we still didn’t get back until very late so it took a big chunk of our day. We were also away on Friday so it was an overload of away games.”

I understand scheduling an even amount of home and away games with each school can be difficult, but I believe that home games are crucial for every athlete. They are easier for our athletes and their families, and help foster a sense of community within Winsor. When asked what one of her favorite memories from volleyball is, Sahin reflects “when I heard [former History teacher] Ms. Parsley cheering me on before I served.” Without home games, how can teachers and classmates appreciate the dedication of our student athletes?