Homecoming almost feels like a remnant from the past…better suited in the 50\’s. The first homecoming is said to be dated back to 1911 in Missouri so that might explain it. The world has changed quite a bit with many people leaving their city of high school for either college and/or to get just get away from their parents or small town. The idea of high school alumni coming back for the big game doesn\’t fit everywhere but that doesn\’t mean we don\’t enjoy the tradition anyway. Let\’s look at Homecoming and how high school football piggybacks off it\’s coattails to make the event pop.

First, what is homecoming. Generally, homecoming is a high school\’s celebration inviting old alumni to come back for the \”big game\”. It\’s really a communal celebration and probably holds more weight in towns where there\’s still a community that\’s cohesive. There\’s thousands of small towns dotted across all sections of the U.S. where the whole town comes out to celebrate Homecoming and catch up with old friends. Homecoming is centered around a home football game, usually a big game against a rival or a game situated in the middle of the season around October, the last month of fall. The football game is essentially the stage for the event which works well to provide a venue big enough for everyone to participate.

The actual \”pageant\” of homecoming, usually occurs at half-time of that football game. It can involve a parade, the marching band, and the crowning of a Homecoming Queen and Homecoming King flanked by their court. The king and queen are usually voted on by their classmates for this occasion. The voting is probably a popularity contest at best but occasionally, a school will step up and vote for someone based on special circumstances and/or merit which gives us faith in our young high schoolers. During the homecoming ceremony, the king, queen, and sometimes court (essentially runners-up) make their way around the field to an area on the field where they are crowned. Each school will have their own variation on this but that\’s the general ceremony of homecoming which occurs at a home football game.

Although you want to win every high school football game, you really want to come out victorious at your own homecoming game. It\’s a real downer to lose that one and you know the opposing team would just love to steal this game from underneath you at your own homecoming. Because of this, the intensity on the field is usually ratcheted up a notch as neither team wants to lose \”this\” game. If you win the homecoming game, that sets the night up for parties and fun afterwards…both high school and alumni. It\’s a brief chance once a year to relive your high school glory days especially if you spent some of those years on that very same football field. It\’s also fun to see the seniors of last year and even the year before (although they probably wouldn\’t talk to a lowly Sophomore) and get a glimpse of what comes after high school. Homecoming is a tie to the past and high school football provides the rope.

Author Bio: Dennis Jarvis writes about the world of Prep Sports including high school sports such as high school football, basketball, and baseball.

Category: Sports
Keywords: high school homecoming, homecoming, high school football, homecoming football, prep football