The Team Behind the Team of a High School Football Game

The Team Behind the Team of a High School Football Game
by Jon Rickey

Hopefully all of us have had the opportunity to attend a Great Hearts high school football game on a Friday night, or mid-week for JV and Frosh/Soph games. But many fans will never know the amount of planning and hard work that goes into making just one game day happen.

A typical game includes pageantry, highs and lows, loud cheers, hard hits, whistles from refs, and music to welcome the home team and to help celebrate good plays, as well as cheerleaders to get the crowd hyped and focused on the spirit of the night. These events, which many times feature more people on campus than ever before, take great care in the set-up, execution, and finally clean-up from our athletic directors and academy athletic departments.

A Friday home football game typically starts the weekend before the game. Usually by the Monday morning before. The officials have been assigned to the game by the AIA, and an athletic director (AD) sends a welcome letter to the officials and visiting team with logistics like where to park, where spectators can expect to be, the cost of the game, the online ticketing system for early purchases, where officials will park (usually reserved spaces), and maps of the campus showing where buses should drop off and park.

Throughout the week, the athletic department is coordinating volunteers for ticket taking, concessions, “chain gang” (the sideline chains and down marker for first downs usually taking 4 people), PA announcer, scoreboard operator, ball boys, and coordinating with their cheer coach for special performances, special flag presentations for the national anthem, the national anthem performer, campus security, making sure the field irrigation system will not turn on during a game, scheduling the field lining company to line the field, but only after the field has been mowed, and recruiting a team to set up the yard markers, pylons and trash cans for sidelines and spectators. So, just a few things to do before gameday has even arrived.

On game day, the AD, athletic department, and volunteers get all things ready. Welcoming the visiting team to the school usually happens at 5:00 P.M. for a 7:00 P.M. game, and then welcoming the officials at 5:30 P.M., showing both to their respective locker rooms and dressing areas. ADs always have snacks and drinks available for officials, typically nut bars, bananas, Gatorade,  and water. And most of the time a pre-game meeting with all on-field volunteers and security/ticket staff happens by 6:00 P.M. before gates officially open.

During the game, ADs are walking around, making sure fans are enjoying their time, all areas are covered and helping with any issues that might arise. Very soon after the game concludes, an AD helps start cleaning up the field items of yard markers and pylons and makes sure all fans and both teams have left the school safely. When it is all said and done, the AD is usually the last person on campus, locking gates, checking on outside doors to make sure they are locked, and then finally leaves between 11-11:30 P.M. or so. After a typical game day, an AD will have walked over 30,000 steps.

So, next time you come out to a high school football game, make sure you take note of all the wonderful volunteers and others that are working hard to make it a great and fun event!

About the author:

Jon Rickey is the Great Hearts Arizona Network Director of Athletics. He is in his 19th year at Great Hearts and in interscholastic athletics administration, first helping launch Glendale Prep and serving as its founding Athletic Director. In 2015 the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) awarded him the AIA Administrator of the Year. Jon has been in education in the state of Arizona since 2001. Jon and his  wife, Angela have two Glendale Prep graduates (’23 and ’25) and a current 4th grader at Archway Glendale.

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