As beach balls and pool noodles start to be put away, students start making their transition back into the classroom and on practice fields in preparation for the upcoming athletic season. The annual Fall Festt on August 26 officially kicked off the season for the community and school.
Students had an opportunity to showcase their talents during Fall Fest. Senior volleyball player Piper Seidl said that for all four years of her volleyball career the freshman team starts by scrimmaging against the junior varsity, who then scrimmage against the varsity team. To her, this is a great way to warm up for the season, while strengthening bonds with teammates.
“We like to make fun by [having] each grade design a shirt to wear for [the] scrimmage[s] with an assigned color,” Seidl said. “It’s a great [way] for each of the teams to kind of get their nerves out about playing again.”
On the other hand, the NHS girls tennis team does not frequently make the list of teams participating in a scrimmage during Fall Fest. With beginning-of-the-year tournaments only a few practices away, most time is spent refining ladder order and fine-tuning particular techniques.
“We don’t do much,” junior tennis player Jacklyn Giles said. “We are busy preparing for the season and our ladder matches to determine our places on the team.”
Nevertheless, all teams across the board take pride in being able to be presented at such an event as Fall Fest. Team uniforms, especially, seem to be something that a lot of teams put a lot of thought and effort into as they want to represent themselves well to the community. Volleyball, as Seidl explained, typically coordinates t-shirt colors with class grades, while tennis seems to have a tradition of its own.
“Unlike other teams, instead of wearing our uniforms, we wear class t-shirts we tie-dyed together,” Giles said.
Overall, Fall Fest is typically well received across the community on both the audience and athlete end. Regardless if not all teams choose to participate in scrimmages, it is still an entertaining event that highlights how much athletes dedicate themselves to improving their skills and working towards a common goal with their teammates.
“[Fall Fest] kind of brings that feeling of school back,” Seidl said. “It’s a time to get excited about all the events that are to come during the fall season.”