Central Kitsap High School’s student section of the football stadium was packed with student supporters on Friday, Oct. 11, showing their support for breast cancer awareness and their school by wearing pink and cheering their team on. The advertising for Pink-out to support breast cancer during the game was posted on the school walls, and while not every student dressed up, almost the whole student section was dressed in pink. Even younger siblings and parents wore pink to support the school and breast cancer.
“Well, I believe homecoming is a fun tradition for high schools—but I think overall, it’s a fun week, ending with a fun assembly and hopefully a victory at the game,” CKHS Football Coach Mark Keel said.
Keel encourages students and family to attend the homecoming game, explaining how the prior spirit week fires up the student body for the big game. He does a brief dive into the original purpose of Homecoming, which was to have past students come back to campus, and how there used to be a lot more to homecoming, like bonfires and other things.
“The student section is very strong—It was just fun hanging out with people I knew, the game was interesting as well,” freshman Chloe Veth said.
Almost everyone in the student section was up on their feet following the cheerleaders with their cheers, one example being the ‘Keep Truckin’ cheer. When the cheerleaders started to form a line, the students would copy and bounce along with the cheerleaders chanting the words, continuing this participation with the other cheers. Veth also mentioned how she realized the game is not important to everyone, but how she still found it fun, especially hanging out with people she knew.
“I mean, when we win, it’s pretty good,” Freshman cheerleader Audrey Johnson said. “Sometimes we—throw stuff into the crowd”
Johnson explained how the game was very entertaining and that there were many interactions between the crowd and the people down on the field. Sometimes even candy or shirts are thrown into the student section crowd, showing the strong connection the students have with their team.
“I would say any Friday night is worth your time to come and pay and watch,” Keel said. “I know there’s a lot of people, if they go to one game, usually it’s either senior night or the homecoming game. So, I think that’s a good game for students.”
