In small towns all across America Friday nights mean one thing: high school football. The local high school team gets out on the gridiron under the lights. In many towns, especially in Texas, every store and restaurant in town closes early and the whole town shuts down so everyone can go to the game.
This is American football, not football as the rest of the world knows it, which Americans for some reason insist on calling soccer. BTW, there is a movie from 2004 about high-school football called Friday Night Lights starring Al Pacino. There was also a television show.
So I was staying in a small town over the weekend and had a chance to go watch a genuine high school football game. This is real Americana and must be experienced when you visit the U.S. The football season runs during the fall semester from September until the end of December.
Often the entire school will show up for a game. First there is are the players themselves which might be 40 boys. Then there is the brass marching band which might be 50 to 100 girls and boys. Some bands in big schools might have as many as 300 band members.
I know a little about big marching bands. I once had a job photographing them at band competitions in Texas. It was the most difficult photography job I ever took on. I had to arrive the day before the event and build risers for the band to stand on. On the day of the competition, each band would perform on field, and then march out of the stadium. I would then direct the band members to the risers where I arranged each member plus instruments up on the set of risers.
Each school also has a cheerleading squad which numbers about a dozen, usually girls, in cheerleader outfits.
The home team sits on one side of the field and the visiting team sits on the opposite side. I was rooting for the home team, but as a photographer I spent time in both camps. Fortunately the home team won the game by a wide margin.
