Members of the varsity football team fill the commons wearing their black sweater vests and khaki pants. Many of them are holding a red and black decorated bucket filled to the brim with chips, candy and other little knick-knacks. It’s the first game day of the school year, a typical Friday during football season. But this particular Friday is special for senior Dana Schultz. She has waited for this day for four years.
Schultz started dating her boyfriend, senior Hunter Warner, in November of 2010 and has been looking forward to being his Gameday Girlie during her senior year ever since. Being Warner’s Gameday Girlie would mean that every Friday she would sport a t-shirt with his last name on the back and bring him a basket full of goodies and notes to wish him good luck for the upcoming game.
“I really enjoyed making his bucket and decorating it with pictures of my boyfriend and [I],” Schultz said. “I like seeing him happy and giving him encouraging notes on game days.”
However, she shouldn’t have gotten this memorable chance at all. After being a part of the school’s culture for over 20 years, Gameday Girlies was canceled this year. Math teacher and student council sponsor Gina Karbs announced the news at a student council meeting this past summer. The program, originally called Pigskin Pretties, was shut down by administration because of the existing process used to choose which girl would support which player. In past years, players would be reserved on a first-come, first-serve basis by the senior girls. Potential Gameday Girlies would sign up for the specific athlete they wanted to support in Karbs’ classroom before school. However, as the years went on, girls started showing up earlier and earlier to ensure they got the player they wanted.
“It just became so competitive and girls were lined outside my door at 6:30 in the morning,” Karbs said. “It was full of pettiness, not supporting our football team.”
Upon hearing the disappointing news, Schultz began to think of ways to keep the tradition going. If Gameday Girlies were to continue, Schultz knew she would have to take matters into her own hands. She also knew that some things would have to change. One of those changes was reversing the player-picking process. Instead of the traditional manner of choosing, the football players would now be responsible for requesting their own Gameday Girlie.
“Instead of girls lining up to reserve their players, I asked the football players to text me with who they wanted to be their Gameday Girlie,” Schultz said. “It cut down on the chaos.”
Since the athletes chose their own Gameday Girlies this year, the girls who could be involved expanded. Some underclassmen are now Gameday Girlies, contrary to the prior tradition of only senior girls participating. Still, some rules of the former program have carried over into the new student-run organization.
“I can’t really stop a junior from getting their boyfriend a bucket,” Schultz said. “But the shirts are still just for the senior girls.”
Since the program was no longer going to be run through Karbs and the student council, Schultz enlisted help from the football program. The football booster club helped to place t-shirt orders for the senior girls who would be Gameday Girlies, while Schultz designed the shirts and kept up with the finances of the program. Along with the booster club, Schultz received help from the football coaches.
“I had the coaches text all of the players about [Gameday Girlies],” Schultz said. “I tweeted about it too and the [student council] girls helped spread the word. It was a combination of multiple means of communication and I think it was pretty effective.”
The program rebounded once the student body heard that Schultz’s was taking it upon herself to continue the tradition. Karbs said she was pleased with Schultz’s initiative to keep it going at the school.
“I’m very happy [Schultz] took it back over,” Karbs said. “I think it’s a great way for the girls to be a part of the football season and to share in the excitement and have school spirit. It builds a relationship between the football players and the student body.”
The Friday night lights are now shut off. The stadium is empty. The players have taken off their uniforms. Whether it was a win or loss, the football team still had the full support from the student section.
Each bucket that had been full of goodies early in the day is now empty and back in the possession of each Gameday Girlie. Schultz once again has Warner’s bucket, ready to fill for the next Friday with even more snacks and even more support for the boys of fall.
