By sports being such a big part in the high school experience, many athletes and coaches have made a big importance of having school rivalry. Due to some controversy, the question arises of should it be encouraged?

By rivalry, students are encouraged to dislike and beat their opponent more than another team during a season. Some schools and teams even have rewards and penalties for winning or losing. By having this reward system, some athletes may find encouragement in rivalry, some may have other opinions. 

Students may also get so caught up in the rivalry encouraged by their coaches and parents that athletes might fight and it can escalate to hostility. This may create anxiety for athletes and parents. 

By the rivalry being a big deal to coaches and teachers, athletes’ education and school work may be diverted into something that comes after sports. Schoolwork and education should be student athletes’ first priority; no matter the case. 

By students having a more tunnel vision mentality of just wanting to win that game, some may lose focus and not remember fundamentals. By rushing through plays and not focusing on playing the right way may affect how they play in the long run because of how focused they are on winning. 

I think that having rivalry gives a sense of nostalgia for older parents or coaches who had been raised with the mindset of competing. I also think that students are made more competitive during their game because it means more to the spectators than other games. 

After realizing the negative facts of school rivalries, I think that sports should be centered around how the athlete individually plays, and looks at the entire season’s games and not who wins the ‘rivalry game’ out of the season.