Protime’s Pigskin Ponderings – What Makes H.S. Football So Great?

Tagged under: News, pfn, Protime Predictions

Phil Myers | September 24, 2026

Protime wakes up in the mornings ready to face the day.  He is usually happy and starts singing oldies or his own made up ditties.  He asks Alexa to play music, usually from the 60s.  However, the lovely Mrs. P is another story.  When Protime tries to give her a little smooch, she pushes past him on the way down the stairs.  Protime used to think he had bad breath or something.  It turns out that Mrs. P just wanted to get to the coffee machine and make herself some coffee.  She is not in the mood for any of Protime’s silly jokes or his songs or antics until she can latch onto a cup of java.

So, Protime was pondering, what makes high school football so great?  Protime is sure everyone knows that 11-man football by far has the most participation of all high school sports, girls or boys.  And it is not even close.  Football participation in high school is almost at 1,030,000 according to an NFHS article in September of 2025 regarding participation for the 2024-25 season.  Boys track and field is second with a little over 644,000 participants.

Now the why.  Why is this particular sport so wonderfully popular?  Well, it’s socially important.  What other sport is played once a week, usually on a Friday, and can bring whole communities together for a couple of hours?  There’s a bond between the athletes, the students who are rooting for their school, and the community, many of whom graduated from that same high school.  It is the one sport that people will attend even if they don’t like football because of family and friends or even the connection to that high school.  That team spirit goes a long way in high school.  It’s our school vs. your school mentality.  

The Beach Boys had a song released in 1963 called ‘Be True to Your School.’  Some of the words went like this:

   “When some loud braggart tries to put me down

    And says his school is great

    I tell him right away

   ‘Now what’s the matter buddy

    Ain’t you heard of my school

    It’s number one in the state,’

    Come Friday we’ll be jacked up on the football game

    And I’ll be ready to fight.”

Man, talk about school spirit!  There is a lot more to that song.  If you young whipper snappers have never heard it before, listen on YouTube or download it to your playlist on Spotify.

There was also an NFHS survey done in 2011 where 165 million fans attended high school football games over a course of 15 weeks.  By comparison, only about 50 million attend college football games and 20 million NFL games.

High school football has no rich business deals or TV contracts.  It is mostly played for fun and that attracts people believe it or not.  There are homecomings, senior nights, and now, hall of fame evenings that attract people too, young and old alumni, etc.  In short, it is fun to attend high school football games.

Don’t forget the bands and cheerleaders who have practiced all summer.  They put their all into it so the fans can be entertained.  Protime thinks the halftime show featuring one or both bands is just part of the aura of high school football.  There are some really, really good high school bands out there.  

Finally, where else can one attend an entertainment event for an average of five dollars for adults and even less for students and kids?  Colleges and pros charge insane amounts anymore.  Concerts are out of sight too.  Even attending movies is close to double the cost of a football ticket these days.  Plus, the thing is, one can see some darn good football too.  And it does not cost you and the family an arm or a leg.