To fulfill the Homecoming tradition, teams compete in flag football for the annual PA/DA game.

Homecoming in America is typically associated with both a dance and a game, which is usually football. Before the Homecoming dance, Student Council organizes a yearly sports event between students from the Professional Academy (PA) and the Design Academy (DA). 

“Playing the PA/DA game, and hosting it at the school, has given us some sort of normalcy compared to other high schools,” STUCO adviser Brandon Lafountain said. “We don’t have sports on campus, so it’s nice to not only have an assembly where people can sit and chat with each other and listen to things that are going on, but also have an activity that people can cheer for and get excited for.”

The game will take place during the school day on Oct. 13 at the school field. Students from PA and DA will be forming four teams of eight. Each academy will have a boys team and a girls team representing them. 

“We want to give students more opportunities to get involved in their academies,” Lafountain said. “Even if you’re not playing, you kind of understand during the game itself that ‘Oh, this is something that’s important, and I’m gonna root for my team because I’m proud of my program!’. It’s a fun way to try and increase school spirit, and have people take more pride in their academy.”

The event is one of the only opportunities students get throughout the year to compete in an organized sports event within the school. 

“I play volleyball, but right now it’s our off season,” PA sophomore Bryan Pratt said. “I wanted to be on PA’s team because there’s not much else to do at the school when it comes to sports, so I wanted to be involved in this.”

To be able to participate in the game, those that were interested had to first sign up through a form to hold one of the eight spots on each team, and then have their parent/guardian fill out an athletic waiver.

“I signed up because I thought that playing in the game sounded cool,” DA junior Izle Sebastian said. “I only transferred here last year, and I wasn’t able to do it then because I didn’t really know about the PA/DA game. Now that I’m a junior, I wanna have some fun before senior year.”

Each team is assigned a teacher to act as their coach during the event. Coaches will be with their teams before the game helping their team prepare, and during the event to help them through their plays.

“We brought in coaches for two reasons. One is that the coaches help us manage the players and make sure that they’re on their right behavior,” STUCO Logistics Commission chair junior Brianna Scherschel said. “We also just want to make sure that [the players] have a support system during the game, and that they have the encouragement they need.”

On the day of the event, students will be taken to the field during eighth period to watch the game. Food, drinks, and PA/DA merchandise will be sold.

“I like the idea of having a game like this because it’ll feel like I’m kinda at a real high school football game,” freshman Mason Rafferty said. “When I get out of my eighth period , I’m planning to meet up with some of my friends and find a spot on the field to chill. We’re probably just going to get some snacks and watch the game, and I’m gonna cheer for PA.”

The girls teams will be playing against each other first. After the first game, the nominees for Homecoming Court will be announced, followed by a game between the boys teams.

“When we announce the Homecoming court nominees, we have a couple of fun activities, like a few minigames, planned out for them to do,” STUCO Logistics co-chair senior Sahib Rattan said. “I think it’s also a good idea to announce the nominees during the game, because the whole school’s already gonna be there. It’s a good time to show everyone who they’re going to be voting for during Homecoming.”

During halftime, Studio K will be performing Super Shy by New Jeans. The club performs at the PA/DA game every year.

“I think it’s [Super Shy] a really catchy song, and it’s fun to listen to and dance to,” Studio K member sophomore Ava Nave said. “ It’s also a really good pick for the song because a lot of people know it, so people will be able to sing along with the music during the performance.”

The game will last from 12:00 p.m. to 1:25 p.m., and students will be released from school after the game ends.

“[Student Council] has been working really hard on the PA/DA game since the beginning of the year, there’s a lot of preparation that has to go into things like these,” Scherschel said. “I feel like everyone is so much more excited this year, especially since we’re playing flag football instead of kickball like how we did last year. I hope that this’ll be something that brings some more spirit into the school.”