“Did you go to the football game?”“We should hang out at the football game”“You should’ve gone to the football game!”
It seems that all around SHS, Selma High’s football games have been an event all students look forward to. Every Friday, Selma High’s football team has away and home games. These days are when Selma comes together as a community to cheer on their city.
“I like how everyone gets to gather around to support our Selma football team and cheerleaders. We get to see all the hard work put in their practices, and watch them show off here at the games,” commented junior America Ruiz.
Tryouts begin in the summer. They begin by going to the weight room and field to practice drills in order to get in shape for the upcoming season. They like to see this team as a family, they enjoy each other’s companionship and are excited to come back every week in anticipation to become better.
A typical week for the team is having practice Monday through Thursdays. They practice after school with an exception on Tuesdays, they arrive for morning practice, also known as early bird, at 6:00 AM.
The football team this year has had a rough start and the players are well aware of this. They strive to focus more on their chemistry as well as the key aspects of the positions they play.
“The most difficult part about football is just being mentally strong. You gotta show up every week ready to play no matter what,” explained junior Drew Cerda.
Cerda is a quarterback for the team. To him, being quarterback is not only throwing the ball to his wide receiver teammates, but also being a captain/leader for the team. He hopes to become better everyday not only as a player, but also as a team.
The support the team receives plays a huge part in their overall performance. Seeing the crowd on the bleachers, seeing how cheer and band go out to not only encourage the crowd but also the team is an unforgettable feeling for all of them.
“I’ve never even played football, I just started playing last year, just seeing what the Friday nights were like inspired me to play. I’m glad I did. It’s pretty fun,” enthusiastically admited Cerda.
After their recent win of 28-27 against Sierra Pacific, the team now has a much more optimistic mindset of what is to come. The team hopes to keep this going into further games and maybe even future seasons.
“I am very optimistic about the future of Selma football. This current win to loss situation has let us find out that we have a lot of guys that love football and are working hard every day to improve,” stateed Coach Francis. Francis is the head coach of SHS’s football team and strives to show his athletes their development and growth. He believes that when a player sees their progress they are motivated and therefore exceed and enjoy the hussle.
The team is expected to show up and put in 100 percent effort. A player is capable of controlling their effort and performance which is why they are expected to use it to the max.
Selma High’s football team is buoyant for what they have left of their season and assure they will come back better than ever to face what they think is their toughest opponents, CVC and Kingsburg High.