Friday Night Lights - It Takes a Village

Any book, movie, television show or local newspaper article reflecting on Friday night high school football games is understandably focused on the game itself, from the play on the field to the coach’s post-game perspective. But most attendees would be downright shocked to hear how many coordinated pieces, practice time and extra work hours and commitment go into putting on a Friday (or Saturday) night football game beyond the football team’s performance. It’s something that happens every week at schools across the country, but an evaluation of the work that went into the recent Sterling Heights Stevenson homecoming game vs. Macomb Dakota is a good example as Cheerleader, Dance, Student Council and Band coaches/supervisors dedicated hundreds of unpaid hours to make the experience special.

So what does all the extracurricular hours and activity actually add to a game? No one who contributes to the weekly Friday night lights events at Stevenson has more of an understanding of what the games mean for the community than Stevenson Band Director, Mike Sekich. Sekich is a 1984 graduate of Stevenson High and a life-long Sterling Heights resident. This year he started his 28th year as Stevenson’s Director of Bands, which also includes the school’s Jazz band. “We really serve as a means to connect the school to the games. Our football team, dance squad and cheerleaders are all on the same page and we work together,” said Sekich. “And really, who wants to hear canned music at a football game?”

Sekich’s commitment is no small undertaking and goes well above and beyond his daily full-time job as Stevenson Director of Bands. He leads 90-minute rehearsals after school, not including a week-long band camp in the summer, competitions and other camps. “We had two games this year before school even started,” said Sekich. Dealing with everything from bee stings to 107 degree on- field heat that greeted at least one of the games, Sekich also keeps busy managing alone his 160 band members. “Listen, neither I or the kids do this for self-gratification or honors. We do this for the school.”

Blair Koon is a “part-time” Stevenson Varsity and JV Cheer Coach who makes a 50-mile round-trip from her home in New Baltimore for each practice, game, event and competition. “We started our season in May this year and our first Cheer Camp was in early August,” said Koon, who leads practices for the Varsity and JV squads four days a week during the school year. “We are only on the football field for two hours, but honestly, people have no idea the work that’s involved to get ready for those two hours.” Koon’s practices make up 6-8 hours of her day but for her the schedule “never really stops.” It’s a labor of love for the Mother of two boys because it’s certainly not a job she does for the money. She said the small stipend she receives at the end of the season is basically used to fill her gas tank. “I do it for the kids,” she said, who added the “why” is not difficult for her to share. “As cheerleaders we are supposed to encourage the community and make the games entertaining. Every game should be an event and I think about the little girls in the stands who might want to be on the team in the future. It’s memorable and it’s fun.”

The result on the field (which was eventually a Stevenson loss to Dakota) was secondary to the work Stevenson special education and social studies teacher Lisa Lucas from Macomb puts into the Homecoming event. As the Stevenson Student Council Advisor, and mother of a District fifth grader, Lucas, for the 15th year, logged nearly 40 extra hours on making sure the homecoming court was chosen and the halls of the school were decorated to promote and celebrate the annual right of fall high school passage. “The days of just picking the football quarterback and a cheerleader for King and Queen are long gone,” she said. “We have a nomination process and then a vote amongst 600 members of our senior class. It’s quite an undertaking and a big part of the evening to announce our entire court.”

For eight years Jenell Dubey, of Clinton Township, has served as the Stevenson Dance Coach. Dubey is a mother of three (one is on her team) and is a District secretary during the day for the Utica Community Education Office, dealing with school aged childcare. She says on game days, her dance team “arrives early before the games for practice” and works with the band to “jump into whatever music they’re playing during the game.” This year she added a halftime routine with the band performance that takes more practice time than in the past. Her team now works on routines from April to the following February beginning with a one-week camp out of season and then culminating into three hour practices, three days a week during the school year. And though soccer games were added to her schedule this year, her small stipend remained the same. And like the others who donate their time making sure the Friday night home games run like clockwork at Stevenson, Dubey gave the same answer as all the others as to the “why?” “I do it obviously because I love it,” she said. “When I left high school, I missed my time as a cheerleader. I have no desire to leave this job. The way the girls come back and talk about how I contributed to their lives, is a constant reminder that I’m making a difference.”

Friday nights lights are a national tradition and obsession. They’re important to the school and even more so for the communities. Sterling Heights Stevenson’s commitment to the process is just another example but the unsung heroes who make it possible continue to voice in unison, but not exhaustion, what the students and parents predominantly take for granted – “they have no idea how much goes into these games beyond the scoreboard.”