by Kelly Han
For high schoolers, the changing colors of leaves and a slight breeze in the air signify both the beginning of fall and a decades-old tradition of Friday night football games. High schools in the United States have been playing organized football for over a century, with the very first high school game played at night under electric lights occurring on November 19, 1925 in Midwest, Wyoming.
At Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, located in Rolling Hills Estates, California, Oct. 30 marked the one and only home night football game of the 2026-2027 season.
Traditionally, high school night football games kick off at around 7 to 7:30 p.m on Friday nights. Lasting from two to three hours, students come dressed accordingly to a set theme to fill the bleachers with frenzied cheers.
High school dress-out themes, especially heightened during Spirit Weeks or Homecoming, have been around for over 70 years. It all started with the creation of “Friendship Week” at Palo Alto High School in California. Created to welcome students back to school, the week featured old-time fashion throwbacks– later coined as “Generation Day.” Soon, with the dwindling interest in dressing up for such themes, the week was replaced by single dress-out days and renamed “Spirit Week.” By the 1980s, this tradition expanded nationwide. Today, some famous themes often featured on social media include twin day, white lies, USA, and blackout. Each theme provides an opportunity for students to show school spirit and connect with peers.
On October 30, a crowd of students decked out in black, committing to the theme of blackout, filled the stands. Bethany Bilstad, a freshman at PVPHS, describes her first night football game as “super hype” and “the best of the season.”
Luckily for ASB, the behind-the-scenes of night football games is not much different. In fact, Kimi Hendrick, who has been Palos Verdes Peninsula High School’s speech and debate advisor for eleven years and its activities director for four, states, “Our biggest crowds are the first game and the night game. The only difference in the night game is we hire extra security around the bathrooms.”
Everything else–when it comes to setting up– is the same, no matter the time of day. At PVPHS, the ‘Zookeepers’ plan out their theme and props, ‘Sound Commissioners’ make their playlist, and Mrs. Hendrick’s crew of workers puts out the flags and the inflatable panther. Group tasks for all of ASB include making signs to decorate beforehand and cleaning up after the game. “The students handle everything related to ‘The Zoo’. I arrange the workers like ticket takers and security,” Hendrick explains.
Thanks to the students who are a part of ASB at schools, football games are popular, well loved events. With all the academic pressures and stress presented by high school, the games are more than just sports competitions, but a form of escape for students.
“Anything that brings students together to have fun and get a break from academics is key to creating a school culture outside of the classroom. High school is only for four years, it should be about making memories,” Hendrick said.
