Many schools identify themselves by their impressive football stadiums. It’s always a good feeling to hear the crowd cheering you on while you’re playing at the school that you represent. Imagine being a North Atlanta High School football player and while you’re playing on your home field you can look up and see the beautiful campus and a huge crowd.

When I first transferred to NAHS, I was bewildered when I saw that we had no football stadium. Coming from a school just as big as NAHS, I expected to see an immense football stadium for Friday Night Lights. I was even more shocked to find out that the school was built in 2013 for $147 million dollars. It was very interesting to me that they couldn’t fit a football stadium into that budget. This school was built in Buckhead, everything about this school should be excellent. I am sad to say the stadium is definitely not that.

I am a student athlete myself and with that being said, I know the advantages of performing on my campus. Having to get on a bus before every game is actually penalizing to the players because you have less time to warm up time than the opposing team. Being able to walk out onto the field and start warming up helps your body physically and mentally.

Having the home-field advantage has many pros, one being that more of the student body shows up. Every year NAHS has a scrimmage game it’s the only game of the year where we have an actual home field advantage. I’ve observed that that scrimmage game has the most attendance of the year from the student body. Also, for the past two years that I have attended NAHS, we have won both of those scrimmage games.

Statistics show that playing on your field increases your chances of winning games. I’ve heard rumors that in the next few years a stadium will be in the works. Sad for the members of the Class of 2019, an actual “home game” might not be a reality. But one day, I want to be able to come back as a proud North Atlanta alum. And when I do so, I can imagine the fans of the black and silver filling the stands on Warrior Field. Home sweet home — it will be our home-field advantage.