{"id":1063,"date":"2019-11-13T09:00:38","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T14:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/?p=1063"},"modified":"2019-12-11T10:54:08","modified_gmt":"2019-12-11T15:54:08","slug":"views-from-the-stands-and-the-sidelines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/views-from-the-stands-and-the-sidelines\/","title":{"rendered":"Views From the Stands and the Sidelines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Inside Perspective of TC Players and Fans on Football at the St. James<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Katie Vastola and Moira Sirois<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The football team is done with its regular season and heading into the playoffs. In the aftermath of renovations on Parker-Gray Stadium, T.C. became the first high school in Virginia to play its home games in an indoor stadium. But how do the players and fans feel about the St. James?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Braden Porterfield, a junior on the Varsity team, went to the St. James facility for the first time the day before the first game, which was against West Springfield. \u201cIt was definitely overwhelming at first,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\t\u201cI loved it right away because of the success we had during the 7v7s,\u201d said Kameron Scott, a senior safety on Varsity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of Scott\u2019s teammates feel similarly about the St. James. \u201cI prefer the indoor stadium over the outdoor stadium,\u201d said John Pencezar, a sophomore lineman on Varsity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest adjustment for him, as well as for the team, is traveling to the St. James. When games were played at Parker-Gray, the team was already right next to the field. At the St. James, Pencezar said, the team has \u201ca small locker room. We have to bring our stuff, but it is not really too hard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Senior Alijah Alexander celebrates a win with the student section.\u00a0Photo by Jeffery Guevara. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Another adjustment that the players had to make was to the echo in the stadium, which affects players when listening to the directions of the quarterback. The noise level at the St. James is also louder than an outdoor field, \u201cbut the hype squad plays a big part in that,\u201d said Scott.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Players and fans are on opposite sides of the field, so the team is \u201cclose enough to interact with [the fans] but they are far enough from the field where they are not a distraction,\u201d said Scott.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe do not want to be pressured by [the fans],\u201d said Porterfield, \u201cso we have an advantage [with the distance between us].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest benefit for many of the players is that the St. James is temperature-controlled, so \u201cthere are no issues with weather,\u201d said Penzecar. This means that there is no concern about games getting cancelled or rained out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Porterfield agreed that the St. James provides \u201ca better environment,\u201d both in weather and in fan turnout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are making history,\u201d said Porterfield, \u201cwe are leaving some sort of legacy behind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playing in an indoor stadium is an aspect unique to T.C. Following its historic state championship win in 1971, which is depicted in Disney\u2019s Remember the Titans, T.C. continues to pave the way for high school football in Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Junior Tre\u2019Ante Rogers on the move. Photo courtesy of\u00a0Football Boosters. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The only other adjustment the players had to make was to the pressure of winning after they lost the first game. \u201cWe could not let the fans down again,\u201d said Scott.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freshman, and fan, Thomas McLenahan had his first high school football experience at the St. James. \u201cI really liked it, but it was small.\u201d As a fan, he felt it was cramped due to the \u201climited availability of stands for everyone,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McLenahan has never been to a game at the outdoor stadium but thinks that experience will be better than the St. James. \u201cThe outdoor [stadium] will be a lot more fun and can accommodate more people,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bea Savarie, a sophomore, preferred the indoor stadium because of the constant temperature along with the lack of weather issues. \u201cMy first experience was really good,\u201d Savarie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Savarie had only one concern. \u201cI do not think that there are enough stands for the students. It is always really cramped allowing for limited space,\u201d said Savarie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the St. James is wildly different from last year\u2019s outdoor stadium, both players and fans have adjusted to the switch and are enjoying the games this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Inside Perspective of TC Players and Fans on Football at the St. James Katie Vastola and Moira Sirois The football team is done with its regular season and heading into the playoffs. In the aftermath of renovations on Parker-Gray Stadium, T.C. became the first high school in Virginia to play its home games in an indoor stadium. But how do the players and fans feel about the St. James? Braden Porterfield, a junior on the Varsity team, went to the St. James facility for the first time the day before the first game, which was against West Springfield. \u201cIt was definitely overwhelming at first,\u201d he said. \u201cI loved it right away because of the success we had during the 7v7s,\u201d said Kameron Scott, a senior safety on Varsity. Many of Scott\u2019s teammates feel similarly about the St. James. \u201cI prefer the indoor stadium over the outdoor stadium,\u201d said John Pencezar, a sophomore lineman on Varsity. The biggest adjustment for him, as well as for the team, is traveling to the St. James. When games were played at Parker-Gray, the team was already right next to the field. At the St. James, Pencezar said, the team has \u201ca small locker room. We have to bring our stuff, but it is not really too hard.\u201d Another adjustment that the players had to make was to the echo in the stadium, which affects players when listening to the directions of the quarterback. The noise level at the St. James is also louder than an outdoor field, \u201cbut the hype squad plays a big part in that,\u201d said Scott. Players and fans are on opposite sides of the field, so the team is \u201cclose enough to interact with [the fans] but they are far enough from the field where they are not a distraction,\u201d said Scott.\u00a0 \u201cWe do not want to be pressured by [the fans],\u201d said Porterfield, \u201cso we have an advantage [with the distance between us].\u201d The biggest benefit for many of the players is that the St. James is temperature-controlled, so \u201cthere are no issues with weather,\u201d said Penzecar. This means that there is no concern about games getting cancelled or rained out. Porterfield agreed that the St. James provides \u201ca better environment,\u201d both in weather and in fan turnout. \u201cWe are making history,\u201d said Porterfield, \u201cwe are leaving some sort of legacy behind.\u201d Playing in an indoor stadium is an aspect unique to T.C. Following its historic state championship win in 1971, which is depicted in Disney\u2019s Remember the Titans, T.C. continues to pave the way for high school football in Virginia. The only other adjustment the players had to make was to the pressure of winning after they lost the first game. \u201cWe could not let the fans down again,\u201d said Scott. Freshman, and fan, Thomas McLenahan had his first high school football experience at the St. James. \u201cI really liked it, but it was small.\u201d As a fan, he felt it was cramped due to the \u201climited availability of stands for everyone,\u201d he said.\u00a0 McLenahan has never been to a game at the outdoor stadium but thinks that experience will be better than the St. James. \u201cThe outdoor [stadium] will be a lot more fun and can accommodate more people,\u201d he said.\u00a0 Bea Savarie, a sophomore, preferred the indoor stadium because of the constant temperature along with the lack of weather issues. \u201cMy first experience was really good,\u201d Savarie said. Savarie had only one concern. \u201cI do not think that there are enough stands for the students. It is always really cramped allowing for limited space,\u201d said Savarie. While the St. James is wildly different from last year\u2019s outdoor stadium, both players and fans have adjusted to the switch and are enjoying the games this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1067,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/DSC-0512-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1063"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1075,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1063\/revisions\/1075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2019-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}