There has been a great deal of change since the calendar read 1988.                                        

For those of you, like myself, who are old enough to have been around in 1988 that statement is certainly true, both personally and professionally.

In August of that year, I was entering my senior year of high school. One day during a class I was taking called “publications,” the teacher asked if anyone was interested in submitting articles about the football games for our local newspaper.

I looked around the room and noticed no one was volunteering. I figure since I was a manager for the team I would be at all practices and games anyway so why not give it a try.

The first story I wrote was about my school’s preseason scrimmage played on Friday, Aug. 26, 1988. It wasn’t anything great. It certainly was not an award-winning story or anything close.

In fact, it was only about five paragraphs long. However, from those humble beginnings began a tradition that has not ended.

The 2025 high school football season is slowly getting closer into view. This past school year is now over for everyone. Graduations have been held. The final events have take place. So it is now time to look ahead just a little to the upcoming high school football season.

Books have been written and movies produced about Friday Night Lights. High school football season begins in the heat of summer and, if your team is one of the fortunate ones, does not conclude until the nights are cold with the lines for hot chocolate long.

We are on the verge of another season locally and it’s great to see this slice of Americana ready to be served again.

At its base, football itself is quality leadership training. It helps stress the importance of team over self and shows what can be accomplished when a group of individuals work and compete as one.

Each new season is similar to a new book. We may think we know at times what is going to happen, but that is not always how it works out on the field.

Attending high school football games on Friday nights has been a long-standing tradition for me, even before I wrote my first article about the sport.

I don’t remember the exact time I attended one in person, but it was in the 1970s.

My father started taking me to the games when I was young and I was instantly hooked. At times we didn’t make all of the road games due to distance and my father’s work schedule but home games were always attended. I recently thought back on how just a handful of games each year left such an impression.

As a young student I remember being excited every Friday morning there was a home game. The night before was really like Christmas Eve.

Nothing else really seemed to matter at school that day. At least it didn’t for me.

My mind was already on kickoff which was still several hours away. Home games meant a pep rally in the school gym in the afternoon and by this point I was ready for the game to start.

My alma mater had a series of strong seasons in the early 1980s and made it all the way to the state championship game one season. The state title game was played at home, and I don’t think I have ever seen as many people at our local field.

The outcome was not as I hoped, but that state championship game experience reeled me in even more as a fan.

By the time my days in high school were nearing completion I began to fear I would not be able to attend games anymore. By becoming a community newspaper reporter, the problem was solved. I have been covering high school football for well more than three decades now.

Chronicling games for print media has become somewhat of a dying art. You are fortunate the paper you are reading now still provides coverage of high school football. Not all papers, even some of the larger ones, do that anymore.

High school football is one of the great American traditions that shows no signs of slowing down. Even a pandemic in recent years could not stop it. There were some adjustments of course, but we still had a season.

Here’s to the upcoming 2025 season and more memories which will last a lifetime for all players, coaches, fans, parents, cheerleaders, band members and those who cook the hot dogs and hamburgers and take up the tickets at the admission gate. See you at the games.

Chris Bridges is managing editor of The Walton Tribune. Email comments about this column to chris.bridges@waltontribune.com.