Last night marked the opening of the 2018 high school football season, which can be a special time, as communities can really come together in support of the boys on the gridiron.

Hundreds of people, who might otherwise have no connection, become a single voice as they cheer on the players on the field. Football games can attract a wide variety of folks, and there is beauty in the fact strangers can become brothers- and sister- in-arms as they urge their team on to victory.

Of course, the players’ parents and students of the school make up a good portion of the crowd. Parents don’t want to miss their child in action, while students attend because, possibly, it’s the thing to do on a Friday night, they are full of school spirit or they have friends on the team.

But the powers of sports and nostalgia bring out others to the game who might not have a recent connection to the school, or none at all. Often, former players show up to watch games to catch up on how the team is doing now, and possibly to relive fond memories from days past. Even those who have no ties to the school at all attend games, simply to watch their favorite sport played by youngsters who play for the love of the game and are not yet corrupted by all that comes with sports at the higher levels.

So many people are brought together by the commonality of rooting for the same team. But, at the same time as sports unite so many people, they can also cause that same group of fans to clash with those bonded in support of the opposing team, or lash out at referees because they made a call fans don’t agree with.

Let’s have this season be about the players and teams on the field, and let’s come together and throw our support behind them. Leave out the ugliness that can surface with sports: tribalism, fighting with opposing fans and swearing at and disrespecting officials.

Let’s just play ball.