When a High School Football Career Ends, Memories Remain
By: Parker Ameel, BCHS Journalism
After years of going to football practice everyday in the fall it becomes a piece of a player’s life. It is always there, as inevitable as the sunrise. But, one day the sun no longer casts its light on that part of life anymore. Eventually there comes an August where you no longer rise at six every morning to run, sweat in the sun, and everyday of schooling is not followed by a practice. For Boyne City High School senior football players this can be very difficult. Most will never again formally put on another pair of shoulder pads, strap on a helmet, tape cleats, or put knee and thigh pads in pants the night before a game. On Friday nights we were once players, now we will just be mere spectators. In Boyne City, when your time is up and the seconds have expired on the last game clock, there is an overwhelming sadness, but also a deeper level of pride.
Growing up through the Boyne City football program becomes a way of life, an honorable duty to community, teammates, and yourself. Unlike any other sport, football is arguably the most team oriented game. Teammates are not just comrades on the field, they become your best friends. Coaches become more than just coaches, they become leading figures that you can trust. Boyne City is a town that has a passion for collaboration and unity, football is a staple in Boyne, where every Friday night stands are filled and fences lined to watch the young athletes of the town. Many of the fans in the stands were once players on the same field, now their children or grandchildren are playing for the same name on the front of the jerseys. There are a lot of reasons why last names echo in the hallways generation after generation, but one thing is for sure, people who graduate from Boyne do not just come back to make their own families years later for no reason. There is an athletic and academic atmosphere here that is irresistible, and something to be proud of. Boyne City football is an exemplarily model that portrays the unique excellence that being a Rambler entails.
There are many seniors this year who have followed in the footsteps of older siblings in the tradition of Boyne City football. Both of my older brothers played football for Boyne, and my dad coached junior varsity for 20 some years. Current senior, Dalton Looze has had many relatives roll through the program, including his grandpa Ervin “Shorty” Smith who taught and coached at Boyne. With every group of guys playing on varsity from season to season it is certain that there is a handful that have had brothers, uncles, cousins, or their father play for the Ramblers. But irregardless of having family ties in the program or not, it is certain that Rambler football alumni are proud of their high school, teammates, coaches, and the town they come from.
The Rambler football team has had nineteen conference championships, twelve playoff appearances (nine straight), five district finals, a district championship, a regional championship and three state championships. These accumulations rival any public school in the conference or area. Yet, one of the factors that position Boyne Football apart from other schools is the operations of its program. When the Pop Warner program was started in 1998, the goal was to have the teams run the same way from peewee to varsity. The objective was simple, consistency: same offense, same defense, same positions, same drills, and the same moral build of quality and character in players. Likewise, from year to year kids do not have to be re-taught plays or positions; they simply just pick up where they left off the year before. This program has proven its success in Boyne, and is imperative to the strength of the Boyne City Rambler Football program.
Because of its storied history and commitment to hundreds of young men, their coaches and their families Boyne City Football has truly been a “band of brothers” whose ties run generations deep. I am proud to have been a member of this fraternity.
-Parker Ameel
