Freedom Area High School has experienced massive highs and lows in the world of sports. In recent years, certain students have felt that the support and the appreciation for our sports teams have dwindled significantly, but it hasn’t always been so dismal. Freedom Area School District was created in 1902. At the time, the Borough of Freedom was a thriving Metropolis including Freedom National Bank and even a major oil company. Since then, a lot has changed. In the beginning of its existence, Freedom had a very small sports department. The first teams to come into existence were football, basketball and track. Football was very popular and boasted a varsity team of around 20 and a “reserve squad” that was available as back-up players of about the same size. Basketball was also popular and was composed of mostly football players. Track took time to gain fame, but still included a sizeable portion of students. Many of these teams struggled their first few years. Football cycled between being a dominating force and a struggling group. They went undefeated in 1924 and 1926, allowing for the opposing teams to score only 11 points between the combined seasons. Even with obvious sexism being prevalent in the time period, Freedom females managed to build a girls’ basketball team in 1927, dominating in their first year and finishing second in the county. This wasn’t the only sport girls could participate; an entire sports league was devoted to interesting Freedom’s girls in sports. The Girls’ Athletic Association, or G.A.A., was created in 1940. According to the 1940 FHS Yearbook, it was meant to “interest girls in different sports and to provide an extra measure of good physical training.” This club did things like play basketball, bowl and play other games. of the period on a weekly basis. The Intra-Mural League was another product of the 1940s. This was mandated by the U.S. Government in order to allow “all high school boys [to] participate in the physical training program” as stated in the 1943 FHS Yearbook. As the years continued, the roster of sports increased to include baseball, cross country and wrestling. Each sport had cases of extreme success. In Cross Country, Frank Siler and Bob Williams were each one of the highest ranked runners in Pennsylvania in the 1940s. Bob Williams may have been the best Cross Country runner in the state at the time. Unfortunately, there was no state competition to prove this his senior year due to World War II. Freedom held its share of high-ranking individuals and groups. In 1961, the track team was second in the state and the football team finished with a 6-3 record. Recently though, our programs seem diminished. Why did this happen? Changes in sports Changes in sports success have a lot to do with changes in the lives of the athletes who participate. Over the years, the number of students joining sports teams has decreased significantly. In fact, the 2011-2012 boys’ basketball team struggled due to a lack of participants. The first few years were rough for the Freedom Boys’ Basketball team, but there were still players ready to dawn the short shorts. In 1939, 50 students came to basketball tryouts. Out of that, only five made it on the varsity team and fewer than a dozen in “the reserves.” It’s no secret that our generation is a lot less active than past generations. We may have plenty of athletes, but it isn’t a majority. In past decades, “Your entertainment was going outside and playing,” Freedom Alumni and former middle school principal Robert Gallagher said. Not all the blame can be put on today’s students being less active. In fact, some might say we’re even more active when it comes to things like jobs and driving. “The biggest change is kids working,” Coach Ed Shepard said. Plenty of faculty agree with Shepard; students worked in the past, but not to the extent that many do now. Also, some of the fault can be put on businesses themselves. “[Bosses] don’t care if you’re tired in school the next day and can’t get your grades up. They don’t care if you miss sports, even though you’re never going to have a chance when you’re older to do that,” Shepard said. Student Support In recent years, students have had a very negative attitude toward their sports teams. This causes issues since positive morale drawn from sports is an important part of high school life. “When the teams are losing, the students aren’t as motivated,” Mr. Saludis said. Negative views of Freedom sports aren’t always true. This year, Freedom had success in soccer and cross country. These successes are overlooked, and teams often find little support. According to Steven Tinker, coach of the Cross Country and Track team “The attention given and directed to some sports in this school is not shared with other sports.” In fact, some teams will be lucky to see more than a dozen of their peers showing support. “Back when I was in school the student body got involved… Going to a football game Friday night was the thing to do,” Gallagher said.