Over the past 95 years Grandville High School has been home to the football team called the Bulldogs. This year unfortunately got ruined by Covid-19 and made playing sports feel impossible for student-athletes. Just a couple weeks ago Gretchen Whitmer the Governor of Michigan along with the MHSAA lifted the ban on playing football and allowed the students to return to one of the most popular sports during the fall.

Football players are very discouraged by the fact that this season the bleachers will not be filled to the brim with students like they are every other year due to the fact that football players are only allowed two very special tickets that are to be given to whomever they like. This makes a difficult decision for many players because they have to choose between friends or parents, Camron Terry says, “ My parents for sure because my parents have been there for me since day one.” Because of this rule the crowd is going to be very small and not have as much energy as all the previous years this has let down a lot of the football players “It’s sad to be playing without the fans this year. They’re a big part of keeping us motivated during games. It kind of gets rid of home field advantage,” explains Justin Phillips.

This virus not only made it hard on the football players but also the students, especially the seniors because it is their last year and they always look forward to football games starting in the fall and going with their friends for the last year of football games at GHS, Nolan Woodruff says, “It is a big part  of the senior experience and I’m going to miss everyone coming together to watch the games” Many students feel more united as a school during the football games.  Students have made so many memories and also friends from going to the football games one of Ben Helgevold’s favorite memories is, “Probably when we killed Rockford last year because I’d never seen Grandville beat Rockford and it was cool to see everyone hype.” A new alternative way that many students are taking advantage of is watching the game from home. All of the sports are now being streamed on a website that is free to watch for anybody. “I enjoy being able to watch the game from home,” explains Ashton Dobis. 

*As of Oct. 14 2020, 125 seniors are now allowed to go to the game.*