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By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

Sports is a never-ending cycle. Almost every week during the year, there’s some game going on around the country, bringing fans and parents alike to cheer on their school, hoping for a victorious outcome.

As a lifelong sports nerd and someone who grew up involved in athletics, it’s easy to notice the vast difference between the atmospheres that the competition levels provide. At the professional level, you see fans who are passionate and families who come together in a town where there is not necessarily a major collegiate organization around. In college, the pageantry of the students set the tone for the day, where it feels like life or death is riding on the result. From youth leagues to middle school, everything is casual and all about having fun.

However, one thing is for sure, high school sports are seemingly different, especially when it comes to the postseason. In my time in high school, Oak Mountain football made it to the playoffs one time. The boys basketball team made it twice, and the soccer programs made it multiple times.

What I realized through those years, in any game I attended, is that the passion, spirit, connection and emotions of those games were unmatched. The players cared so much about donning their school colors, the students made a point to banter with those on the other side and at least some of the parents watched as their shadows were living out the reality they once were.

Simply put, what high school sports present to the world is a spectacle beyond comprehension, and when the playoffs roll around, strap yourselves in and enjoy the ride.

After freelancing for the Shelby County Reporter since summer 2023, interning in summer 2024 and beginning a full-time job here in December 2024, I have covered a number of high school athletic events, but my first true postseason experience was not until I got to cover the state soccer championships in Huntsville in May 2024.

Almost a year later, this weekend kicks off the postseason for our spring sports. By the time you are reading this, baseball playoffs will have already kicked off. Softball and boys and girls soccer will kick off in the coming weekend. As a result, I’ll have some coverage being pushed out every weekend for the next month from somewhere in the state. While that means I will be giving you an in-depth recap of what happened in a game, what you may not see unless you are there with me is the exuberance of everyone who is there, clinching their fists with the hope that their school will move to the next round.

Being my first full playoff season that I will have extensive coverage for, I’ll be sure to take in the emotions. It’s the thrill of victory and the agony of season-ending defeat that will have me captivated. It’s the realization that some of these kids will either be hoisting a blue map trophy or taking off their jersey for the last time, knowing next time they come to the field, they will have to buy a ticket.

This is the time of the season that everyone looks forward to. People think the passion you find in the college and professional postseasons are the pinnacle of sports. However, you will not find people from just one community gathered at those games. From personal experience, nothing feels better than feeling or watching the cheers from your hometown fill the air as you look to continue your season. Finally, I am preparing to see that passion resurrect itself once again.

Our athletes have the choice of extending that feeling for as long as they want though. All they have to do is survive and advance.