On Fridays, the Carlmont field’s lights shine bright, the stands fill up, and students wearing themed colors pile in to cheer on the football team.
Tickets are sold, announcements blare, and the crowd cheers wildly. At Carlmont, as well as across the country, football is easily the most popular and talked-about sport. But should it be?
For the sport that draws the most attention, Carlmont football doesn’t always deliver the results to match. As of October 2025, Carlmont’s varsity football team was in last place in their league, with only one win.
This year’s homecoming game ended in a crushing 34-0 loss to the Burlingame Panthers, which, unfortunately, isn’t unusual or surprising. Despite all the hype surrounding this team, their victories are few and far between.
Some might say that this could apply to all of Carlmont’s athletics, making it reasonable to fund the football team more, as they are the most favored among students.
However, this losing trend isn’t seen in other Carlmont sports. Carlmont’s cheer team, which attends every one of the football games, has been much more successful, winning the Central Coast Section (CCS) championship multiple times in the last few years and placing at many competitions.
Additionally, sports like golf, volleyball, and flag football all consistently qualify for CCS playoffs, win championships, and place at the top of their leagues.
These athletes dedicate just as much time and effort to their sports, yet their games rarely draw as much attention or garner as much student support as football does.
This unfairness stretches beyond just popularity, however, with football being a much higher financial priority than other sports.
While the football field was recently renovated with new turf and paint, the Stogner gym, which is Carlmont’s main gym, has not been seriously renovated in decades. The basketball hoops take upwards of five minutes to fully rise, the gym floor is slippery and squeaky, and the bleachers malfunction every time they are opened.
Some might attribute this to a lack of money and resources, but it is clear that this is not the case. Where other sports like basketball, volleyball, and badminton need to both practice and play in the worn-down gym, the boys’ football team has its own locker room, a new field, and bright lights.
It is extremely unfair that sports that bring home wins, school pride, and even national recognition get far less attention and funding than a sport that struggles to break even on the scoreboard.
Football is a tradition. According to the Pew Research Center, it’s a cornerstone of American culture; the “high school experience” isn’t the same without it. However, it’s time for us to rethink how much attention our football team actually deserves, especially when considering other sports.
Carlmont has a lot to be proud of across all of its sports teams, not just the ones that play under Friday night lights. Spirit shouldn’t just mean showing up for football; it should mean celebrating all the athletes that represent our school, especially the ones that actually win and work just as hard, if not harder, for their success.
Carlmont Booster • Oct 29, 2025 at 12:56 pm
Ashlyn, as an athlete, you know there is more to a team’s value than what the scoreboard displays at the end of a game or match.
High school football is an *opportunity* to bring together the student body early in the school year in a visceral environment of community.
A home football game directly involves 170+ students across JV and Varsity players, cheer, and dance — add to that ASB, Screamin Scots, and pep band on occasions when they perform. Win or lose, the event itself is a gift.
Should students and the community support other Scots sports as well? Absolutely! But as your opinion states, football is tradition and cornerstone of the high school experience. Let’s not lose that.
In the first half of the 20th century, Bay Area high school football rivalries drew tens of thousands of spectators. 50,000+ attended the 1928 SF City Championship between Lowell & Poly at Kezar Stadium.
In terms of funding, football is expensive, but it is also the greatest revenue-generating sport, driving Booster memberships and donor funds. As an example, the 2025 eTeam Sponsor Football Fundraiser brought in $40k vs $16K for Volleyball.
If you attend UT, you might be interested to know that in fiscal 2024, athletics generated $330M in revenue, $200M of which came from football alone. In many cases, football’s popularity *enables* the existence of smaller athletics programs.
The point is, school spirit should mean more than just showing up for football games, but let’s continue to respect our traditions, the efforts of our peers, and these moments that bring so many of us together in shared experience.