There are few things capable of bringing a community together like high school football in Sampson County.
On Friday nights, school colors mean something. They represent hometowns, families, generations of graduates and communities that have spent decades cheering for the young people on the sidelines or on the field. Whether someone calls themselves a Dark Horse, Wildcat, Leopard, Raider Crusader or Spartan, that pride deep and often stretches between districts.
The Sampson County Pigskin Jamboree gives the public schools, and those who support them, an opportunity to celebrate all of it together.
When Clinton, Hobbton, Lakewood, Midway and Union take the field at the Tommy Sloan Stadium Friday night, we hope Sampson County folks turn out for them. Showing up should not simply be because another football season is approaching, it should be because events such as this remain an important part of the heritage that connects our communities.
Our schools may compete against one another, and there will always be plenty of good-natured debate over who has the better team, the better players or the loudest fans. Those rivalries are part of the fun. Yet beneath all those different colors are young people who grew up in the same county, sometimes only a few miles apart, and who have spent much of their summer preparing for the opportunity to represent their schools.
They deserve to look into the stands and see us there.
The Jamboree is also one of those increasingly valuable occasions when people from throughout Sampson County can gather in the same place. Our football programs may now compete across three different conferences, meaning some familiar matchups are not guaranteed as often as they once were, but that only makes a countywide tradition such as this more meaningful.
For one evening, conference affiliations do not matter nearly as much as the name we all share — Sampson County.
Come wearing your school colors and cheer as loudly as you can when your team takes the field, but do not be in such a hurry to leave when that portion of the evening is finished. Stay awhile. Watch another county team compete. Talk with someone from another community. Applaud these young men for the work they have put in throughout a long, hot summer.
And remember that the players are not the only young people deserving our support. Bands, cheerleaders and other students help create the atmosphere that make nights under the Friday lights special, while coaches, parents, school employees and volunteers spend countless hours making those experiences possible.
This is what community looks like.
It is a child wearing the same school colors his father or mother once wore. It is a former player returning to the stadium years after his final snap. It is grandparents watching another generation represent the place they have called home for decades. It is neighbors sitting together and celebrating young people who may someday look back on these nights as some of their fondest memories.
Traditions do not remain traditions simply because they have been around a long time. They survive because communities continue to value them, participate in them and pass them along.
That is why the Pigskin Jamboree matters.
Yes, there will be football, and we certainly expect everyone to have an opinion about which Sampson County team looked the best when the evening is over. That comes with the territory.
But the scoreboard should not be the most important thing we take away from this night.Look around the stadium instead.Gander at the different school colors. Gaze at the families, students, former players, coaches and longtime supporters. Witness five communities gathered in one place because their young people have earned the opportunity to take the field.
Then remember that while we may proudly represent different schools, we are still neighbors.We are still one community.
And on the night of the Sampson County Pigskin Jamboree, we should fill the stands and show our young people exactly what that means.