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By Rhodes Sinnott

Throughout my entire life, I have gone to dozens of Collegiate sporting events on Grover Jones Field. However, not a single one has been after dark. 

High schools across the country gets to experience the iconic Friday Night Lights football game, filled with school spirit, hyped-up student sections, concession stands, families, friends, and so much more. It brings these schools and communities closer together. 

I have always wondered why Collegiate has never installed lights on Grover Jones Field, and I wanted answers. Although many rumors have been around over the years about the addition of lights, Collegiate has yet to plug it all in. After talking to Andrew Stanley, Collegiate’s Athletic Director, it seems that it has never been because Collegiate has never wanted to add lights, but rather a variety of reasons keep us in the dark.

Stanley stated, “There have been concerns over the past decades about the neighborhood.” For many years, the families living around Collegiate supposedly have been opposed to Collegiate having lights, due to the brightness that the lights will cause, loud noises from the games, and crowds of people parking and driving through by at night. It’s unclear whether that is an issue now, as new families have moved in over the years. 

There have also been questions about maintenance and staffing if lights were to be installed. Although there would need to be more people at Collegiate more often, this is not a major factor in deciding whether or not Collegiate should have lights. That is a very “solvable problem,” according to Stanley.

Photo courtesy of Collegiate School.

Right down the road, our rival St. Christopher’s School recently added lights to their football field, Knowles Field, in 2022. When I asked my friend Jack Hall, a senior at St. Christopher’s, about their new lights, he stated, “It’s made the atmosphere of football electric and a lot more important than it used to be because of Friday night lights.” He also added that St. Christopher’s had trouble installing lights due to neighborhood concerns too. But St. Christopher’s decided lights would be best for the whole community, and “everyone has been extremely happy and satisfied with the outcome on Knowles Field.” 

It only makes sense for Collegiate to introduce lights on the football field after our rivals from across town did so themselves. We should always one-up the Saints, but right now they are beating us in something we as a school have complete control over.

In addition to lights on Grover Jones Field, Stanley would “like to see lights out at Robins Campus.” This would include Blair Field, Williams-Bollettieri Tennis Center, and Sam Newell Field, making Collegiate a top-tier high school in not only academics but athletics as well. However, our first step of action is Grover Jones. 

Henry Brost (‘26), a football, basketball, and lacrosse athlete who plays regularly on Grover Jones, stated, “I think the addition of lights would be huge for our program, and it would draw more attention to our football and lacrosse teams.” Brost is a Sophomore this year and would perhaps be lucky enough to experience lights on Grover Jones in the near future. Brost also believes that lights “would bring our community together and would cause more people to attend games, since they are not in the day during other sports’ practices.” Brost has a point; Friday afternoon lacrosse and football games take place during other sports’ practices, which means that often the student section is sparse. Night games would make it easier for students to attend and cheer. Brost wants Collegiate to realize the kind of impact lights will make on our entire community.

There is definitely support and potential for something that could be so beneficial to Collegiate as a whole. If so many believe it will positively affect our school and community, what is holding us back? Not only could there be lacrosse and football games held under the lights at Grover Jones, but there could also be track meets, social events, and so much more. Although, unfortunately, I will not get to experience playing the sports that I love under the lights, as I am a Senior, I hope that others will someday have the chance to.

Featured image courtesy of Collegiate School.