This article was published in the Southerner’s winter newsmagazine.

There is something that can cause people to chant, have feelings of intense pride, and dress in crazy, colorful clothing. It has the ability to bring an entire school together for single cause? That something is school rivalries.

A school rivalry is when two different schools that tend to be close in distance compete at various activities such as athletics, academics, clubs, and school spirit. There are many schools in the United States who have a rival school, including South High. According to ESPN Rise, a website for high school sports, school rivalries have been part of American High Schools since 1875, starting with Norwich Free Academy and Bulkeley School for Boys, both in New England.

Of course, there are some people who do not believe that rivalries can not unite a student body and that they promote violence instead. This is not true. Violence should not be and is not a part of high school rivalries. If a fight happens to break out at a game, it usually is perpetrated by one person who is not there to support their school, but to just cause chaos. Most fights that break out at a school competition start because of misdirected aggression and misunderstandings. There are plenty of people who love their school and take pride in representing it peacefully.

School rivalries create a sort of bond that combines the entire student body. Sports would be a perfect example. When the South High women’s basketball team went to the state championship in 2009, a majority of the school attended the event which took place at the Target Center downtown. Most students that went were dressed head to toe in orange and black. Anyone who was there could tell you about the enormous spirit that united us that day. Nothing else could bring that many students to an event outside of school if it were not for our rivals.

School rivalries are not just limited to sports. In fact, they can save lives. The South and Southwest Student Councils have been competing for blood drives for the past couple of years. Currently, the two schools have had the most donations for Memorial Blood Centers in the state of Minnesota. As president of the Student Council, I know that without this rivalry we would not have nearly as much blood donations as we do.

Because of the mentality behind rivalries, schools tend to strive to improve themselves, thus improving the school as a whole. South and Southwest are a great example. The have been rivals for years and each has done well in academics, sports, and clubs, all to prove that they are the best.

These rivalries are something that South students can bond over. Besides all the improvments they make to the school, rivalries create a fun atmosphere at games and in school.

School rivalries are very important to the school experience. They are something that student will remember for the rest of their lives. Even my own grandparents say that a big part of what they remember from their days of youth were beating their rival school in a competition. School rivalries have the possibility to bring students who would normally ignore each other together and have them rejoice in school pride.