As I reflect on those that have given the ultimate for this great country on this Memorial Day, I thought I’d try to find-out if there were any connections between our national holiday to honor those that have given their lives in the line of duty and high school football.
Right at the top, I’m not one of those that believes there is a direct link between the seriousness of war and the jargon we sometimes use to describe football. War is war and football is football. And, while a game can be called a battle, the only similarity between the two is the tremendous teamwork that is needed to achieve the ultimate goal.
As you can imagine, with Memorial Day being in May, it’s hard to find many direct connections to high school football.
The most obvious one is the large number of former high school football players that have died in the line of duty. There have been way too many stories like former Army quarterback and safety Chase Prasnicki, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2012 while on-patrol. One story at the time of his death in June 2012, noted that he was the third Army football player to lose his life in the previous two months while defending America.
Prasnicki was a star quarterback at Rockbridge High School in Lexington, Virginia. During the 2012 season, his high school wore Prasnicki’s #17 on their helmets, plus the school retired his number.
Our hearts go out to the families of all of the fallen, who died, so that America can be the greatest country in the world.
On a less solemn note, there’s Memorial Day School in Savannah, Georgia. Yes, there is actually a Memorial Day High School, but the name isn’t directly linked to the holiday at all. The best way to describe this is by breaking the name down — Memorial…Day School. The term day school developed as a way to differentiate between a boarding school where students are housed on-campus, as opposed to day school students, who return home after a day of learning.
Now back to Memorial Day School and football…the Blue Thunder play in the Georgia Independent School Association and have won back-to-back straight Class AA championships. Memorial Day’s 2014 state title was the fourth in the past seven years under head coach Michael Thompson.
Finally, in San Antonio, Texas, the River City Believers Academy carries the nickname of Soldiers, but the term has nothing to do with those that served in our military. Instead it is a reference to its faith-based Christian education.
In closing, High School Football America would like to thank all of those who have served, are serving, will serve, but most of all, we send our prayers to the fallen and their families that make America the land of the free and home of the brave.
