In the week before Thanksgiving, Northside’s signature flag football tournament returned. Turkey Bowl, which hadn’t happened in its true form since 2019, occurred on Wednesday, November 20. Teams of 5-7 students and teachers competed in a 17-team single elimination bracket. While the first play-in game started during Flex 3, the tournament ended under the lights of Northside’s new turf field as the all-junior team, the Juco Bandits, were crowned this year’s champions.
While the Turkey Bowl hasn’t happened since pre-COVID, Northsiders got a taste of competition last spring when the Student Council organized the first-ever Bunny Bowl.
This year, Mr. Heavey and his class of Junior Leaders revived the tournament, but a lot has changed since the last Bowl. First, Mr. Heavey explained that “[this Junior Leader] class has not experienced a Turkey Bowl before, so there was a lot of excitement.” But he said this fact didn’t stem their enthusiasm, and they worked as a great team. They started advertising at the start of the year with an Instagram account and posters in the atrium and stairwell. Mr. Heavey found the group highly motivated with great “organization and attention to detail” and that they “loved creating an event that was so well received and got to experience how much work goes on behind the scenes.”
The tournament organizers had a whole new setting to work with. Since the pandemic, Northside has built its turf field with stands, an announcer’s booth, and a scoreboard. Mr. Heavey highlighted this difference in how it helped with planning, explaining that “this meant we were confident that the games would take place. In past years, there was always worry about the weather and how it would affect the games.” Beyond this, the new luxuries, like the scoreboard, made running the event smoother.
Overall, the event was a success. Mr. Heavey shouted out the 100+ Northsiders who turned up to “have fun and be competitive!” And he’s looking forward to the tournament’s future, saying, “Hopefully, next year’s version will have an even better turnout!”
