E/a Moved to Earlier Time
As the end of the term approaches, Exonians excitedly anticipate the Exeter/Andover (E/a) games, regarded by many students as the ultimate determinant of the superior school, and a cause for celebration and displays of school spirit. The games, hosted this year by Andover on Saturday, Nov. 12, will begin with boys’ varsity soccer in the mid-morning and culminate with varsity football in the early afternoon.
A few athletes had concerns over the order of the games and the overlapping times; in the past, the order and timing of games has been more spread out, ending with a football game in the evening. Some athletes reached out to Andover’s Athletic Scheduling Officer and physical education instructor Karen Kennedy to better understand the reasons for the changes. The games are much earlier this year compared to previous fall E/a games. Exeter’s Athletic Director Shane LaPointe explained that the schools have different approaches in scheduling the games. She said that Andover tends to condense E/a to a smaller period of time for games to occur, while Exeter spreads the day out, so that if athletes wanted to watch their friends play, they could visit many of the other games.
Two weeks ago, girls varsity soccer player and senior Veronica Galimberti sent an email to LaPointe expressing her curiosity toward the process of arrangements of the games. When she looked through the schedule, she noted that boys soccer and football were the two out of the five varsity games with their own time slots. “Meanwhile, the three girls games all take place during the span of an hour and a half,” she said. Galimberti said she felt that attendance at the boys games was prioritized since there is no interference during their games. With all of the girls games scheduled so closely together, she said that she is expecting low attendance at each event. She concluded her email stating that she felt that “women’s athletics has been cast out of the spotlight for the benefit of our boys’ teams.”
In response to Galimberti’s concerns, Kennedy explained that Andover’s arrangement of games is a purposeful action made by the school to counter a “culture that leaves some teams with little peer support while a significantly larger number attend the other game playing at the same time.”
"Although playing in the day time might take away from the intense atmosphere of previous E/a’s, it will be warmer, which is beneficial for playing football."
But Galimberti insisted her comments were more about broad cultural facts and were not meant to be pointed toward Andover in particular. “Our move was in response to both of our communities favoring certain games over others and coincided with the 40th anniversary of Title IX,” she said. She explained that the day always seems to start with boys soccer and end the day with football, with the girls teams sandwiched in the middle. While Andover’s winter E/a, on the other hand, starts and ends with a girls team, winter E/a’s are notoriously not as well attended as the one that takes place in the fall.
In order to put more focus on supporting all teams, Kennedy said that Andover also observed the prevalence of fans at Exeter’s games. She explained that they “encountered the masses at the boys varsity soccer game even with an hour to go ... while the varsity field hockey game was tied and going into overtime with little peer support.” These observations, made a few years ago, led them to move the times that Andover uses now.
According to Kennedy, since field hockey and football share the same playing space, and field hockey prefers the slot before football, not after, the school ends the fall games with football. She explained that although each soccer team has their own field, the school recognized that the “relatively new Smoyer field is one of the best fields in New England.” If it is in good condition at the end of fall, they opt to play both soccer games on Smoyer to keep all spectators on the east side of Main Street. “Both teams on Smoyer is relative to crowd control and safety as well as team support—safety by keeping the masses from having to cross Route 28.”
However, the girls’ soccer team usually plays at Graves, which was the better of the two varsity fields for decades and until Smoyer was built in 2007. “I schedule the girls on Smoyer for a number of home contests each year. However, Graves is considered the home for the girls team [at Andover],” she said.
In response to the idea of showcasing all of the sports games by creating individual playing slots, Kennedy said that it would be unreasonable. Stretching E/a to accomplish this goal would result in a 10 hour long day, which would be “too long for guests, athletic trainers and fans.”
Lower and field hockey player Lydia Anderson agreed with Kennedy because she felt that anyone who wants to be at her team’s game will make the effort to go and spectate even with the overlap. “I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect everyone to come see every single game. They’re going overlap anyway even if E/a was set a bit later in the day so it’s not realistic,” she said.
Although many athletes expressed both the benefits and disadvantages of playing earlier in the day, some felt upset with potentially lower attendance at the games and the loss of a night tradition. “Although playing in the day time might take away from the intense atmosphere of previous E/a’s, it will be warmer, which is beneficial for playing football. It is easier to catch, and it hurts less to get hit. I would still prefer to play at night, and I think many others would agree,” said upper and football player Willie Swift.
Lower and soccer player Nick Tilson would prefer a more expanded schedule that began later in the day because it is more convenient for athletes and viewers. He said that he anticipates lower attendance at all of the games. “From the viewpoint of someone who likes to sleep, getting up to see a game later in the afternoon is better than getting up for an early morning game,” he said.
Most athletes said that the decreased attendance at some of the competitions may affect the electrifying support of the crowds that makes E/a so unique. “The number of spectators will drop definitely, and it totally affects our team energy,” lower and volleyball player Tara Weil said. She explained that her team felt that they usually play better when more people come to support their games. “It’s always nice to know people care about our sport or about the people on the team,” Weil said. Lower Jenny Yang agreed with Weil, but she added that in general, volleyball “has a good amount of spectators, but other sports might not feel as appreciated.”
Upper and volleyball player Chloe Scocimara did not mind the earlier schedule, but she explained that she can never support her friends when all of the girls sports are around the same time. Fans must choose what games to attend, which, according to Scocimara, is not fair for teams. “We always preach about supporting all teams but with this early schedule it doesn’t allow us to,” she said. Unlike Weil, she is not concerned about the number of fans and described her team as their own cheerleaders. “There could be just my dad or the whole school and I would still be as nervous,” she said.
Despite these issues, athletes are still excited to play against Andover at the end of the term and look forward to Exeter’s support. “I think we will maintain a solid performance, but it would definitely make our jobs easier if more spectators watched games,” Weil said.