The excitement of close games between rival teams often leads to questions about strategy, performance, and potential outcomes. They come up in audible forms like “Who’s going to win?” “Will they make a comeback?” “What are they thinking?” or even “How are they playing neck to neck?”

Several popular sports at South High feature notable rivals. Athletes say that competition is intense, with opposing teams competing for those top spots and scores.

South athletes constantly express their opinions about who they play against, and how they play against them. They’ve stressed the importance of teamwork involved in the process of creating athletic success. Athletes report feelings of pressure when experiencing critical moments in sports. 

Jacob Sidwell, a senior on the basketball team, talked about who he thinks the Patriots’ rival is on the court.

“Probably Edwardsville who we played in the MICDS tournament,” he said.

Sidwell explains how the speed of the game is pretty much the same whether he’s playing a rival or another team. 

“[The speed of the game] doesn’t really change because both teams are good, getting stops, scoring the ball, and it’s pretty much neck and neck the whole time,” he said.   

Edwardsville has not only gotten neck and neck with South High in terms of skill but they also have had the ability to change the pace of the game. In fact, the Patriots lost to Edwardsville in the MICDS Tournament this season, 35-54. Sidwell led the Patriots in scoring in that game with 11 points. 

 “It didn’t start the way we wanted, but in the end we finished strong,” Sidwell said.  

On the track athletes express their opinions on the competition that school rivalries create. 

Sophomore Jessica Sykes runs many events for the Patriot track team, and says running against a fast anchor from a rival school during a relay is  “nerve wracking.

“Especially if you know them personally, and have seen them online,” she said.   

Sykes explains that sometimes players get anxious when going against other teams and she feels she needs to check her opponents’ times just to see what she’s up against. 

“Some people check the other teams’ times for the relay, and it just becomes nerve-wracking if you know you’re not up there with them,” she said. 

Sykes also explains how her anxiety heightens when she faces a faster runner, and how she fears falling behind other runners. 

Track and basketball aren’t the only sports that have rivalries. The athletes in sports like water polo, wrestling, and soccer have also explained how their experience with school rivalries have become both enjoyable and stressful. 

For a singular sport like wrestling, sophomore Jazz Campbell expresses how she deals with rivalries.

“I feel a lot of pressure to succeed, especially when everyone’s watching me,” she said. 

Campbell said some matches between rivals can get heated, and her behavior toward her oponents can depend on how the match goes. 

“I will either drag them if they’re rude, or shake their hand if they’re nice. It depends,” she said. 

One notable rival Campbell has had to go up against is a wrestler from Principia. 

 “I definitely held a certain respect for them, because I know what it takes to do wrestling,” she said. 

In water polo, freshman Peyton Klump speaks on the repercussions faced after a disappointing game. 

 “Whenever I fall behind a person and go up in a heat it cuts me deep. You never forget that, you never forget when you have a slow race or practice, because it motivates you to put in your all next time,” he said. 

Klump talks about her strategy to combat those fears of falling behind.

“One repercussion that I’m familiar with is sprints, and we all do sprints as a team so if one of us goes down we’re all going down together. It makes you not want to make any mistakes but it also make you want to look out for your teammates too,” she said.

On the girls soccer team athletes have reportedly experienced the same kind of team unity only here through the form of pressure.

“We’ve had a lot of people at opposing schools in the stands yelling at us and their team to ‘crush us’ but we kind of just had to ignore it,” junior Paige Spector said.  

Spector didn’t let distractions like rival teams in the stands get in the way of her success and victory. 

“Sometimes the confidence level can be low, and you could start thinking you’re either gonna win or lose which can bring the entire team down, but we stay united because we keep a positive attitude, and don’t just think with the intent to win,” Spector said.