No matter the talent or the record of a team, a new season is always on the horizon. There’s the top dogs who claimed victory and the ones who look to bump them off. What makes such glory, happens in the summer and translates to the fall and it all starts off with one single word, Culture.

“Culture is what gets us through Summer training and its rigorous with gym workouts, CWU camp, and learning new play schemes but that’s what brings all of us together,” varsity quarterback Lucas Entler said. “Coaches are always reminding us about culture and what we need to bring for next season, I remember one of the coaches saying that this team shouldn’t be asking “Where’s Cooper, where’s Trey and River?” We need to bring our A-game this season with them gone.”

The summer football atmosphere is one you only get for four years of your life. Players finally getting their schoolwork done, checking in on each other, making group chats, working-out at private gyms, and bunking with each other. “Culture is what you have to have as a football team, doesn’t matter how talented you are, without culture you’ve got nothing,” freshman football Coach Bennie Arnold said.

One of the best opportunities as a program is the team heading over to Central Washington University in Ellensburg. Teams from across the state compete in scrimmages to test out new schemes and get players ready for the physical aspects of playing in the fall. Players get to bunk with their friends in the dorms, walk around campus, and bond with each other over the span of four days. “I’m really just there for the food, those Rice Krispy treats were one of a kind,”  sophomore Kabir Kinda said.

Summer ends and schools start up again. Practices transition with more intensity and players are dialed in. The culture is set for the season and the team is ready to go.  High school sports are what build long-term friendships, and it’s only fitting that culture and community take place in the locker room.