Lizzy Rebber

While the school may not have a home field for the WHHS softball and baseball teams, efforts have been made to make the transition easier. “My coach tries her best for us to get playing time at that field,” Whitehead said. “We used one that was closer, but then people were using it and we couldn’t use it, so she tried to get one closer.”

It is widely known that a home team is said to have an advantage over the visiting team. In fact, home-field advantage can determine the outcome of an entire game, but despite these advantages, this concept is foreign to WHHS baseball and softball players. 

Currently, the baseball team plays their “home” games at Cleveland Parker Park and the softball team at the Summit Field Complex. While it may be nearby, not having a field on campus has prompted several challenges. For example, students must run 1.1 miles to attend their games and practices.

“[Since] we have to jog up to the field, it’s a waste of energy before the game starts,” Joshua Thornton, ‘27, a player on the freshman baseball team, said. “We don’t have as much time to warm up because we can’t [be there] right away on the field.”

Home-field advantage by definition is the “consistent finding that home teams in sport competitions win over 50% of their games played under balanced home and away schedules” (Courneya & Carron, 1992). This phenomenon stems from the belief that teams perform better under familiar conditions. From extra comfort provided at home, a deeper familiarity of their home court and increased time to rest, familiar conditions can make all the difference in winning a game. 

“When we play at our home field, it doesn’t feel like a home field because it’s kind of just a big area; it’s not specifically on our campus,” Thornton said.

By not having a field to call their own, these athletes cannot perform to the best of their abilities.

“We usually don’t get to practice much on a field, so when we do we use it to our advantage, and other teams that have a field usually perform better than ours,” Haley Whitehead, ‘27, a player on the varsity softball team said.

Aside from familiarity, playing at home can make players experience a level of excitement that can change the atmosphere from a high school game to an MLB game in a second. 

“When we have support, we feel like we’re boosted up instead of feeling down when a simple play [goes wrong] or when we make a mistake,” Whitehead said.

Athletes knowing that their peers are there to cheer them on can instantly boost morale and amplify spirit. However, because the field is not within school property, students are less inclined to go support the team.

“By not having a home field, people that want to come to my games can never figure out where it is because it’s really hidden,” Whitehead said. “And most people don’t have a ride or it’s too far away to get to the field because it’s not at our school.” 

Overall, being in an environment in which athletes are comfortable can make all the difference in the world of sports.

“Having a field at our school would give us more support, or help us to be more accessible to practicing instead of just practicing at South field,” Whitehead said.