It’s the last home game of the season. Tensions are high as seniors hope to play well for one of the last games in their high school career. Yet, in the school hours leading up to the event, seniors can also be immersed in a completely opposite mood — they are often seen wearing goofy outfits to class and spending time with their team on this special day.
Senior night traditions are a key part of any school team — they honor the hardworking players who have persevered throughout their high school careers, and they’re also an opportunity for the team to bond. Each sport has a different take on senior night, with some going all out with costumes and others having a meal together. Here’s a closer look into how a few different sports celebrate their seniors:
Boys’ water polo players sign balls used in their freshmen year on the team
The boys’ water polo team makes an Instagram post highlighting a senior every day leading up to senior night, and their friends make small posters with goofy photos.
The main tradition is that each senior receives one of the water polo balls they trained with in their freshman year, signed by the other members before the senior night game. Since the coach orders new balls annually, the team spends each year with a different set of balls.
This year, junior Nirvan Shah planned all of the senior night events. He arrived at school at 6 a.m. on Oct. 24 before the game with Cupertino High to help set up decorations and prepare snacks to give out during the game. Following tradition, speeches were given by younger players who have grown close to the seniors, before or after the game.
“I think [senior night traditions] are pretty cool,” Shah said. “The speeches are one-on-one so they’re really great, and the balls are really cool because people can put the ball up in their room and just play with it sometimes.”
Girls’ basketball seniors indulge in their girly side with Starbucks and hair bows
For the girls’ basketball players, the celebration starts during the school day. In the morning, the rest of the team presents the senior class with Starbucks drinks and themed costumes to be worn throughout the day. However, the seniors aren’t the only ones who dress up — their teammates dress as secondary characters based on the theme. To add a little pizzazz, they wear bows in their last game. Additionally, they also make posters for their senior night game.
This year’s costume theme was “Care Bears,” a perfect fit for the six seniors.
“Last year’s theme was ‘Toy Story,’ so our two seniors dressed up as Buzz and Woody, and the rest of us were the aliens,” senior Emily Rich said. “I hosted the preparation at my house. We made posters, planned costumes and got all the supplies — it was really fun.”
Swim team eats breakfast together on the pool deck
On the last home swim meet of the season, swimmers gather early in the morning to have a senior day breakfast on the pool deck.
The pool is decked out with posters celebrating the seniors. After breakfast, seniors get their costumes, which they wear for the rest of the school day; this year, the costume theme was “My Little Pony,” with seniors dressed up as the ponies Rainbow Dash and Applejack.
“I think [senior night] is a great way to recognize seniors and their commitment to this sport,” junior Taewon Yim said.
Girls’ volleyball performs a dance at their senior night game
Every year, the girls’ volleyball team also picks a theme for the seniors to coordinate outfits for. This year’s theme was “Inside Out,” and the seniors dressed up in matching tutus and shirts color-coordinated with their respective characters’ faces. The team showed lots of love to their seniors on Instagram, with dedicated senior spotlight posts.
Seniors are showered with flowers and gifts, along with a heartfelt speech from other team members, before playing the senior night game. Other members of the team, including junior Jena Lew, also practiced a dance which they performed during the game.
“Senior night is pretty fun but also sad, as it’s typically almost the last time the seniors are playing volleyball with us,” Lew said.
Girls’ water polo goes all out with inflatable costumes
A recent tradition the girls’ water polo team picked up over the past few years is to give seniors inflatable costumes, which they wear during the school day leading up to their senior night game. Earlier this fall, junior Thalea Charton planned the team’s senior night and chose alien inflatable costumes. It was hard for her to get people to spend time to help, but she wanted to gift the seniors the best night possible.
“Our team is really close and we want to do really well for [the seniors],” Charton said. “I think [senior night] is a really good tradition because it honors people who’ve put so much dedication into a sport, and it’s really fun to do it as a whole team because they’re not just your teammates but also your friends.”
