Once a mere placeholder on the varsity football schedule, the annual Mayor’s Cup game against Parkway Central has evolved into a highly-contentious affair between the two crosstown rivals. Fresh off a historic victory last year, the Longhorns look to defend their home turf–and possession of the Cup–tonight.
“[The Mayor’s Cup] is important every year. They are trying to do a theme to raise awareness for Make-A-Wish. I don’t think it would have mattered who we were playing this week, it just happened to land on our last home game, senior night,” varsity football head coach Jeff Duncan said. “Central and West is now a great rivalry, it has been since I’ve been here, and we were able to beat them last year for the first time in 10 years. Hopefully, we can get them again this year.”
A spirit week was planned and put together by Longhorn Council (LOCO) to generate excitement for the game and t-shirts were sold to raise money for the Make-A-Wish foundation. LOCO hosted a spirit week to advertise the game and t-shirts were sold to raise money for Make-a-Wish foundation.
“We raise money for a specific philanthropy every year,” LOCO president and senior Angie Jia said. “We use the Mayor’s Cup as a way for fundraising and to bring the school together. We sold a bunch of t-shirts and all the proceeds are going to Make-A-Wish, so that was a big part of it.”
Like homecoming week, LOCO planned the Mayor’s Cup spirit week as a fun way for students and staff to encourage the football team.
“We decided to do a spirit week, and we made all the days super easy just so people could participate and it was not like homecoming week where you have to go all out. It’s just a fun way to get people involved,” Jia said.
As students and staff pack the stands tonight, there are high hopes for the spirit of the crowd.
“[I hope to see] a lot of excitement, I think our [players] feed off of that,” Duncan said. “How many people are there, how loud they are and how much they cheer, so I think if they can get excited, hopefully, our [players] can get excited too.”
![Holding the disc, senior Nathan Thompson waits for an opportunity to pass to senior Timmy Fry. Parkway United’s ultimate frisbee team is made up of students from each of the four Parkway schools. “The one thing I really like about ultimate [frisbee] is the community because it’s so different from any other sport I've been a part of. [My] national teammates are people who we play against in the regular season, so we see each other all the time. It's always fun hanging out with [them],” Thompson said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/C96A6823-1200x800.jpg)
![Senior Josie Grunzinger watches the football game intently from the sidelines on Oct. 18. Grunzinger stood out to the crowd as the only girl on the football team, encouraging other girls who want to play football to take a chance and go for a sport outside of their comfort zone. “If you think you could [play football] and you want to do it, just try it, because all it takes is to actually try it out,” Grunzinger said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Untitled-design-1200x675.png)
![With her arms held high, junior Jenna Rickelman throws the ball across the pool during a girls water polo practice. With hours of practice after school and over the summer, Rickelman saw many improvements in her water polo skills. “When I look at [my] stats, I'm so much better than I was last year,” Rickelman said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Untitled-design-2-.png)
![Putting on his helmet, catcher and senior Tommy Eschbach prepares to get in his primary stance. Despite losing 6-1 against Eureka on April 16, Eschbach didn’t let the tough loss affect his playing or mental health. “It's [so] easy to get caught up in the sport and what you're doing that [after] one bad game or a stretch of games it is hard to remind yourself that your worth as a person isn't directly related to your performance on the field,” Eschbach said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DSC_0415-1-1-1200x800.jpg)
![Sports organizations have changed lives on and off the field, improving athletes’ muscle strength, reducing their risk of diseases and building energetic work capacity worldwide. However, many student-athletes struggle to balance schoolwork and athletic commitments, hoping to seek more understanding and support from their teachers and coaches. “To lessen mental strain student-athletes [face] and create a healthier, more comfortable lifestyle, there shouldn’t be any homework. I'm already [at school] for eight hours and [homework] creates a bigger load for student-athletes in AP or honors classes,” track and field sprinter and sophomore Lucy Penton said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSC_0095-1-e1713883278514-1200x847.jpg)
![At the Spring Pep Rally on March 8, boys varsity water poloist and junior Jack Brau stands with the boys water polo team. The group, hoping to include everyone — whether boy or girl, varsity or JV — cheered on the girls water polo team during the sports team runouts. “Even though we all play separate games and have different practices, we like to see ourselves as one big group who represent one water polo [team],” Brau said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSC_8810-1-1200x800.jpg)
![Looking for an open teammate, freshman Patrick May passes the ball across the court at the Nov. 28 game against Parkway Central. May started in the game against the Colts. ”Growing up, [my parents] always gave me a basketball, [and] we had a basketball hoop outside. I grew up playing [all the time], playing on the [driveway] and shooting hoops with my dad.” May said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/image2-1-1200x801.jpg)
