After a five-year streak, Lakeland High School faces off with Sandpoint High School once again, but does Sandpoint really want to continue with this tradition?
The five-year losing streak against LHS might be affecting their competitive spirit.
Last year, as I looked into the opposing stands, there were empty spaces and sad faces after Sandpoint lost.
The feeling of losing the event after spending weeks fundraising and preparing for Battle for the Paddle has to be a hard hit, especially after losing five years in a row.
“I think it probably makes their student body less willing to try because they feel like there is no point,” Amelia Hamburger said.
Cole Cooper also had an opinion on this saying “It definitely has affected them because they have lost, but I think there will be more Sandpoint students there this year because it is there this year.”
School spirit has a lot to do with winning the competition, so when you are projected to lose over and over again, the school spirit will drop to nothing.
“I feel like I would have pretty low expectations if I lost for the past 5 years, so I think they are losing spirit,” Leeann Lohf said.
As a result, the competition becomes less intense due to the loss of spirits and lack of want to win.
It has been stated by a few teachers who choose to remain anonymous, that we should start a new tradition for Battle for the Paddle against Post Falls High School.
The change from playing Sandpoint to playing Post Falls would be drastic, but it would save Sandpoint the heartache of losing.
It would also increase the relationship between LHS and PFHS, as well as help benefit their school because of the fundraising events.
“I would like to change from Sandpoint to Lewiston because it would be better competition,” Cooper said, “It would be better than Post Falls because they have a lot more students than us,”
Sandpoint High school has been a tradition for many years but how long can they stay excited with their continuous losses.
“I feel like we really need a change,” Cooper said.
