WOODSTOCK
High School Football Heaven — Part I
This is the second installment in a series of 5 photo essays that explores a 5 year span of Montini Catholic High School Football. Below are links to the entire series:
Part I — RIVALS
Part II — WOODSTOCK
Part III — ORANGE SKY
Part IV — PROGRAMMED TO WIN
Part V — NOVEMBER REIGN
WOODSTOCK
High School Football Heaven — Part I
Marian Central Catholic did not make the list of ChicagoFootball.com’s recently released TOP-10 High School football venues.
In the list’s defense, Marian Central is just one of hundreds of high school football stadiums in the Chicagoland area. But, it seems the rankings put a lot of emphasis & consideration on that which was glamorous. So I understand why this Catholic school nestled out in Woodstock, IL was left out.
However, I have a simple, critical retort: their system is flawed.
I will give no argument about Glenbard West’s Bill Duchon Stadium headlining the list; with its charm, quirks, lack of lights and its 1980's “Lucas — nostalgia” But then, with the exception of Lane Tech, the other schools are pristine, university-esque field-turf stadiums with Jumbotrons. If this is list is about high school stadiums, the list should have focused on those stadiums that ooze ‘high school’ and not on those stadiums that mimic college.
Leave glamour, polish and sleek-sensibility to big-time college football and the NFL. Give me the grit, guts, Al-Bundy-Polk-High, hard-work and blue collared attitude of high school football — that’s always seemed to be its calling card.
Here are a few images further illustrating my strong feelings on this matter:
Photographing at this high school in Woodstock, IL has become one of my favorite places to shoot football. The field is dark & dank, the lights ‘hit’ on a very slow wave length (or something like that) causing terrible issues with the camera’s white balance (half the field is magenta and the other half green)…you know, technology and stuff. The locker rooms are terribly cramped & a little bit old, it’s caged (it’s actually a cage) and its attached to an older gymnasium. It’s not the worst locker room ever, by no means, but it does leave a lot to be desired.
…in other words, it’s a dream come true, well at least it is for this photographer
It’s everything I remember high school football being. Its like the pre-game dump in a toilet stall without a door — its not pretty, can be a little awkward, but it gets the job done. From the pre-game warm-ups that take place next to IL-RT120 and a parking lot where passers-by honk and yell obscenities to its a grungy grass field that just feels like hostile territory.
It’s the bleachers that are right, smack-up on top of the visiting teams sideline that allow each and every fan hear coaches politely correct (to be read: SCREAM at) the numb-nuts who, for some reason, decided to checked-out of cover-2. All of that, every little flaw makes it simply wonderful. It’s real & it’s genuine.
The locker room seems to be about a mile and a half from the football field and on game day/night you must traverse the parking lot traffic & the red glow of brake lights, hoping not get run over by the late arriving fans, just to make it to the field.
But, once you embrace all those obstacles, physical challenges, quirks, building deficiencies, trials and tribulations…
It’s all worth it…
Its heaven…
I am Chris Pestel, an independant freelance photographer and storyteller.
I am available to tell your story and am seeking new collaborations & projects. If you are so inclined, please take a moment to check out my other essays on www.medium.com/@chrisWpestel including the series below:
A 5-part series of photo essays that explores a 5 year span of Montini Catholic High School Football. Below are links to the entire series:
Part I — RIVALS
Part II — WOODSTOCK
Part III — ORANGE SKY
Part IV — PROGRAMMED TO WIN
Part V — NOVEMBER REIGN
my website: www.chrisWpestel.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/chrisWpestel
Twitter: www.twitter.com/chrisWpestel
Please send me an email if you have any questions.
prints are available, upon request, by way of my website:
