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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 11, 2020 

Traverse City Central and Traverse City West Football Season to Kick Off Next Week – Annual Crosstown Game September 18^th  

Game will “Celebrate Service” and include virtual and televised tributes to Veterans, active duty service members, first responders, frontline workers, and all those who support our community in times of need

TRAVERSE CITY – Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) is pleased to announce that in light of recent changes to the rules regarding high school football this fall, the annual crosstown rivalry between the Traverse City Central High School Trojans and the Traverse City West Senior High School Titans will take place on Friday, September 18, 2020. Kickoff is at 7:00 p.m.

Due to state-mandated requirements regarding attendance at events, the TC Patriot Game, which has been held in conjunction with the annual crosstown football game for the last nine years, is not able to be held this year. The state rules currently only allow for in-person attendance of 25 percent of a stadium’s capacity or a total cap of 500 people, whichever number is smaller. For the TC West vs. TC Central game, the 500 person limit means that the number of people in attendance will be limited to players, coaches, referees, two family members/attendees per varsity football player, the sideline cheer team, limited game workers, and members of the media.

“We do not feel that we can call it the TC Patriot Game this year because we are not able to invite our community’s Patriots, all of our students, or the community to attend the event in-person,” said TC Central Athletic Director Zac Stevenson. “That being said, we knew we wanted to do something to respect and recognize, especially during this pandemic, those who have served and continue to serve. To that end, this year's game has been named "Celebrate Service" and will include various virtual and televised tributes from TCAPS and our local media partners, until we are able to get back to the important community traditions that are the cornerstone of the TC Patriot Game."  

The school district, along with media partners WTCM Newstalk 580, TV 7&4 and 9&10 News, will “Celebrate Service” in the days leading up to and during the game and will broadcast the game for viewers to watch or listen to at home. In addition, performances by the Titan and Trojan marching bands will be prerecorded (the marching bands are unable to attend this year’s event in-person due to the state-mandated stadium capacity restrictions) and the school district will be collecting and sharing Veteran recognitions and community “thank yous” to our local service workers.

“Just like we are each experiencing every day in our own lives, the circumstances we are facing are constantly changing, so we have to be ready to adapt and make the best of our current situation,” said TC West Student Governor Olivia Stoerkel. "While we aren’t able to do the traditions of our typical TC Patriot Game, we knew we could still do something, and we want the community to know, now more than ever, that we have the highest respect for and celebrate the service of our Veterans, active duty, first responders and frontline workers."

One important tradition for students is the annual commemorative shirt sale. Although the majority of students are not able to attend this year’s game, they will still be able to have a keepsake of the game. "Especially for our senior class, this crosstown rivalry game has such great meaning for students," said Stoerkel. "A commemorative shirt is one tradition we were able to keep alive in the little more than one week we have had to plan for the event since the announcement of football’s return this fall.”  

Any member of the community wishing to submit a memorial or honorarium tribute to a Veteran, active duty service member, or first responder, should submit it, along with a photo, to info@tcaps.net or message TCAPS on Facebook. 
 

To order a game day shirt, visit: