On Oct. 16, the Student Council hosted its Peach Fuzz game. Peach Fuzz is a homecoming tradition at WHS where boys play volleyball on self-made teams and girls are their coaches.
The senior boys team — named “The Punishers” — won. Multiple teams competed, including a co-ed teachers team. Peach Fuzz is used to raise school spirit as one of the homecoming events.
“It has guys … coming together as a group, competing in a different way than they normally would,” Student Council adviser Michael Thompson (staff) said. “If nothing else, it adds stories … to the history of this building in that the students will remember these things that happen tonight.”
Peach Fuzz is a great way to get involved with the school and have fun.
“I think we just do it to, like, get everybody included in something and … like, have more opportunities to have fun and have something lighthearted,” Avery Smiley (10) said. Smiley plays defense on the girls volleyball team and coached at Peach Fuzz this year.
Even though the Peach Fuzz games are competitive, there isn’t practice time in advance.
“We honestly told them to get here at 6:45, it started at 7, and we said they could warm up and that’d be good enough, so we didn’t practice at all,” Smiley said.
The team coaches aren’t the only ones who try to help out the players. Matthew Zenger (12) plays boy’s volleyball on the Severance High School team and was on this year’s winning team: “The Punishers.”
“I mean, we really, we kind of just show up,” Zenger said. “I … mean, me personally, I do try to like coach up the guys that I play with and I try and get them to like, you know, get a little bit of the game.”
The teachers’ team also had its own method of preparing for the game.
“Well, there’s an old saying that the sands of time don’t flow up the hourglass, and that’s definitely the case with the teacher team … We went with a bold strategy with no warm-up at all,” Thompson said.
Staff and students strongly encourage anyone who wants to join Peach Fuzz or any other activities to reach out and find a team.
“Don’t be a coward and do it. And it just takes courage to do these things,” Thompson said. “But it’s one of those things, like, be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Take a risk and you’ll have a lot of fun.”
Zenger also thinks students should take a chance by playing Peach Fuzz.
“If you’re ever scared to play Peach Fuzz, don’t be,” Zenger said. “It’s literally just for fun … I would rather be doing this than anything else.”
Thompson thinks this is one of the many ways a student can leave their mark on the school.
“Use the energy and the positive vibes that we have in these sorts of situations … high school is the ultimate debit card,” Thompson said. “You only get out of it what you put in it. And if you put nothing in it, then when you get to senior year and you walk across that stage and you want to cash out, you got nothing there. So, take a risk. Have some fun.”
