“Hey Missi! Thanks for being here. It should be a good game tonight. You know what?” I thought to myself, “No, what?”, as I turned toward one of the varsity lacrosse moms in the stands who was holding one of those yard signs, trying to sell them for the booster club. She said to me, “Missi, you always have the best seat in the house.” I really didn’t think anything of it, not at the time. I waved, smiled and walked onto the turf field.

Pre-game warm up music was especially loud that evening. Dairy Queen located less than half a mile down Hammond Avenue was probably enjoying the tunes as well. I continued to set up my camera equipment…the shutter, ISO and aperture settings to capture those fast break aways down the field and the 90 mph shots on goal. The starting line ups were being announced, the fans started to get loud and then suddenly the stadium went silent when a student began to sing our National Anthem. As I stood there, hand over heart and eyes a little teary, because our anthem always gets to me, it hit me like a ton of bricks…indeed I do have the best seat in the house.

 On the sidelines, kneeling as close to the out of bounds line as I can get before the refs warn me for being in the field of play, I can hear the players yelling, calling plays and I can hear them breathe. At times I am so close to the action, their excitement, the nerves…I can feel it. Being a photographer for high school sports, you become part of their team. A part of their successes and their disappointments. Coaches and refs become friends and you end up chatting before the game. Seriously, I root for school programs that my kids do not even play for, because I’ve been on their sidelines, next to their dugouts, and even took a few hits from their soccer balls, football players being tackled out of bounds and basketball players stepping on me as they run into wall mats under the basket. It’s a huge part of my life. 

Fast forward two years and I am anxiously awaiting for lacrosse season 2020 to start. Not only because my son plays for Ephrata, but I love watching the game. After watching Hunter play since 2012, I still do not understand all of the flags or the play calls. But man, it is one exciting game to watch!

One afternoon I’m scrolling Facebook (wasting time of course), and my history for that date pops up on my newsfeed and what do I see? Lacrosse! A ton of lacrosse images from the season before. It was the game where Ephrata was going to clinch the Secton II title after a win that night. I was so excited for the team, so anxious. I remember counting the hours until I could leave for the game. So, I sat there and looked through every photo. Every single one. Again, my eyes a little teary because our season had not yet started. It had been delayed. As a parent, I was devastated. As a sports photographer, even more so.

Continuing to scroll through my Facebook history, a baseball game came up and a track and field meet from the 2018 season. At that moment, the sounds of high school spring sports filled the senses. Andy Fasnacht was announcing the events for track and then the starting gun fires…how did those kids become so fast! The crack of the baseball bat, the smell of hot dogs, hearing the lacrosse stick slash against another players helmet and the fans yell for a flag. My favorite thing though, in Ephrata, is when those players yell as loud as they can, “ LET’S GO WHITE!” Those of you that have been to a home game know exactly what I am referring to. It just makes me laugh! 

It’s sports season! Everyone is excited, every team has a clean slate and everyone is going for the title.

Back to reality, my fingers are crossed and I am holding my breath because I have faith that the fall sports season for high school will be back in August 2020. This new normal that everyone is talking about will be an after thought and I will be back on the sidelines of a Friday night football game, back where I belong…in the best seat in the house.