The final moments of competition tick by as the make-or-break moment decides the difference between moving on or falling short. Competitors push their boundaries, the atmosphere is charged with anticipation, and the fight for victory is never more intense. Nothing beats a rivalry match. White Station High School (WSHS) is built on foundations of competition. Whether it be athletically or academically, WSHS students have continually created championship moments, bringing home victory, but some schools create more competition than others.
“There was a lot of weight on [our rivalry] match this year … because it’s the difference between moving on,” Adith Kotha (12) said.
A history of tension or a similar skill level can create roots for a long-lasting rivalry between schools. And for WSHS’s Knowledge Bowl team, Collierville High School has provided steady competition each season.
“We’re probably the two strongest teams [in the Mid-south area],” Kotha said. “Competition is usually pretty healthy with them, … but there’s also that sense of … we’re going head to head in a competition.”
Knowledge Bowl is a single-elimination competition with 32 teams and five rounds of competition. During the 2024 season, WSHS faced Collierville in the second round of matches. Because this one match would make the difference in moving to the third round, the team took special care in their preparations for the event.
“There’s a lot of preparation that goes into these tournaments, … so those two weeks prior to the match you have to be studying … [to] know all of that information,” Kotha said. “I definitely see the whole team being more motivated to prep these things and get ready for competition when we’re facing Collierville.”
This year WSHS defeated Collierville on a tie-breaking question, winning by 10 points, and made their way to the semifinal round of competition. Their season came to an end during the semifinal round.
“Traditionally we do very well in at least semi-finals, [but in] finals, we’re [usually] champions,” Kotha said. “White Station is known for doing well.”
WSHS rivalries extend outside the classroom and onto the field. Each sports team has its own self-proclaimed rival, but for the baseball team, games against Whitehaven High School are always packed with fans and competitive spirits.
“We’re in the same district [as Whitehaven High School] … and Whitehaven has always been able to keep up with us,” Benjamin Mendez (11) said. “It’s just always been a back-and-forth, win-loss kind of thing.”
The teams have a history of one or the other winning the district title, further lighting up the competition between the two. The WSHS team knows that every game against them counts and works to have a higher ranking than Whitehaven each season.
“When I was in 9th grade we lost a game that put us below [Whitehaven] in the standings and [when we] ended up getting to districts, [the game] got rained out and they won the district title because they had a higher seed than us,” Mendez said. “In games that may not seem like they mean much in the moment, but they definitely mean a lot in the grand scheme of things.”
Preparations for rival games are different from regular season games. The team goes into it knowing they will have stiff competition that could eventually lead to their defeat in the title race.
“Our coaches will definitely make it clear to us ‘So you’ve got a rivalry game coming up and we really need to focus up these last couple of practices,’” Mendez said. “We always seem to show out to the best of our ability during Whitehaven games.”
Rivalries with other schools can extend outside of the actual competition. Healthy competition can sometimes entail banter online before competition.
“Off the field, there’s definitely a lot of smack talk back and forth on social media,” Mendez said. “Especially if it’s towards the end of the season and standings are close, [there is a different atmosphere]. There’s a lot of trash talk, dugout to dugout, team to team, you know, and there have been a couple instances where we had to high-five each other after the game and it’s ended badly. I think last year we had a couple of guys get ejected from the game.”
For WSHS students, rivalries are a way to push themselves and their teams to strive for victory even under pressure. The fight against a common enemy helps build the morale and spirit needed for victory.
“When it’s make or break advancing in the competition, there’s a lot of pressure placed on winning that match,” Kotha said. “So there’s definitely a little bit of stress about making sure we’re set, making sure we can … bring home the victory.”
