Northview has had some fiery teams in its past

Kevin Xiang, Editor-in-Chief & Hritvi Ahuja, Staff Writer

In its history, Northview High School has been the namesake of several sports teams that no longer exist. They have had great success, winning state championships, but because of decreasing student interest, they have ceased to carry on.

A memorable part of the early 2010s was Northview’s own hockey team. Kids playing in external clubs banded together to form a league that included Johns Creek High School and Chattahoochee High School.

The hockey games were wild and intense with large student sections. Students, parents, and grandparents filled the crowds at games. Tickets would sell out and stands would reach to the point of an overpopulated crowd.

“The kids filled up the stands; [they are] right there on the glass and so kids go crazy,” Mike Dixon, the last club sponsor of the hockey club, said. “They're banging on the glass and whatnot.”

The hockey team was successful, being able to win a championship at the Duluth Ice Forum, one year. A few students on the hockey team were even able to receive scholarships to play in college.

Over time, the interest in hockey decreased, resulting in the team combining with other schools. In 2013, Northview’s hockey team and Johns Creek’s team combined due to the decreased student involvement, and the team eventually failed. The lack of GHSA recognition, due to the small popularity in South Georgia as compared to Metro Atlanta, meant high overheads to pay and more effort to organize.

“Sports that are clubs, they have a hard time finding space to do stuff,” Tony Ciancola, a health and PE teacher who has been at Northview since its opening, said. “It's sometimes hard finding a club coach to be able to do that, that has the knowledge or the time.”

Even though hockey did find a club sponsor in Dixon, he existed mostly as a formality, with the club relying on outside coaches to help. In addition, the practicality of competing soon fell through.

“There's no League [nowadays],” Dixon said. “We could have a team, but who are they going to play?”

Similar problems happened to Northview’s Equestrian team, which at one point, played host to the equestrian world champion.

“It’s always been a sport, as we had participation in it, but it varies year to year. You know, it really again is whether or not you have the students that have that background,” Robert Hunter, the assistant principal at Northview, said.

A sport like equestrian is demanding as it needs a great deal of equipment and most importantly someone to supervise and take care of the horses. Schools that have an equestrian team usually have a barn. This creates complications for other schools to commit to the sport. There are also involvement issues when it comes to equestrian as there are not many students at Northview who participate in horseriding.

“You'd also need to have a community and school who is willing to provide for the sport because it is not that common,” Deveena Singh, a Northview senior who does equestrian outside of school, said. “So, finding those people in your own school is rare and special.”

There is hope, however. Cianciola points to lacrosse as a sport that did not have a lot of interest, but eventually became huge and garnered GHSA recognition. This can create an opportunity for sports like hockey and equestrian to come back to Northview and be successful again.

“There may still be hope left for these sports, ” Hunter said.