Exactly one week from today football season will begin in Dallas County.

The Meadowview Christian School Trojans will open the season hosting Ashford Academy, Ellwood will travel to Kingwood Christian and a number of schools will participate in scrimmages.

The fans in the bleachers will be pulling hard for their respective teams, as they should. But it is important to make sure we support our teams in a positive way.

When you hit the stands to cheer for your team, make sure you do just that — cheer FOR your team.

Sometimes as fans, we forget the people representing our schools are just high school students. They are not professional athletes. Though they dedicate hours of practice time to establish a game plan on Friday nights, they will make mistakes.

Those mistakes are amplified in their minds when someone in the bleachers reminds them of their shortcomings by screaming at the field.

The same is true for coaches. These men work countless hours to break down film, establish a plan and get everyone in the right place at the right time. Unfortunately, the plans that are laid out on paper do not always materialize as expected on Friday night.

Like the players, they don’t need any help from the bleachers.

A true fan offers encouragement when his team is down. A true fan will continue to cheer for a player even when he makes a mistake. A true fan knows that if they disagree with the game plan they should keep it to themselves. There are far more competent people that take care of the hiring and firing of coaches on our school and athletic boards.

Support your teams this fall, but support them with class. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you.

High school football is a passion for many of us in the Black Belt. The players represent a city or community, something the people represented take very seriously.

It is important to make sure that passion is controlled and channeled in a positive direction.

When you take your seat on fall Friday nights, please ask yourself, “What can I do to help raise my team up?”

You’ll be surprised what a little positive re-enforcement can do for the players and coaches.