The Homecoming dance traditionally takes place the night after the Homecoming football game, where the school dances the night away after a triumphant win. Robinson’s schedule doesn’t fit the bill this year, with the Homecoming game taking place Oct. 4 and the dance being the next week on Oct. 12.

The Homecoming dance was initially scheduled for Oct. 5, but the Student Government Association (SGA) ran into a problem when they couldn’t find any venues that night that would be large enough to host the dance and were still available. SGA pushed back the date of the dance to the current date of Oct 12 when they found that the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel on West Cyprus fit both requirements for the dance. Once SGA decided the date of the dance, the game date remained the same.

“In talking it over with Coach Everhart and administration, we decided it was better to have the game on the date that it originally was versus Newsome and then having the following dance,” said Thomas Dusold, SGA adviser.

The team plays against Jesuit High School on Oct. 11, the night before the dance. Concern arose about whether Robinson would be able to beat Jesuit for the Homecoming game, which is traditionally intended to inspire school spirit. According to MaxPreps.com, the leading prep sports website, the state ranking for Jesuit’s football team is 87, while the Newsome team is ranked 93. Robinson, for context, is ranked at 301. Still, the Knights have hope of beating Newsome at Homecoming.

“We have not played Newsome on my time on the football team, but I’m very confident in my team’s ability to win games against anybody because of all the work we’ve put in,” said Steven Verdisco (’20), the kicker for the Varsity team.

The game and the dance being held during two different weeks helps SGA in setting up the dance, because they typically have to organize both the dance and spirit week the same week. With 800 people predicted to come to the dance this year, the extra time provides a respite from the stress of preparing both.

“I like having the Homecoming dance completely separated because it’s easier on our [SGA’s] part and you have a longer time to buy homecoming tickets,” SGA President Abby Patterson said. “We get to enjoy the dance a week later without SGA scrambling and having to set up for the dance the night before.”

As of now, the official dates are Oct. 4 for the game and Oct, 12 for the dance, with spirit week being held the week of the game. SGA doesn’t plan on having anything extra during the week of the dance, but tickets will be sold for $50 during all lunches and an advertisement for the dance will be run during the morning show.