by Preston McConnell |

Just a couple of years ago, one of the biggest rivalries ever was brought to the city of Liberty. In 2010, Liberty Public Schools opened up a new high school named Liberty North. Many people were split on this whole separation, the boundaries were a very big ordeal and they are getting revised after this year.

Kids throughout both schools have many mutual friends and get along with each other, but when it comes to sports and competing in general, the competiveness is paralleled by the likes of other metro area schools like Blue Springs, Park Hill, Rockhurst and all the Olathe schools.

These schools have another high school in their district, besides Rockhurst, and it is a very big deal to beat each other. Just like Liberty, there was the original school with all of the history and now comes the new school that wants to make a history of its own. This usually doesn’t go over well with the new school and is in the schools main objective to stay number one in the city. When it comes to Rockhurst though, they always have the bulls-eye on their head by every school.

You could even compare it to The University of Kansas and The University of Missouri minus all the history, but the feel of need and pressure to beat each other is still there.  This year, both LHS and LNHS played each other in the pre-season jamboree at William Jewell. The fight went on more than just the game. With LHS getting the win, LNHS was a little bit devastated and hurt. The arguments went as far as social networking and people were showing their school spirit. In a good way though, the students were just showing their love and support of their high school. I think it’s cool that sports and who wins is a big deal to the students, it makes everything more exciting and really gives the athletes something to play for.

I, personally, think that the rivalry between these two schools is absolutely great. People still get along when it is not dealing with sports or other clubs, but when they play each other; it catches the eye of the entire community. With the rise of North’s basketball team last year and Liberty’s steady strength in many sports, the fight kept going back and forth.

With the community noticing the rivalry, more people will be coming out to support the kids and will make the younger kids want to be more active and look up to the players. Encouraging the younger kids to keep working hard and they might one day become to be a Jay or an Eagle, depending on where they live in the boundaries.

Rivalries can also give the season hope even if you have not won a game yet, as long as you beat your rival, it could be considered a successful season. Some people might be against the rivalry with each other, but I think that is what makes this town so exciting. To have these two teams playing is something people for which cannot wait.