Huffines (left) started a club at Northwest Guilford called Athletes Supporting Athletes, geared toward having students athletes attend and support different teams at the school
Bryant Roche
A speech and debate class assignment late last semester, coupled with surging crowds during this year's state softball playoffs, inspired Northwest Guilford athlete Haylea Huffines to start a club at the school geared toward raising attendance and showing spirit across all sports.
"Our main purpose is to get athletes out to support other athletes, games that don't normally get high attendance like tennis matches or basketball games and some women's sports that don't have as much attendance as the guys sports," said Huffines, a four-year girls basketball and softball player at Northwest. "We really just want our athletes coming out and creating more attendance for games that don't have high attendance and show that all sports should be equal and have students out there."
The Athletes Supporting Athletes club began in September with school just underway. Membership has expanded from about 40 to more than 70.
"It's mainly just to have your athletes realize 'Oh, we can go support this team' and show them that they are just as important as this team," Huffines said. "Just having higher attendance at games, just showing that all sports need to be supported and they are all just as important and all put in the same amount of work. It's just important to support all sports. You are all there working and representing your school."
Huffines, the founder and president of ASA, has played girls basketball and softball on varsity her first three years and plans to do so again this academic year as a senior, with basketball practice underway and the Lady Vikings' first game of the 2024-25 season scheduled for Friday at Phoenix Academy.
She signed recently with Lees-McRae to play softball. During her career at Northwest, she has batted .342 with 11 home runs, which includes a sophomore season in which she hit .397 and had a team-high eight home runs. In those three seasons, she has played multiple positions, including first base and third base as well as outfield and pitching for a program that has gone a combined 69-14 overall and 42-0 in Metro 4A Conference play.
In basketball, the 5-foot-10 forward is expected to take on an even bigger role than in years past as a key returning post player and veteran leader.
"I would definitely say that it has been a ride," Huffines said of her experience as a Northwest athlete. "It has been very fun. I've learned a lot and grown a lot through both programs. Obviously, basketball is not my main sport, but it definitely does make me stronger for softball and just prepared and staying in the swing of things. But I definitely think it's been a good experience with staying busy, making friends and just everything, really."
In the speech and debate class, Huffines did a presentation that examined inequalities in women's and men's sports, focusing on basketball and softball. Amid her studies, the Northwest softball team that she played on grew in fan support as it reached the NCHSAA 4A semifinals, with fans filling the bleachers and lining the fences along the foul lines.
From there, Huffines discussed the idea with Hackett, who suggested getting it started at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year and continuing from there. Huffines gained official approval from Northwest athletics director Jason Allred and created a staff of club officers.
Junior girls basketball center Marin Slack and junior volleyball middle hitter Lauren McFarland are the club's vice presidents. Senior football linemen Cole Rigsbee and Felipe Murillo are the secretary and treasurer, respectively.
"Our strategy for that was who would be able to support during the winter and then who would be able to support during the fall, who would be able to support during the spring, so we could have officers at pretty much every event if we can," Huffines said.
Huffines said having football players as officers has been important in both addressing the inequality initiative but also in providing a platform to effectively raise awareness.
"It just shows support through women and men's sports and I think even having football -- that is a pretty big attendance at games -- even having them as officers really just helps get the word out and showing support," Huffines said. "So I think having both men and women as officers is really helpful for our club."
Meetings have been taking place during the school's study hall periods, with supportive Vikings coaches Avery Booker (baseball), Haley Hackett (girls basketball) and Alex Phillips (softball) making classroom space available. In addition to promoting game attendance, the club had a tailgate event at The Summit Church prior to the Vikings' home football game on Oct. 11 against rival Northern Guilford. ASA also held an event in support of the school's band with athletes, cheerleaders and dance team members attending.
Huffines said that game attendance is promoted as the club is holding a contest where members who attend games earn points, with sports less known for attendance carrying more value. The president said that the top three point-earners will be able to enter a raffle for prizes, possibly Northwest gear or future season ticket passes.
Sophia Apple was the Metro 4A Offensive Player of the Year in girls lacrosse last spring and has also been all-conference in girls basketball at Northwest. Apple, also a senior and who signed with East Carolina lacrosse, became a member of the club after also noticing smaller attendance numbers for some sports than others, particularly lacrosse, where Northwest's girls team went 13-5 and reached the third round of the NCHSAA 4A playoffs.
"Definitely because as Haylea was saying earlier, softball doesn't have as much attendance as maybe baseball or football would and that is definitely the same for lacrosse," Apple said. "We never have any students at our games, so when Haylea started this club, I thought it was a great opportunity to have more students come and support sports that aren't as recognized as other sports."
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Q: What's one piece of advice you would give your younger self about navigating high school or life in general?
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