Fish Bowls of the Future

As many in our area know, the annual Fish Bowl is a popular football game and heated rivalry between Peninsula and Gig Harbor high schools. This rivalry has been going on since construction of Gig Harbor High began in 1978, the second of three Peninsula School District high schools. Since then, tensions during the autumnal showdowns have grown, and sometime situations have become dangerous. With recent issues related to sportsmanship last year, administrative concerns, and the fact that Roy Anderson Field is too small to host the Fish Bowl, the school district decided to move this year’s Sept. 7 game to the larger stadium at Mount Tahoma High School.

With this change in location, I noticed both positive and negative aspects for the event. Last year, the final year the Fish Bowl was held at Roy Anderson, between 4,000 and 5,000 people attended, which exceeded the capacity of the field and stands. The away side of the field had small, portable bleachers that could only accommodate a fraction of Gig Harbor’s fans. Students were forced to stand up against the railings of the fence.

Additionally, parents of players and other adults attending had no place to sit, and many of them also stood along the railings on the side of the field. Even though the home team had access to the grandstands, seating was still a major issue. A larger problem arose when parents would claim seats with blankets before the game, which sometimes led to altercations. The student section was also not large enough, and many students struggled to find spots to stand or sit.

Last year’s contest spotlighted the two largest issues PSD must address: safety and parking. Everyone knows that Peninsula High School has parking issues even on regular school days, but the situation worsened during the Fish Bowl. Cars were parked all the way up and down 144th Street, west of the campus, causing traffic problems and increasing risk to fans as they walked to and from the game.

The most critical issue, however, was safety. Administration and law enforcement struggled to manage the crowd, where there were problems involving drugs, alcohol and physical violence.

This year, PSD administration decided to move the Fish Bowl to Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma. Mount Tahoma offers far better facilities than Roy Anderson Field, with a total capacity of 5,000 — more than double that of the outdated facilities PHS and GHHS are forced to share. Both the home and away grandstands have their own concession stands and locker rooms with direct access to the field. It must also be said that PSD chose this location in part to reduce interactions between Peninsula and Gig Harbor students and parents, which proved successful.

Personally, I enjoyed this year’s Fish Bowl more than last year’s, as it was easier to focus on the game without the distractions of fights, controversy and other complications. The school district also implemented effective measures, such as placing administrators — principals, district staff and security guards — at the front of each section. These sections included the band areas, student sections and, most importantly, the parent sections. Everyone attending the game was able to focus on the play on the field and the students participating in the festivities. It was fun and safe.

While moving the Fish Bowl outside of Gig Harbor wasn’t ideal, I believe it is a better choice than risking the safety of attendees at Roy Anderson Field.

I do, however, believe the people of Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula should vote to pass future school bonds so kids on this side of the bridge can benefit from facilities like those we experienced at Mount Tahoma High School. We deserve it too. Voting yes for schools would allow PSD to update all of the outdated facilities at our high schools and bring the Fish Bowl home.

John Browand is a junior at Peninsula High School.