St. Charles East High School has 19 sports to offer to the students who attend, with a few of the sports being football, basketball, tennis, soccer, baseball and softball, lacrosse, track and field, cross country and more. Why are some so much more well known? Which sport is the most popular at East?
Taylor Cyr has been a Spanish I and II teacher at East for three years, as well as a JV II girls’ basketball coach and the JV I girls’ lacrosse coach. Cyr said that the most popular sport at East really depends on the person you are asking and their involvement with sports at the school. “I think a lot of our sports teams here at East have found a lot of success in lots of different ways over the last few years and I know firsthand how much time and effort our coaching staff and athletic department put into our sports programs.”
Cyr said that the sports she coaches have great participation and student organization. “I think what they’re doing is absolutely incredible and I love to see the student-athlete leadership that we’ve seen all over that program and them really starting and catalyzing that sport here at East.”
East also has a very supportive sports community. Cyr said that she is proud of the unity that sports create within teams at our school. “It’s incredible to see them come together as a group and to really find a lot of success that we have on and off the field.”
Football is probably East’s most popular sport. On Friday nights, students from every grade go to watch our team play and/or to socialize. Football coach Nolan Possley gave some insight into the sport. “On our varsity team, we have 42 athletes and our sophomore team has 45,” he said.
Possley also brought up some new changes that are coming to East next year “[2025] will be the first year we have a JV team that will be a combination of all of our sophomore-senior athletes.”
Possley continued to talk about the teamwork and bonding involved in football. “Yes, there is a lot of team bonding. A lot of our team bonding takes place during summer camp where we break into squads and have weekly competitions to earn points.”
According to Possley, football is a very popular sport that requires lots of teamwork and bonding. Possley also said why he thinks so many people tryout for football. “I think people come out for football for the team aspect and a love for the sport. It’s an exciting sport that takes lots of commitment. There is nothing like playing football under the lights on a Friday night, so the experience is truly one of a kind.”
Darren Howard, East’s new athletic director, said that in St. Charles East’s 2023-24 sports season, there were approximately 1,100 students overall who participated in one or more sports, including 112 students registered for football, 66 boys and 29 girls registered for basketball and 66 boys and 53 girls registered for soccer.
East has great involvement in other sports too. Howard said that between 1,000 to 4,000 students and parents attend football games. Vincent Dinuzzo, East’s wellness teacher as well as boys’ and girls’ varsity soccer coach of eight years, said, “I think we have great attendance.”
Overall, East has an incredibly supportive sports community. In our opinion, basketball and soccer are the most entertaining sports to watch. However, according to a survey taken by 90 STCE students, football is the most entertaining sport to watch, though students participate in a variety of activities as well. These include cross country, track and field, swimming, soccer, tennis and more. The majority of students who responded said they tend to attend football games over any other sports games as well. Students seem to attend the games to enjoy football and socialize with friends. The marching band at halftime is also a big hit. So, although there are many other sports that students enjoy, it seems like overall, football takes the lead as the most entertaining and popular sport at East.
