There is nothing like a good old town wide competition. In fact this competition dates back to 1957’s. The Hall High Warriors, and the Conard Chieftains  is not official, a lot of people like to call it a “Rivalry” A rivalry is defined by Dictionary.com as a “Competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field” We broke that down and realized the key word in that definition was in fact “Field”. The rivalry has been a friendly competition not only for the athletes, but for the family members, the alumni and even the West Hartford Community.

Coach Frank Robinson, who is the head coach of Hall High School football team said “The Rivalry has been part of my life, for my entire life, when I went to Hall, I had friends that went to Conard, and continued to have friendships with them. On the game day, it was one of the most important games I have ever played… two High Schools in the same town and it’s a great rivalry”. All though the rivalry is great for some, there is a truth a hidden truth, and fears of what the rivalry has become to this date. We asked a well known member of the Hall High community, security guard Zandra, regarding the rivalry as a whole. Zandra replied with “I’ve been here for 25 years and outa the 25 years the last year 4 years have become very (um) unhealthy.” When asked Coach Rob, he replied with “I don’t understand it, it’s not on the field it’s people who aren’t even part of the sport.” The truth is the student body having to show their egos, and try and start unnecessary fighting between one and other. Unfortunately, the rivalry is getting involved fights are breaking out on and off the field. We interviewed students, and asked them what they think regarding the fight. One student named Onyx said “I just think we are better than them, 100 times better…” When asked regarding how he handles the fighting he replied with, “I let my play do the talkin, I’m just gonna cook out there” The players and students should take that to heart. The only fighting that should be happening is the competitiveness on the field.

Conard has every reason to be competitive against Hall. It is a great school on the other side of West Hartford which was built in 1957. The rivalry with Hall started almost immediately.   For the most part, it has been a positive rivalry. Even though the sports teams competed at every level. There has been many friendships that have developed between players and non players. The two schools learned to coexist in a healthy, competitive spirit. There have been times when the rivalry was negative, but those times were few and far between. Coach Archambault, who graduated from Conard in 2001 says, “We never had it .. I played four years of sports there, I played basketball and it was a positive rivalry, friends today with the kids who went to Hall, here I am teaching at Hall… I mean there was competition just like any rivalry but I was never part of any fights, or knew about any fights.” The two schools have rivaled each other over the years in athletics and academics. Both schools have high standards. Jenna Westfall from Conard High School says,  “The Conard/ Hall rivalry is only affected by those who are competitive with sports. Those that start a stir just because of a game, show a lack of maturity and sportsmanship. People that look for competition shall have competition, but they should see the whole Conard and hall concept as  one team.” We have every right to take pride in the school we are in, but not to the point of putting others down. If you ask other students who aren’t involved with sports they probably won’t be intense and take part of this Conard Hall rivalry. This does not mean they aren’t a true Chieftains or Warriors.

 The Conard Hall rivalry will always remain throughout the years because of traditional values of games and such, but we should learn how to bond stronger and as a team.  Conard and Hall will probably always be rivals but hopefully in a positive and supportive way. Whether it is a football game or an academic competition, whether you are a player or just a student cheering from the sides, a rivalry can be a fun thing in high school. As Zoe Pierce says, “ Um I guess it’s fun to have extra competition at games and stuff but other than that we all live in the same town so it doesn’t really matter to me. it’s a fun rivalry for sporting events but I don’t care about it other than that.” A lot of students at Conard have much pride in their sports teams but for the most part they don’t feel that it’s a big issue. All in all, as Officer Maloney said “You guys are all west Hartford, you’re all one.” We all need to focus on the love of each sport, whether it is Football, Soccer or even Lacrosse and realize it is still a game.

By: Carlos, Livvie & Sam.